Monday, September 12, 2011

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. 

8 comments:

Karin said...

Wow, even the pieces look luscious! If you have time while you are in London, do let me know!

Peter Lappin said...

So far this is looking fantastic!

Meg said...

Godspeed, my dear. You seem much cooler than I would be, but I do freak easily.

Eugenia said...

I am so impressed by all your amazing work on this dress. Your fabric looks gorgeous and it's all coming together so nicely. I am looking forward to following your progress on this wonderful project!

Sheryll said...

Not boring at all! I love following your progress, this is going to be awesome!

kbenco said...

Your fabric looks incredibly luxe. It is very dedicated of you to take bits of it travelling!

Kimbersew said...

This could never be boring for me! (not to discourage giveaways of course!) It looks spectacular! and if you are feeling it, allow yourself the freedom to vary from the pattern on the sleevey hand-stitching. If you make the swirls your own, then markings be damned. Don't forget to look up at things in the distance from time to time. Give your eyes a rest and enjoy the view!

Sheila said...

The dress is going to be amazing, just looking at the pieces laid out tells me so. Safe travels.