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

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.