Hi Dear Needlework Friends!
Note: part Two of this dress can be found here!
starting to drape...
I am so happy with getting this old blue sheet from Sergio's house, and making it into this dress... It is ALMOST finished, and I was keen to share it here today - so am doing Part One here now. I'll be working further on the waist belt with button closures, and may still add big pockets into the front below the bib.
draping the front panels, and trying to see how much of the full skirt I can make from one half of the sheet...
The fabric is not-quite-cotton, and seems to have a slightly synthetic type of sheen - which I don't like as much as pure cotton, but I already began the dress before I realised this. Still it's a really nice colour and has a subtle stretch, which makes it sit interestingly - plus makes it good for sewing.
I've enjoyed very much the learning process as I made this garment, especially around this different fabric; finding it more 'forgiving' than tight-weave cotton, for sure.
Again, as I've done with most of the long dresses I've made this year (my Year Of Needlework Mastery), I first cut the sheet in half, and then used one half to make the skirt. I had a feeling in my mind, which I'd kind of made a sketch of, with the core shape of vertical panels front and back centres, then a ruched aspect to each side. I like how this would be elongating of the figure but at the same time accentuating the hips.
I liked also how this would allow for a high waist, and for the use of elastic in the ruching - which would then resolve the putting-on challenge - i.e. it wouldn't need a zip! I like this way of learning-on-the-job, where I figure out what to resolve an issue with NOT by referencing this or that technique, but by going directly to what works best and looks nicest for me! YEh!
ruching the sides
draping the back panel...
The top of the dress was quite difficult and it took me a day or two between each stage! Each time I make a bib or a top of a dress, I am trying to master better the tailoring and fit of it.
My mannequin is a bit off my measurements too: I may have to get out a big carving knife and shape her more accurately! Either way, I was working this time between mannequin and myself. Not so easy repinning on one's self.
putting darts into the front and back panels...
I did a lot of machine stitching on this dress, which is still quite new for me. Usually I slow down and take more care, rather than rushing in with the machine. This time I genuinely thought that I could finish the garment in a day, but that was last Wednesday or suchlike... since 'failing' to finish it the first day, I went through all kinds of doubts about my abilities and ingenuity, before almost finishing it today.
I took multiple bibs and top-half structures on and off the dress form, before finalising the shape!
...and the final shape required nipping and tucking over several days - long pauses between actions!
It is good to be confronted with our neuroses, in a garment - or any creative project - not unfolding precisely how our mind dictates: it is GOOD to challenge the ego, one's patience, our creative stamina and endurance of concentration. I love making waves in my inadequacies, by persevering and then finally getting there ... even though it feels like I'm limping over the finishing line way after all the other competitors!
I love how the fabric seemed to form naturally into this dress
Repeating similar dress forms is interesting and helpful to my mastery, too. It helps my learning, to have insight into the myriad ways that one garment can be draped; the multifarious closures or ties that can be added - and how every single step can take an entirely different trajectory, depending on how I dive in...
(above: some close-ups of both machine and hand-stitching)
