15 March 2010

Finished

The last construction posts will be up eventually.  For now, though:

It's finished!  And the recital is finished, and went incredibly well.

I hope to have the rest of the "construction" as well as some more and closer shots of the gown itself up before long.

07 March 2010

March 7/8

I forgot to take pictures, but I've made progress!  I stitched the dress and lining together around the armholes this evening, then pinned in the zipper so I could try it on.  The fit is perfect, and I like the way the finishing at neckline and armholes turned out.

I'm going to take up a very narrow hem, especially in the front - with the shoes I'm wearing (about a 2" heel) the dress is already looking borderline on the short side.  It'll be fine, but I want to take away as little length as possible with the hem.  I'd already planned to use hem tape, so I'll just stitch it very close to the edge of the skirt and barely turn it under.  The lining will have a more traditional "double-fold" hem, hopefully handstitched.

I also made up the top tier of the net petticoat and pinned it roughly in place to see how it works.  I think it'll give just the right amount of fulness - definitely there, but not too outrageous.  (Actually, I'm hoping the lower tier will give it some more "pouf" - it's looking still a little too flat - but I think it'll work.  If all else fails I'll go out and buy a few more yards of netting and add on!)

Tomorrow (or, later today, I suppose!) I hope to hand-stitch the zipper in place - as invisibly as possible - and get the netting finished with.  After that I'll just need to hem!

03 March 2010

3 March

(Except now it's the 4th.  March forth, everyone!  -- uh, sorry.  I get weird late at night.  Anyway, the point is, I did all the sewing on the 3rd, so that's what the title of the post is.)

I sewed the dress and the lining together at the neckline this evening, working by hand.  I'd pressed and pinned the edges a few weeks ago, so this step was relatively simple - I just had to match them up and stitch.  I used a sort of slip-running-stitch, in between the two folded edges so the thread doesn't show at all.  I also didn't match them perfectly - when I pressed in the seam allowance I pressed the lining under just a bit farther, so that I could leave a thin margin of velvet inside when I sewed them together.  The theory is that this will keep the lining from peeking out where it's not wanted.



Then I pinned the edges of the armholes together.  But by this time I was really tired, and my eyes were feeling the strain of working with black on black in a dim room - not to mention I think there's a hole in my finger from the needle.  I really need a thimble.


(An ugly picture - I had to use flash to get anything to show up at all.  Pardon the stray threads - they're not attached to the dress.  And the paper is my application for an apartment for next year.  But here is one of the armholes, pinned and ready to sew tomorrow.)

Nine days until the recital.  I still need to stitch the armholes, make up the net petticoat, hem lining and gown, and put in the zipper.