Progress report - Tues 26 Oct

Last weekend I finally cut into the white silk dupion and organza (for underlining)! I cut up all the pieces and have started to hand-baste the layers, and overcasting the seams... it's of course taking ages...

Have also (sort of) decided on the details for the bodice... finally... (until I change my mind again I'm sure). I will probably have pleated/ruched dupion at the top of the bodice (underlined) and a band going across the empire line potentially along with a little bow... 

Bridesmaid dress - almost done!

After A LOT of handsewing, the bridesmaid dress is now almost finished! Here are a few in-progress and inside-out photos:

As the dress is made of silk dupion, I had to underline it with silk organza to prevent seam slippage. I used a (really useful!) technique for the skirt pieces - flatlining with a Hong Kong finish which meant that the organza wrapped around the dupion at the seams so I didn't need to overcast the vertical skirt seams. 


The picture above shows the neckline stay on both the bodice and lining with strips of silk organza, and the grading & understitching on the neckline (so that the fashion fabric seam allowance is stitched to the lining to keep it flat where worn) and also the clipped princess seams to make it lie flat. 

Now please bear with me, the red dressform really steals the thunder of the pink dress! It's a lovely bright pink colour! I will certainly take more photos when my beautiful bridesmaid tries it on.

So the things left to do on this dress are:

• Fittings;
• Adding a waist stay (the stay is ready but i just want to make sure it fits perfectly)
• When ready, insert the centre zipper;
• Finish the bottom of the bodice lining - I'm still deciding on what to do (nobody will see it but I still want it to be finished);
• Hem (still to decide whether horsehair braid is needed); and
• Embellishment for the waistline. The pattern (simplicity 4070 - I made a view E this time) calls for a medium width band (in the same colour as the dress) with a corsage. I was simply experimenting in the last picture. 

Any ideas would be very welcome! 

First very brief attempt at my bouquet

As Autumn sets in, I decided to take advantage of my garden roses before the flowers all disappear. So I had a very brief attempt at making my bouquet. It's of course quite small (due to the number of nice-looking flowers available at this time of year in my front and back garden) but I don't think it's too bad an attempt as far as first attempt goes. So here it is:

I have not bothered with the ribbons etc, but relied on my little rose kit and some wires which are originally for sealing sandwich bags (these are what I had readily available...) but I'm sure my next attempt will look even better! 


Off to cutting the silk dupion for my bridesmaid's dress now! and finishing off the overcasting for my lining. Hope to report back with the results soon! 

Lining for the bridesmaid dress

I've been doing a few hours of hand sewing this weekend and felt like I've not got very far... overcasting takes sooo long! So as a break, I decided to shop for the lining of my bridesmaid dress (I've been looking for the right shade of pink for a while to match the silk dupion but simply couldn't track it down). Instead, I saw this fabric and thought it would make a funky twist to the dress! It's perfect as it matches the colour scheme... 

As you can see, the bodice will be the same as my wedding dress (but obviously in pink). I've sewn store-bought boning channels in the seams with spiral steel boning in. I will also add a waist stay later on when we do the fitting (closer to the wedding). 

Now the colours are not showing too well here given my red dress form (also I didn't worry about adjusting the size for now as the toile fit my bridesmaid well - only used it for photo purposes), but I think it's great and Katy - I hope you like it (but do let me know if you don't though!)