Tuesday, June 17, 2014

prom dress wrap up


To wrap up the prom dress saga, here's a rundown of the finishing process.
Once I had the skirt attached to the bodice, I turned the CB allowance on the bodice to the inside and cross stitched it down.
I sewed a hook and loop at the top and basted a zipper in place. I then pick stitched the zipper in.


Then I made a belt out of the bias lame that I had fused with wool fuse. I didn't want it to lose its shape so I sewed in a piece of grosgrain. I stitched it by machine on one side and cross stitched the other side down and finished the inside with a piece of ribbon to cover the gap. It had two hooks and loops sewn on the ends to close it, and it was tacked to the dress waist by hand at the back and sides. I tacked it at the CF too but not quite in the right place as I noticed it pulled a little when she had it on. Oh well....

I stitched the bias straps in place by hand, picking through about an 1/8th of an inch from the bodice edge.

Last but not least I made a bow tie. How could I refuse at this point?








Why blue? Two dresses. I made two dresses for two different proms. Can't believe I did that!

But here's a crazy story... I took the blue fabric scrap to work so I could fuse some interfacing on it. I did it at lunch. Every one had left the room and I had just finished pressing 3 metres of muslin for a toile. I got the fabric and interfacing ready on the ironing table and walked away for a minute to check something else, and when I returned I took the iron and put it on the fabric and it melted right through the interfacing and poly stain. I mean melted it leaving an iron shaped hole in the fabric and a melted crust of blue polyester satin in an iron shape on the iron table cover. I have never experienced this before. The iron thermostat had gone haywire and overheated. I took some hot iron cleaner and tried to clean the sole plate and it boiled.
Good thing it wasn't the dress!!!!
Luckily I had another scrap of fabric.

Finally, two dresses, one happy girl, one exhausted mother (awake til she got home, hello 3am).





I really meant to be more diligent with documenting the process, but you know, I think I would still be stitching them if I had.

Now somebody has to get out and cut the weeds grass in the yard! The things that get neglected while sewing after work.


Now back to the usual fare here. I have some 18th century and Roman costumes to do!

7 comments:

  1. The dresses you made really are lovely! I think the one with the blue skirt is pretty, but they long, pink dress with the flowers at the hem is just elegant. What a sweet couple. Great job!

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  2. Both dress are very pretty. AlI I could think of was OMG, two dresses. And a bow tie. As a mom to boys with multiple proms, I just had to find ties in odd colors to match the girls dresses. None of the girls' moms sewed.

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    Replies
    1. It's too bad that few moms (or dads) sew anymore! Are we the last genertion who learned to sew at school?
      One of my daughter's friends made her own dress though, so I guess all is not lost.

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  3. It's such an important mark in our childrens' life... the time, when parents again stay awake for them. And you made soooo gorgeous dresses for this event. How wonderful!

    I love your blog. I'm just a beginner, but I could spend hours here watching you creating all those garments an describing the processes. Thanks a lot for your effort!

    Greetings from Germany,
    Gabriele

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  4. I really love your blog. I would like to award you the Liebster Award! Your blog is interesting and inspirational! For more information, please look here: http://brokecostumer.blogspot.com/2014/06/I’ve-been-nominated-for-liebster-award.html (: Congratulations!

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