The FABRIC!

So Tim and I took a trip down to NYC to buy fabric from Mood :-)  So we ended up with a silver color fabric for the under layer!  Here's a picture of it.  It's a cotton sateen fabric.  Satin (as it's called when it's made from silk) is simply a way of weaving.  It creates a slightly shiny side, and a duller side.  The "correct" side of the fabric is the shiny side. It's called Sateen when created with cotton. This is a nice light fabric that should breathe nicely for Gina.

This is a picture of the lace - just the lace by itself (right).  It's a french lace, ivory colored with a slight shimmer to it.  The lace is the most expensive fabric in the dress.  Gina decided that she loved the look of the lace over the fabric so much (left photo), that it is going to cover the entire dress!  So just imagine all three of those layers, the under layer the silver, and then overlaid with the lace.  Beautiful!  

This fabric to the left is simply tool - it's the fabric that tutu's are made out of.  This fabric is very cheap, and is going to be used under various parts of the dress to make it poofy and stick out a bit.

This last photo is the lace, the silver under layer, and the lighter silver fabric is for the lining of the dress.  It is also a cotton, but just a regular cotton, not a sateen.  I'm super excited to get started with the real fabric!  I'm waiting until after Christmas though because I want the layers to be correct before I cut all the pieces out.  It is best for me to cut all the pieces at the same time, because then I can cut the big pieces out first, and place the smaller pieces in the spaces between the larger ones.  This uses the fabric most effectively, causing the least amount of waste.  :-D

Fitting - Full Dress Take 2

 So for this fitting EVERYONE came :-).  Gina, Linda, Kelly and Jaclyn!  The dress came out great - although I had spent all day finishing the dress before the fitting (my planning ahead could have used some work this time), and my sewing machine quit about 5 minutes and one seam prior to people getting there.  I think it overheated, and decided it was done.  Since then, it has reawakened, and is just fine - but apparently I can't sew that much in one day.  I built the sash into this dress - but it's too low.  If you notice though, the front of the skirt has fullness now, but in the correct locations. :-D

 In the photo to the left, you can see there's a little more fabric to be taken out to fit it to Gina's butt.

And this is the dress bustled.  One thing that I made sure to do this time through making the dress was to cut each "type" of fabric in one go so that I could understand how much fabric we would need to buy to build the actual dress.  So we decided that it was time to buy fabric!  One thing that was bothering me though was the length of the dress, it's about 2-3 inches too long even with Gina's shoes on her.  Because of the layering, it means that I need to re-adjust the layers.  However, at the time, I decided it was going to be fine, and ignored the issue.  HOWEVER, knowing me, it began to bother me, and now over Xmas, I'm going to put it on her again, and find out exactly how much it's long by so that I can correct the pattern before cutting it out of the real fabric.

And for those of you who have asked - YES - this is just a practice dress.  The only piece of this dress that will be a part of the real dress is the bra cups sewn in the bodice.  YES this is a lot of work for practice - but it has been an evolution of the idea, and of the pattern.  I needed to be confident that when I cut out of the real fabric that it was going to be correct, and I wasn't going to mess up the expensive fabric.

Correcting the Pattern

So - as I said previously - the shape to the front of the layers on the skirt was incorrect.  This is because I tried to take a shortcut - and guesstimate the shape that it should be.  This meant that I ended up with fullness in the wrong locations, and not enough in the right locations.  Let me show you what I mean.

This is the shape I originally started with.  The right hand side is where I cut on the fold. (Cutting on the fold means I had the fabric doubled over under the pattern, with the fold along that edge.  Generally I cut with the fabric folded over (not every piece uses the fold) because it allows me to cut two pieces at once).  As you can see, the shape is odd, with extra fullness off to the left.  The left seam is the side seam (as I said, this issue was just on the front of the dress, the back was correct).

In order to correct this - I start with the shape of the skirt underneath.  That is the shape to the right here. It is simply copied off the skirt pattern.  It is similar to the shape that I will want eventually for the layers - but the layers need more fullness, for they are going to be somewhat poofy.

Take a look at the shape to the left.  This is the correct way to add even fullness to the skirt.  I've taken the shape above, and cut it from the bottom into even pieces.  The top is where it attaches to the skirt, so  I don't want to add any fullness there. (Although if you were adding shirring or pleats there you would need to).  Then you spread apart the bottom, and tape them apart until you get the amount of fullness that you are looking for.  Then you trace this shape on a new pattern piece, and you are all set!  

The other corrections to the pattern are fairly simple.  Taking a bit of fabric out to change the fit is simply a matter of marking the dress while it's on Gina, and then transferring those marks to the pattern, and then creating a new pattern piece.  Once all these corrections were made, I rebuilt the dress again, for a new fitting with Gina!

Fitting - the first time as the full dress

So I've been properly scolded again by Mom - as I have not updated in a while.  My apologies - things got busy - then the car got totalled (Tim was rearended - yes he's fine, and we now have another car...), then there was Thanksgiving!  So I will give the whole story through I promise.

SO - when I last was here, I had just finished the full dress for Gina's fitting!  I was a bit concerned with the amount of fabric on the front sides of the layers on the skirt - but I needed to see Gina in the dress.

Seeing Gina in the dress - I realized that yes - there was too much fabric on the side of the layers - and that the shape of the layer was slightly wrong.  I needed to rethink that shape.  The rear part of the skirt came out exactly how I wanted it to - but the front still needed some work.  Gina decided that she wanted the top of the skirt to come up about two inches as well - so I would need to accommodate that as well.  I wanted the shape of the layers to flow nicely from the front to the back - and this was not currently occurring.

 You can see the line on the dress - to the right - showing where Gina wanted the skirt to be - I also had a bit of fabric to take out to create the fit she wanted around her butt.  This is a great picture of the layering in the back - and how it turned out.

Gina had been talking about adding a sash to the dress - so I mocked up something so that she could take a look - this is a picture with that on as an option.

This is an idea as to what the dress would look like with a french bustle - it looks a little awkward in this photo - but with the skirt brought up the two inches, it should look great.  As you can see - the bustle pretty much causes the second layer to disappear in the back of the dress.

Next - I'll explain how I had to rethink the shape of the layers - and then on to the next fitting!

The Dress - Next Fitting

So I believe that the dress is ready for Gina's next fitting!  Here are a few photos.  The bodice will be covered with lace - I'm not entirely sure about the layers on the front of the dress - I think there might be a bit too much fabric there right now - but I will have to see what Gina thinks.  :-)  So here are the pictures.  The back of the dress is slightly open on the dress form because the dress form is not quite the same size as Gina.  See below! I believe if you click on the pictures in the blog - they open up to a larger picture.

Skirt!

This skirt is actually coming together! I'm so excited about it I needed to post a picture tonight....before its even really attached to the dress!

Pins

So - for those of you who have sewn before - you know that when you pin two pieces of fabric together to create a seam - you are then faced with a decision.  Will you pull out your pins just before the fabric goes under the foot of the sewing machine?  Or will you sew over your pins?  Personally - I sew over my pins - I find that my fabric moves less when I do that.  HOWEVER - this choice does tend to come with some consequences.  Such as - near misses - come often.  You can hear it when the needle nicks one of the pins - and it makes you nervous.  Why you ask does it make you nervous?  Because it breaks your needle when you nail a pin dead on.  And your pin ends up looking like this:

These things happen.....oh well. :-)

Starting the Boning

Hey Everyone, so I've officially been yelled at for not updating.  I haven't updated because my latest experiment hasn't worked out as planned....but here it is.  Mom thought people would be as interested in my mess ups as my successes.

So since my fitting with Gina - I've corrected the bodice pattern - cut it out twice (one for the dress and one for the lining).  I've also cut the underdress.  I've still got to work on the outerskirt and the layers that go with it - but I wanted to put the bodice together first.  I also added a lace up piece to the back of the dress to go underneath the rest of the dress to allow the zipper to not have pull on it.  You can see that here:

SO - boning.  The boning that I have chosen is a clear plastic boning about 1/4" wide and is covered by a white fabric case.  It is much more flexible then metal boning - plus it is much easier to manipulate and cut to size.  I started by simply hand stitching boning pieces to the seam allowance on the inside of the dress part of the bodice.  It does not lay flat in the manner that I wish - so I will be undoing that - and attempting a different technique.  Also - I was attempting to put in a set of bra cups in the bodice for Gina - but they are not fitting in the manner that I liked.  I am considering leaving them out for now - and when I have my next fitting trying it on with Gina in the dress.  Then we can make a decision about whether she needs/wants them or not.  The boning in the seams might be enough.  I was also concerned about the rise of the sweetheart neckline - and having the seam lay flat.  I took a thin piece of the plastic boning - bending it in the center, and hand stitching it into the seam.  However - it didn't turn out as I wanted - as you can see below.  So that will also be coming back out of the dress.  SO - in conclusion - I have a bunch of work to get done in the next two weeks before Gina and I have a fitting!  I've found that scheduling fittings helps keep me on schedule, as to where I would like to be.  So that's all for tonight folks - tomorrow I shall take the boning out - and try another method of attaching it!

3rd Fitting

 Yesterday, Gina and Linda and Lola came to visit me for a fitting!  Here are the pictures of Gina in the dress so far.  I have some changes to make and work on the skirt, but here's what this fitting looked like!

2nd Fitting

So the next step is to take this muslin on Gina, and make sure it fits her body in the way that she would like it to.  It needed some slight adjustments, as you can see the pins.  We also decided on a waistline.  (Shortly after we changed our mind and went to a much lower one...but moving on!).  After marking the adjustments, and removing the pins, I needed to take it apart to fix the pattern.  Samson was staying with us at the time - and he decided to help me out.  He thought I was playing with fabric just for him :-).  Silly Samson.

Once I fixed the pattern, the next step was patterning the skirt.  To start, I decided to work with just the underskirt.  It's the easy part.  I patterned a simple skirt in a similar fashion as I began the bodice.  Cutting it out, and cutting out the new bodice, I sewed them together.  I cut two bodices for this muslin, one as the lining to give Gina a better idea as to what the top would end up looking like.  Gina and I then had a great discussion on the phone about what she wanted.  We decided to go against the higher waist-line, and go with a dropped waist.  The bodice will be covered in lace down to the skirt, with the possibility of a sash under the bust - but that can be decided later.  I also cut large pieces of fabric to be able to pin to the underskirt at the next fitting to get an idea as to how the skirt was going to go together.  Next, another fitting!  Speaking of fittings, I should mention that most people wouldn't do as many fittings as Gina and I are going to.  We are for a couple of reasons.  One of which is we are still learning exactly what Gina wants - which is easier if she can get more looks at what is going on.  Second, I want to check my work as often as I can - it gives me more confidence that I am doing things correctly!  :-)  Thanks for all the support and comments on the blog people!  It's great to know someone out there is reading :-)

The Second Muslin

 Since I now have a corrected pattern, I can create the second muslin.  It's put together exactly the same way that the first, but  with slightly different shapes.  Giving the bodice princess seams eliminates the darts.  Putting two curves together can create the same shape, but without the seemingly out of place darts.  Gina and I have a fitting tomorrow afternoon, and we shall see how it fits!  We are going to look at the fit, and see how the bottom of the piece is.  See if it is now long enough, and if it is - getting the shape correct.  Once the bodice piece is complete, the next step would be to work on the skirt part - much more complicated.

Correcting the Pattern

 After the fitting, I marked where I'd pinned the hips and the side seams to correct the fit.  Once marked, I took the pins out, and cut along the drawn princess seams.  As you can see from the picture, each piece has a counterpart on the other side.  The next move is to create a new pattern with the new pieces, including the drop waist and the addition of the five inches.  To create the pattern pieces, I pinned one piece to my brown pattern paper, and drew around it with a pen.

 Once done on one side, I take the opposite side, turn it over, and re-pin the second piece.  I am lining up the waist line because that was consistent throughout the garment.  Once I draw around the second piece, I unpin it.  There will be variations between the two, and so I will have to make a compromise.

 As you can see here, I have two lines.  The line I end up going with will be halfway between.  When I make the second muslin, I will be making sure the waist line matches up.  If the tops and/or bottom of the garment doesn't line up (likely) I can easily make corrections then.

These are the completed 2nd version of the bodice pattern.  As you can see they are a very different shape from the first one.  I've also placed a picture of the originals below so that you can compare.  I've added the extra length on the bottom, and combined the basic body block and drop waist piece into one.  I've also eliminated the darts by using princess seams. The next step will be to cut a new muslin, and try it on Gina again!

The First Fitting

The next step is to put what I've currently created on Gina, and see how it fits.  The garment is currently open at the back - and will continue to be as that is where I will eventually be putting a zipper in.  Once Gina is in the top - I use safety pins to close the back.  The hips needed a bit of adjustment so I safety pinned those as well.  Once the fit of the garment was correct, we started to add princess seams, and extra fabric to the bottom.  The drop waist turned out to be about 5 inches too short - so I will add more length when I correct the patterns. Taking a sharpie, we drew in a new neckline - a sweetheart strapless neckline.  This I then cut off the top of the garment to get the look we were looking for.  Then we drew in princess seams.  I drew them on both sides - naturally which will not come out to be exactly the same.  This will be corrected later.

Before I removed the top.

After I cut off the top - sports bra's not the best, but oh well....

Working on fitting the hips.

The bodice on the dress form

...and a second view

Cutting & Making the Muslin Bodice

   Once the initial pattern has been made, I need to cut it out of muslin.  Muslin is just a cheep fabric that is easy to work with, which is a good color to show corrections on.  As you can see I've pinned the pattern to the fabric.  The fabric is doubled over - which allows me to cut two of each of the pieces in one go.  Two of the pieces are cut on the fold which makes one piece out of the two layers of fabric.  As you can see in the picture, I've drawn the seam allowance around each of the patterns in the amount of 1/2 inch on all sides, except the bottom, which has 2 inches (just in case it's too short).

  Once the pieces are cut out, I used a pounce wheel (see picture - it's the tiny spiky wheel) and transfer paper.  If you look carefully you can see the tracing marks on the fabric in the picture on the left. You place the paper folded in half between the two fabric pieces, and then run the pounce wheel over it.  This transfers little blue dot lines to the fabric.  I use this to mark both the seam edge and the edges of the darts.

Once I did this on all the pieces, I did a running stitch at the seam edge all the way around to make sure I could see where the marks were.  Then I pinned the darts, and stitched them.  The darts are done first - the you start at the top of the garment and do the seams.  I pinned and stitched the shoulders, then the sides of the bodice.  Next is the sides of the drop waist, and last I connected the drop waist and the bodice.  Once connected, I needed to do a fitting with Gina!  I've attached a few more pictures of it on the dress form from before the fitting.  See below.

The Front view

A close up of what the darts do.

The  back view