Houston

As I mentioned in my last post, we went to Houston and Austin this past week. In addition to hearing some great live music, hiking in the Hill Country, and eating some great food, we visited some wedding related stores. Kathryn Ledet, Becky and I went to Hi-Fashion Fabric and BHLDN Bridal Store. The primary purpose to visit Hi-Fashion Fabrics was to buy horsehair braid for the skirt and petticoat hems. I successfully accomplished that mission. And amazingly, I did not buy any material. It was hard-they had some beautiful Italian and Swiss cotton that would make gorgeous shirts, blouses and shirt dresses. The BHLDN Bridal shop was well worth a visit. Becky looked at some dresses as sister of the bride. Surprisingly, they do not have that as a specific dress category. We did find some cute dresses and little cashmere sweaters to keep the chill of the shoulders. The collection of wedding dresses was quite nice. Becky characterized it as the Anthropologie of bridal gown stores. I looked at the dress construction and picked up some ideas for our project. I will definitely add another layer of tulle to the petticoat. I found out how they used the horsehair braid in the skirt hems and got some more ideas on how to sew the chiffon onto the bodice. We saw the pair of shoes Ginny is interested in. They looked very nice and should be contenders in the wedding shoe derby.

The Corset

I finished the corset tonight.  It is made from cotton and has four ribs made from boning.  I finished the top edge with a 2 inch wide bias strip of the cotton/silk blend.  The opening has a row of hooks and eyes as the closure.  I used a pattern that Ginny has used before.  However, I need too fit it on her to make sure it fits right.  I am concerned that it is too big.  The bust and waist seem about 3 inches too big.  If it is too big, I will just start over.

Here are the pictures.

Inside of corset showing the boning.  The seam has been hand stitched to the body to the seam flat and prevent fraying.

The hook side of the opening.  I used a tape of hooks and eyes.

The opening showing the hooks and eyes.

The bias binding along the top edge.
 

The front of the corset.

Did you know Alexander McQueen's first job after he graduated from St. Martins was with a corset maker in London?  I think designing and constructing corsets give you a great perspective on how to make a dress look great through the right structure underneath the fashion fabric.  

I will be on vacation next week visiting Becky in Houston.  My next post will be in two weeks when I start on the bodice.

The petticoat

My focus has now shifted to the underpinnings of the dress--the petticoat and the corset.  I started with the petticoat. No real reason it came first, it is just where I decided to start.

One of the fun things about sewing is shaping two dimensional fabric into a three dimensional garment. The petticoat is interesting in this respect because it fabricated from tulle, a lightweight fabric with lots of body, to create of volume.  The petticoat itself also adds dimension to the skirt, making it look a lot less like an Amish dress. 

Here are the two fabric used to make the petticoat.  The lining is white silk twill.  The tulle is attached to the lining and provides the volume.  Here are the fabrics in the two dimensional state.  The tulle is on the top.

I used the petticoat pattern from Big Blue (Butterick 4792) as a guide.  I made this petticoat only half as voluminous a Big Blue.  The wedding dress' hem is only 10 feet in circumference versus Big Blue's hem at 20 feet.  The lining is semi-circular skirt.  The tulle is attached 8 1/2 inches below the waist so it continues the curve of the hips, but does not add to the circumference of the hips.  I started with 24 feet of tulle and gathered using a 5 to 1 ratio.  Hence the clouds of tulle I referenced in the last post.  The tulle is 17 inches long.  

Here is the petticoat on the dress form.

I will finish the waist with a bias strip and add a hook and eye to close the side opening.  The petticoat will be a separate piece from the dress.

The lining will be cut to the correct length during the dress fitting in April.  I will sew horsehair braid to the hem of the lining.  This will help provide the volume for the skirt.  If need be, I can add another layer of tulle at the bottom of the petticoat.  That will be determined when the skirt is hemmed to its finished length with horsehair braid in its hem.

Here is a picture of the dress over the petticoat.  Right now the skirt is about 7 to 8 inches too long and the extra fabric is weighting the petticoat down.  However, it is apparent the petticoat makes a difference when compared to the picture without the petticoat.

With petticoat

Without petticoat