Dearest Needleworker Friends - I am so excited to share with you all today!
I just got my photographs organised nicely, and am trying to put them together here in chronological order, though I don't work in a linear fashion, as you should know by now!
This week I worked on multiple needlework projects, used my sewing machine more than usual, and brought some elements together into a happy summer outfit which I am very excited to wear soon - it just got ragingly hot here in south Italy. Above is the most successful aspect of what I created: the bordered underskirt and the dress-shirt/ shirtdress on top...
The dress-shirt was made from this, above: a kind of duvet or giant cushion cover, which I had used the other side of in a different project.
And the underskirt was made from this old-school nightgown, below:
For the latter, the underskirt, first I chopped off the skirt part, leaving space for the waistband with elastic inside...
...and then removed a beautiful strip of this lovely stitchwork, from one of my many vintage cushion covers. It was a RIDICULOUSLY laborious job, to unstitch these tiny vintage stitches!
... and sewed it into the bottom of the new skirt. It was a joy to take the rumpled needlework and lovingly untangle it, then to iron it into its original perfection once more...
Sewing it into the bottom border was a very satisfying work, also: I made several runs with the machine, in white thread, to secure the organic form of the stitching in place.
The finished skirt is really beautiful, for me! My perfect underskirt: cool cotton for summer, but also a sufficient layering piece for winter. A nice length, and glorious border to show under another skirt/ dress of either white or of a contrasting colour: I love a visible underskirt - when it's suitably gorgeous!
A final detail I added: to differentiate the front from the back. This was the first time I consciously made the skirt bigger at the back, which helps a lot in how it sits on my body - I have a lovely large behind! - a few red stitches sewn into the back of the waistband, help me if I'm in a rush, to know which way around it goes!
Onwards with the shirtdress: I draped the vintage cotton from the duvet/ cushion cover, onto my mannequin, and explored how this inner diamond-shaped edging might be reinforced to create a neckline...
Whilst also shaping the back: I wanted a tent-like structure, overall, and was thinking that I could half-belt it finally, if I could get the integral form to fall right on the body...
Jumping forward to the final piece: you can see where I belted it, and how the underskirt sits below the dress - though imperfectly positioned here in the photo!
This basic form was what I'd imagined initially, though I had to tweak and play with the sleeve form a fair bit.
And I added these wedges, triangles of more beautiful old white cotton from another bed linen something-or-other, to the front and back middle-seams of the dress... then sewed the hem neatly. Most of this work was done by first pinning on the mannequin, and then taking the dress over to the machine to sew with a simple stitch. VERY rewarding work!
This is the top of one of the triangles: you can see some of the original stitching, which so beautifully complements the shapes I cut into the form.
Another example; the shoulders have this perfect wee swirl, which sits nicely where the curve of the shoulder begins. I love how details like this 'happen' to fall so fortuitously.
Some details of how the back cascades, and below, how the floral details are - I adored this cover as soon as I saw it on the 50c or the 1 Euro stall: it has such beautiful simplicity and sacred geometry, and I adore bringing that focus OUT OF the domestic setting and into the public realm, as it were, by making it into clothing which highlights the lovely details...
And the belt: this was a bit messy - not as perfect as I wanted it to be - probably because I was too excited to finish, and rushed the trimming around the belt holes. 😏
I hummed and hawed about what belt buckle to put on it - and ended up loving this plastic clicker: then I took an old apron strap and made it into a belt.
It was SUCH A DELIGHT to put the belt on for the first time: at least to me, it looks splendid!
Some final details of close-up on the neckline: this was the original shaping of the edges of this internal hole, which I assume was for a duvet or small mattress cover. I love the edges, and again, wanted to feature them in the dress. This is the front:
And the back:
And the whole front again: as I mentioned before, I didn't line up the underskirt so well as I might have, but it gives you the over-all view of how it worked out. 😍 😇 I'm just starting to use the iron for the first time, in preparing fabrics during and after sewing - it's a powerful tool!
And finally... to give you an idea of some of the steps I have to carry the mannequin up, to get to the top street for photographing!
