Book Report dress, again

My sewing friend Rachel from Minneapolis is the co-ordinator (gatekeeper? sentinel? facilitator?) for the Oliver + S blog and asked me if I would demo on the blog how I constructed exposed zippers on the Book Report dress.

For me it was a good excuse to make the dress again, using a different fabric and perfect the zippers once and for all.

This time around I chose a light denim fabric and I am more than pleased with the outcome.

The report, or Book Report on the Book Report dress will appear on the O+S blog in the near future, maybe as early as tomorrow?  Anyway,  I've included lots of photos and a fairly verbose step by step tutorial.

One thing I discovered when constructing exposed zippers is to use one of my favourite sewing aids, Wonder Tape......

on the backside of the zipper peep hole as opposed to putting it on the zipper tape itself.

When the dress is flipped over, I found I could fiddle with the fabric around the zipper much easier and place the edge of the fabric opening - a little bit at a time - exactly where I wanted in order to expose as much of the zipper tape as desired.

The zipper pockets are a hit with Miss C.
She can stash her dinosaur in her pocket and zip it shut when her brother comes looking for it.

I really like the Book Report dress. It's quick to sew, affords itself to some fun mods and fits perfectly.

I meant to put a little loop on the yoke back pleat yet despite having the loop pre-made and staring me in the face where it sat beside the sewing machine, I totally forgot about it. Doh.

Good excuse to make another one.