Progress on the Project Dress

Well, it had to be done. With Magenta's wedding approaching and a business trip to London looming, I cancelled my weekend plans in order to sequester myself for a sewing blitz. I spent both mornings cutting, both afternoons at the sewing machine, and both evenings hand sewing.

I made the decision to underline the dress in silk organza. Even though this meant more cutting, I think it was smart for a number of reasons. First, the crepe back satin is very soft, drapey and stretches a little; the organza will support and stabilize it. Also, I've transferred all of the pattern markings to the organza, which has spared me the need to use tailors tacks to transfer the markings. I'm completely inept with tailors tacks. Finally, the underlining will give me a way to sew the hem invisibly (I'll sew it to the underlining and not thru to the satin).

Here's the progress report, in pictures.

The dress pieces are cut in both satin and in the organza underlining and basted together by hand with silk thread.

I also basted in the pleats on the front bodice. (Side note: I'm in love with this fabric. It looks so very luxe in person. And the draping - even underlined - is gorgeous!)

LOVE!

The sleeves, which will be coming with me to London, are basted and all the markings are transferred to the organza side.

This is what I will be hand stitching in London.

I spent a large chunk of yesterday cutting and then sewing bias strips of all shapes and sizes in silk georgette. I do not recommend this. The bias cut georgette stretches to an unbelievable extent, getting very long and narrow, which distorts all the markings. What a pain!

 

Finally, I sewed up the lining, which is ready to be dropped into the dress whenever it's done. The lining front has two fisheye darts, which run from the underside of the bust to the waist. I had never sewn a fish eye dart before - what great shape they give! 

And that is where I am! This week's tasks include hand picking the zipper, basting all the pleats on the neckline ruffles, and basting the dress together.

I hope my blog doesn't get too boring over the next 2 1/2 weeks. It's mostly going to be progress reports on the dress. So, I plan to also throw in a few giveaways for those of you who do stop by to check on my progress.