Dressdiary: Black brocade gown
Dec. 5th, 2010 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzA week before the big event, I decided that Marianne would have a second dress so she could change for the wedding of Ellenora & Fedor. I spent the week frantically sewing on this black brocade number, documenting the process just so I would have another dress diary to show you.
The pattern is the same as the purple dress Marianne wears.
I figured in stead of wearing my (not too comfortable bodies) I'd add a support structure to the gown itself. But steel boning can't be washed, so I needed a means to remove the bones, and I thought I had it all figured out.
I started this project by finding back my coutil and started work on the support structure lining. I used coutil for this lining, which is very sturdy and can take the strain of strapping me in.
In the above picture you can see I lengthened the support lining pattern piece a bit in the front for extra tummy control.
From scraps of coutil, I sewed boning pouches on the insides. It sounds more disgusting than it is. Actually, it's just a bit of coutil, sewn down, and then stitched with boning channels.
These will accomodate 7mm bones perfectly. I had no idea at the time how many bones I would need or want at the center-front, but I could always add more.
At the side-back opening, I added bone casings, overlapping the raw edge and seam allowance. You don't have to remove the bones very often (you'll be wearing a chemise underneath the gown, so it won't get too dirty unless you spill your cocktail on it) and coutil doesn't fray too badly, so I didn't do anything to the edges. They're just turned under the bone casing.
When I sewed these down, I left a bit open on one side (the inside seam) so I could access and remove the boning when needed.
If you're wondering about grommet space: the grommets for the side-back opening will be on the right side of the bone, so the bone will keep the fabric taught. Just like with bodies and corsets.
The front and back panels with all the bone casing sewn down. (My photography skills are not so good at this time. I apologise, I'm normally a bit better with a camera)
The back will be minimally boned, just to keep the fabric tight without buckling. There will be bones next to the opening and some extra bones on the front panel to keep the ladies under control.
Each bone casing is sewn down with a gap on one side so the bones can be removed.
If you have trouble visualising, it looks a bit like this:
Since the support lining is only attached at the top of the dress and I'm counting on gravity to keep everything in place, I add some bias tape to finish off the bottom hems. Also, it adds extra support to the bottom of the boning channels. An extra row of stitching can't hurt.
Time for some tough choices! Now, which side to pick as the "right" side of the fabric... in the end I choose for satin flowers on a non-shiny background. It makes the flowers stand out more.
(The top half of the picture).
I draw a line over the center of the brocade flower piece and align my pattern piece so that it's center front is exactly on that center. Picking where exactly to place your pattern pieces can be the difference between a nice dress and a stunning dress, especially when working with patterned fabric!
And just because I'm a sucker for punishment and I should just be able to squeeze the dress out of the fabric I got, I pattern-match the bottom edge of the front bodice piece with the top edge of the skirt. Take care you don't forget your seam allowances!
Since the front bit of the skirts will not be pleated, this should make for a stunning look....if it works, that is.
The back skirts are pleated. I use knife pleats towards center-back, where the two sides meet.
I was inspired by The Tudor Tailor book by Ninya Mikhaila and Jane Malcolm-Davies.
The pleats also cover up the center-back seam, which will be virtually invisible unless someone starts digging in all those pleats.
The skirts are made of three pieces. The front piece is not very wide, but it's gored to create fullness. The two back pieces are slightly gored, but nearly as wide as they can go on the top to allow for massive pleating and plus-plus fullness in the back.
The only thing I'm ashamed about is that because I was constrained by the amount of fabric I had, the skirt pieces are not aligned vertically -- the brocade flowers are not at the same height all over the dress. Luckily, the front is pattern-matched and the back is so full you won't see it.
(Seriously, what kind of person THINKS about those things...?)
The bodice is constructed by attaching the outside brocade to the support lining like so.
The inside layer is all done, no more raw edges. The brocade just has its seam-allowance turned and pressed under, and then is topstitched to the support layer.
I add an extra row of topstitching on either side of where the grommets will be, so there will be no ugly shifting near the openings.
After everything's put together, it's time for some grommets!
As you can see, this is the back panel, and I took care to aligh my pattern piece of the bodice on the brocade as well. Isn't it shiny!?
After placing the eyelets/grommets into the dress, it's time to make some boning. Always wear protective goggles if you're cutting into metal!
After cutting the boning to size, adding metal caps to the bones (no tape!) the bones are placed in their channels. This is not as easy as I thought it would be... the gaps really need to be quite large or you'll bend your bones!
I give the camera to NoKey, who is a disaster with camera's. At least he didn't decapitate me this time.
Time for a fitting! The dress fits...but only just. I usually wear my pink bodies underneath the purple version of this gown but I always forget: wool twill stretches. Cotton brocade does not.
It's a miracle I could get into the dress, and we can't quite close the openings, and NoKey starts pinning the hem.
Unfortunately, the compression of my ribcage is starting to hurt. Around my midriff, I'm getting pains and I'm having trouble breathing. We take the dress off again, and the project is officially a disaster.
I thought that perhaps the support garment would be a good enough substitute for bodys, but the compression happens differently. The closures are at the side back and there's two of them, so chances are you lace up lop-sidedly. My pink bodies lace up at the center front, and they lace bottom-to-top. These lace top-to-bottom.
*Sigh*
And there was lots of wrinkling too.
But there were other problems as well. As soon as I put the gown on for the first time (the first time!!) there was a bone escaping. The gros-grain ribbon I used and had hoped would be strong enough is definitely not strong enough to keep the bones in.
Also, the bones are quite bent when I remove them from the dress.
I decide to finish the hem anyway, I can always donate it to the event. It only needs hemming!
Look at the pattern matching! It worked!
Lisa insisted on helping with the photographs.
So, no pretty new dress for me, but I learned a ton of things. I'm sure my larp event will be happy to claim it for their monsters, and I got to work with pretty things!
The pattern is the same as the purple dress Marianne wears.
I figured in stead of wearing my (not too comfortable bodies) I'd add a support structure to the gown itself. But steel boning can't be washed, so I needed a means to remove the bones, and I thought I had it all figured out.
I started this project by finding back my coutil and started work on the support structure lining. I used coutil for this lining, which is very sturdy and can take the strain of strapping me in.
In the above picture you can see I lengthened the support lining pattern piece a bit in the front for extra tummy control.
From scraps of coutil, I sewed boning pouches on the insides. It sounds more disgusting than it is. Actually, it's just a bit of coutil, sewn down, and then stitched with boning channels.
These will accomodate 7mm bones perfectly. I had no idea at the time how many bones I would need or want at the center-front, but I could always add more.
At the side-back opening, I added bone casings, overlapping the raw edge and seam allowance. You don't have to remove the bones very often (you'll be wearing a chemise underneath the gown, so it won't get too dirty unless you spill your cocktail on it) and coutil doesn't fray too badly, so I didn't do anything to the edges. They're just turned under the bone casing.
When I sewed these down, I left a bit open on one side (the inside seam) so I could access and remove the boning when needed.
If you're wondering about grommet space: the grommets for the side-back opening will be on the right side of the bone, so the bone will keep the fabric taught. Just like with bodies and corsets.
The front and back panels with all the bone casing sewn down. (My photography skills are not so good at this time. I apologise, I'm normally a bit better with a camera)
The back will be minimally boned, just to keep the fabric tight without buckling. There will be bones next to the opening and some extra bones on the front panel to keep the ladies under control.
Each bone casing is sewn down with a gap on one side so the bones can be removed.
If you have trouble visualising, it looks a bit like this:
__ | | | | | | | | | | __
Since the support lining is only attached at the top of the dress and I'm counting on gravity to keep everything in place, I add some bias tape to finish off the bottom hems. Also, it adds extra support to the bottom of the boning channels. An extra row of stitching can't hurt.
Time for some tough choices! Now, which side to pick as the "right" side of the fabric... in the end I choose for satin flowers on a non-shiny background. It makes the flowers stand out more.
(The top half of the picture).
I draw a line over the center of the brocade flower piece and align my pattern piece so that it's center front is exactly on that center. Picking where exactly to place your pattern pieces can be the difference between a nice dress and a stunning dress, especially when working with patterned fabric!
And just because I'm a sucker for punishment and I should just be able to squeeze the dress out of the fabric I got, I pattern-match the bottom edge of the front bodice piece with the top edge of the skirt. Take care you don't forget your seam allowances!
Since the front bit of the skirts will not be pleated, this should make for a stunning look....if it works, that is.
The back skirts are pleated. I use knife pleats towards center-back, where the two sides meet.
I was inspired by The Tudor Tailor book by Ninya Mikhaila and Jane Malcolm-Davies.
The pleats also cover up the center-back seam, which will be virtually invisible unless someone starts digging in all those pleats.
The skirts are made of three pieces. The front piece is not very wide, but it's gored to create fullness. The two back pieces are slightly gored, but nearly as wide as they can go on the top to allow for massive pleating and plus-plus fullness in the back.
The only thing I'm ashamed about is that because I was constrained by the amount of fabric I had, the skirt pieces are not aligned vertically -- the brocade flowers are not at the same height all over the dress. Luckily, the front is pattern-matched and the back is so full you won't see it.
(Seriously, what kind of person THINKS about those things...?)
The bodice is constructed by attaching the outside brocade to the support lining like so.
The inside layer is all done, no more raw edges. The brocade just has its seam-allowance turned and pressed under, and then is topstitched to the support layer.
I add an extra row of topstitching on either side of where the grommets will be, so there will be no ugly shifting near the openings.
After everything's put together, it's time for some grommets!
As you can see, this is the back panel, and I took care to aligh my pattern piece of the bodice on the brocade as well. Isn't it shiny!?
After placing the eyelets/grommets into the dress, it's time to make some boning. Always wear protective goggles if you're cutting into metal!
After cutting the boning to size, adding metal caps to the bones (no tape!) the bones are placed in their channels. This is not as easy as I thought it would be... the gaps really need to be quite large or you'll bend your bones!
I give the camera to NoKey, who is a disaster with camera's. At least he didn't decapitate me this time.
Time for a fitting! The dress fits...but only just. I usually wear my pink bodies underneath the purple version of this gown but I always forget: wool twill stretches. Cotton brocade does not.
It's a miracle I could get into the dress, and we can't quite close the openings, and NoKey starts pinning the hem.
Unfortunately, the compression of my ribcage is starting to hurt. Around my midriff, I'm getting pains and I'm having trouble breathing. We take the dress off again, and the project is officially a disaster.
I thought that perhaps the support garment would be a good enough substitute for bodys, but the compression happens differently. The closures are at the side back and there's two of them, so chances are you lace up lop-sidedly. My pink bodies lace up at the center front, and they lace bottom-to-top. These lace top-to-bottom.
*Sigh*
And there was lots of wrinkling too.
But there were other problems as well. As soon as I put the gown on for the first time (the first time!!) there was a bone escaping. The gros-grain ribbon I used and had hoped would be strong enough is definitely not strong enough to keep the bones in.
Also, the bones are quite bent when I remove them from the dress.
I decide to finish the hem anyway, I can always donate it to the event. It only needs hemming!
Look at the pattern matching! It worked!
Lisa insisted on helping with the photographs.
So, no pretty new dress for me, but I learned a ton of things. I'm sure my larp event will be happy to claim it for their monsters, and I got to work with pretty things!
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no subject
Date: 2010-12-05 12:10 pm (UTC)I love the patternmatching. I'm too lazy for that, which is why I avoid patterned fabrics.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-05 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-05 12:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-05 01:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-05 01:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-05 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-05 07:46 pm (UTC)The thing has issues. Issues. With a capital I. Not too bad for Monsterkot clothes, but bad for everyday wear.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-05 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-05 03:47 pm (UTC)Ik vergeet zelf ook altijd dat er veel verschil zit in de rekbaarheid van stoffen.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-06 08:19 pm (UTC)