Sunday, December 13, 2009

wedding dress progress 2



still to do:
- insert zipper
- lining skirt
- hems

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Wedding dress progress

I draped the wedding dress fabrics over my dress form to get an impression how it might look later (and to motivate myself to sew the muslin).

Fabrics I have:

- 4 m of linen-silk satin, quite heavy with a nice drape, with one shiny and one dull side, and a bit of horizontal structure
- 3.5 m cotton-silk crepe chiffon with a vertical structure
- 0.5 m dull silk with shiny rhombs
- a piece of crumbled raw cotton with a more rustic look in the same shade of ivory white.

The pattern I want to use is burda 7572 but with a self drafted skirt (as a circle segment), because I do not want to cut gorgeous fabric into so many small pieces, one of my whims.





In the first picture I layered the rhomb silk and the satin for the top, the satin and the chiffon for the skirt, and used the crumbled cotton as a band in the empire waist.

In the second picture I used the shiny side of the satin for the top, the dull side for the underskirt, left the chiffon skirt open in the front, and used the rhomb silk as a band.

(The waterfall collar and the kimono-look are not intended, it is just because I did not cut the fabric yet so I could only drape it that way.)

Now I am thinking about several decisions about the design and I also have several technical questions.

Design:
1. should I use layers in the top or not
2. which fabric to use for the band
3. leave the overskirt open in the front or not
4. if so, shiny or dull side up of the underskirt?

Construction (also design-related);
5. I know how to sew an invisible zipper, but how do you insert a zipper when you have a transparent top layer? When I have lining fabric, I sew the zipper into the main fabric and hand-sew the lining to it, but that does not seem right here. Do I sew the zipper in both layers at the same time? If so, do I try to make two separate side seams below that?
6. Can and should I insert the zipper in the side seam instead of the back?
7. If I have a back zipper, can I make the overskirt from two pieces with a center back seam and the front open, and no side seam? Or would that not drape and look nice because then I have the straight grain at the side and diagonal in the front?
8. I only once made something from chiffon before and then I used a small zigzag for the hem (folded, zigzagged and then cut back the seam allowance), is that the best hem option here?
9. all fabrics can be machine-washed (gentle cycle) according to the online-shop, should I pre-wash or not?
10. Do I have to cut the chiffon overskirt bigger than the satin underskirt?

Saturday, October 24, 2009

SWAP 2010 planning

I Digged out my blog again to share my plans and progress in the SWAP contest: http://artisanssquare.com/sg/index.php/topic, 8747.0.html

If I try to be realistic, I think I can't join the SWAP this time. I have too many other sewing plans. Most importantly my wedding dress. Something nice for Christmas. Some warm clothes for a winter vacation. My outfit for my husband's PhD-defense. And I can not make much time for sewing because I have to work on my own thesis, too!

Also, concerning my daily wardrobe, at the moment it is wiser to sew pieces to combine with things I already have. But for hot weather ... I do not even have enough pieces to fill in gaps, there is just one big gap and a SWAP would give my summer wardrobe a quick start. After the rules were posted, I had a 2-dresses-plan four hours later, I could not help it, I love planning. I think of a classy style based on black, beige and brown and white with some rust, and some Asiatic elements. This sounds pretty much like what I had planned for my first SWAP, but now for summer. Back then I made the mistake to try to include garments for all seasons.

I participated in two SWAP and never finished, but I made some of my most useful clothes and fabrics from these plans, also long after the deadline. Summer clothes are quick to sew ...