Hi All,

No new news on the dress.  It is exciting to see more activity on the blog.

I understand that some of you have had problems publishing comments.  So, I guess as the owner of this blog, I have some responsibility to find out what the issue may be and resolve it.  Being an neophyte blogger, it may take some time to figure this out.  Please hang in there.

If you have a comment and cannot post it, please send it to me or Ginny via e-mail and we can post it for you.

My next post will be this weekend assuming I emerge unscathed from the clouds of tulle as I make the petticoat.

Judy

Guest Blogger: the First Fitting (Part 2)

The Bodice

The last post covered the skirt, and asked some very profound questions about the shoes.  Now it's time to move on to the bodice.

The bodice I have more comments on, which isn't surprising given that we didn't have a pattern to work from for it.  I am suggesting two changes to the bodice:

1) Make the straps of the under-layer thinner so the sleeves can be directly over the shoulder (a little bit like this).  You'll see the picture below I marked with blue pencil where I want the straps to end (the mark is at the very top of the shoulder).  If you look closely, I also pinned in some extra material on the princess seam above the bust.

2)  A deeper v in the back (a la Aunt Sue's comment earlier).  I've suggested dropping the v-neck about 2 inches to where the seams meet in the back.  I've marked it with a small blue dot. (second picture).  Mom and I can play around with the neckline in April.

Since we're talking about the top half of the dress, let's discuss jewelry.  You'll notice in the first picture I am wearing a necklace of multiple strings of small, unpolished pearls.  This is the necklace I was thinking of wearing with the dress.  Aunt Sue is also indulging my inner magpie by sending some beautiful vintage broaches to wear at the waist:

I'm a bit torn on this one.  I like the idea of adding color (left), but the pearl one is pretty spectacular.  Would it be too much to put one on the waist and another on the chapeau?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.  For those who had trouble commenting, the only suggestion I can make is that you try in a different browser.

Guest Blogger: The First Fitting (Part 1)

Hello blog readers, it's the blushing bride here.  I'll be guest blogging this week as I am in possession of the dress for the time being.  Mom will be chiming in later about the corset and the petticoats, which she can work on without the dress.

First off, that skirt material is beautiful.  Y'all have to feel it when you come to the celebrations.  And just imagine, it doesn't even have the lace appliqued to it yet.

I just completed my first fitting.  Because we are designing the dress ourselves, this fitting was a bit different than a traditional wedding dress fitting, which focuses only on whether the dress matches the bride's figure.  Our first fitting also involved me commenting on the design.  Because--as anyone who has ever met me knows--I have a lot of opinions, I am going to break this up into two posts, one on the skirt, and another on the bodice.

Overall, I think we're on the right track.  The measurements Mom took at Christmas were pretty spot on, and it fit very well.  Here's me in the dress:

You'll notice the hem looks a bit funny.  I pinned up the front of the dress 4.5", which is I think about where I'm going to want the hem.  I decided not to do a full hemming now because I want to wait until the petticoats are underneath before I make the final call.  The petticoats will "poof" the skirt out a bit and make it look more retro.  It will also make the shape a bit more dramatic.  What do you guys think?  Am I on the right track with the hem length?  Should we have some tulle hanging out the bottom like this dress?  Or, should we keep the tulle tucked away and let the lace applique that will be added later do the talking?

Also, Mom, where are my pockets?  A girl needs pockets!

Finally, since I have the floor and we are talking about the bottom half, I might as well ask our loyal readers about the shoes.  The ones I am wearing in the picture are about the height I hope to wear with the dress (~2 3/4").  One complication is that some of the celebrations will literally be in people's backyards, complete with sod.  That will make heels a bit more challenging.  Here are some of the ideas that have been thrown out so far (many from Aunt Sue, who y'all might have noticed has impeccable taste):

1.  The stunners

2.  The sod friendly retro shoes

3.  The less sod friendly retro shoes

You'll notice I like the idea of adding some color in the mix.  Thoughts?  Suggestions?

Later this week: the bodice (an jewelry, and anything else I feel like talking about; Mom might regret giving me the administrator password).

The dress is in the air

Just a quick update.  The dress is on its way to LA for its first fitting.  I basted the muslim top to the skirts.  Ginny will try it on and identify alterations needed and the hem line for the skirt.  (She needs to get those Manolo's to get the hem length right.)  Maybe we can get a guest blog from the bride-to-be about how the first fitting goes.

As many of you most likely know, this is NY Fashion Week.  I have downloaded "The Collection" app from the New York Times to my iPad.  It shows the runway looks among several other features.  The Alice+Olivia show was posted 47 minutes ago and shows some designs with skirts similar to the skirt on "the dress".  A+O uses tulle for the overlay (vs. the crepe de chine I am using) for a very nice effect.  I wonder if they are using an underskirt petticoat to get the desire shape.

I am off to Cleveland for a business trip this week.  I get to spend three days with grape growers in the Marriott airport hotel.  On the plus side, these guys know their wine, so cocktail hour is worhtwhile.  Somehow, I do not think they will be very interested in the dress project.  Until later, happy seams to you.

Playing around with some more fabric

I took the opportunity to experiment with draping chiffon on the bodice to create the ruched surplice effect of the design.  I pulled some polyester floral print chiffon from my stash (glad I saved these remnants) for the project.  I expect the silk chiffon will have a much more fluid hand than the polyester stuff.  However, this remnant seemed to serve its purpose.

I cut three pieces of chiffon on the grain and gathered the ends using a ratio of 4:1.  I also ran gathering stitches about avery 8 inches to help drape the fabric and get the gathers positioned evenly.  I removed the gathering stitches in the middle of the piece before I took the pictures.  Two of the pieces provide the surplice design element.  These pieces also form the cap sleeves.  The third piece goes across the front just below the bust to the waist and is parallel to the waist.

Today, I just pinned the pieces together on the front.  For the actual construction I will hand sew these onto the bodice front and back.

Here is how I put it together.

First I pinned the waist piece on.

I then added the first surplice piece.

I finished it with the second piece.

This approach eliminates any bodice gathers being sewn into the waist seam.  The orientation of the gathers diagonally and around the waist should emphasize an hourglass figure and accentuate the bust (always a good thing for a Zaunbrecher girl).

Based on the work today, I am going to take the cap sleeves off the bodice.  I don't need them for construction and they don't add anything to the design.

Overall, I think this will work.  And it is looking less like a Amish dress than before.

Just a note on my blog statistics.  It has gone international.  I have three hits from Thailand (obviously Ginny), one from Russia and one from the Ukraine.

The Bodice--Playing around with fabric

I have sewn one approach for the bodice.  I constructed it with princess line seams, a wide v-neck and cap sleeves.  The left side has been kept open for now.  A zipper and hooks and eyes will be used to close this seam in the finished garment.  

If this approach is taken, the piece shown below would be constructed from crepe de chine underlined with silk organza.  Silk chiffon would be draped over this bodice.  The bodice would be attached to the corset, providing stability.  I might make a harness to hold the shoulders in place.  The use of a harness for this purpose was commonly used by Christobal Ballenciaga.

Here are pictures of the practice bodice (called a toile) on the dress form.  The skirt has been pinned to the bodice.

This is the front.  (Don't you just love the tire iron in the background.)

Here is the back.

I think this approach could work.  The neckline seems to be what we were looking for in the design.  The cap sleeves will provide a structure to tack the chiffon to and keep it from slipping off the shoulder.

I will baste the skirt to the bodice and send it to Ginny for a trial fit.  

I will keep playing around with the alternative approach I outlined in my last blog post.

The Bodice--Some thoughts on construction

I've been thinking about the best way to make the bodice.  The original plan was to construct the base layer of the bodice from a New Look V-neck dress pattern Ginny has used in the past.  However, I am concerned the shape of the V-neck will not be what we are aiming for.

I have looked through several on-line pattern books--Vogue, Butterick, McCalls, Simplicity, Marfy, Burda, and New Look--plus examined various dresses on department store websites to come up with a different approach for the bodice.  The intent is to deliver the same design.

The new approach is to made the base bodice from the crepe de chine and cotton/silk material using a strapless bodice pattern.  I will then drape the chiffon over this strapless bodice to get the effect Ginny is looking for.  The Chiffon will then be hand sewn to the strapless bodice underlayer.  This will require the actual presence of Ginny to achieve.  Fortunately, she is planning to visit Boston in late April.  That will be perfect timing to do this.

In the meantime, I will cut a practice bodice from Muslin and try this out on the dress form.

So--what do you think?