A package, covered in hearts, and filled with patterns, arrived last week. Prizes from a new friend and sewing sister who has the gift of knowing EXACTLY what song I'm sewing to at any given moment. (I don't know what you'd call this ability. ESP? Extra Song Perception?)
My sew-sister is into fancy!! This Badgley Mischka pattern immediately caught my magpie eye. LOOKIT THOSE STYLE LINES! Or rather, TRY TO FIND THOSE STYLE LINES ON THE ENVELOPE! A black dress and a back view does not a style line show.
But gawdamighty there are some deliciously fun pattern pieces in this bodice.
Last Sunday morning, I flitted merrily off in five different fabric directions, my scissors hovering in indecision, drunk on dreams of gowns...so I made myself stop and make a bodice toile, while I tried to pick the winner.
Then I went with all five candidates.
We've got: rose gold & blue floral guipure (both from Chic Fabrics), jacquard with the wrong side as public (Mood), some sort of textured doubleface woven (Trumart)...
...and another taffeta from Mood as underlining. (Maybe as lining, too, though I do have a sixth candidate for that. Naturally.)
The pattern calls for interfacing on all bodice pieces, which made me raise my eyebrows, but I did it on the front bodice pieces anyway. No bueno! See the rippling along the seam where the underbust meets the lower front bodice? GNASHING OF TEETH.
It's not as noticeable when it's on, but still. GNASHING OF TEETH. After my chompers relaxed, I decided to go with the taffeta underlining on the back bodice, instead of the recommended interfacing.
Bueno.
So much more bueno, that I seriously considered ripping out that underbust...then I looked at all the clipping & notching and gave myself a reality check. Live & learn & wear the ripples.
Perhaps they meant a non-fusible? Yeah, could be. It would have been better to go a little more highbrow and use silk organza as interfacing. But, as you know, classy isn't always my strongsuit.
To wit: my dressform, sized out in faux fur, and repaired in masking tape. UBER CLASSY.
Next up: deciding on what to use for the gown portion! YET ANOTHER FLORAL PRINT FOR SURE! And I'm going off-pattern on that slinky skirt. I like me a full sweep!
I also like me more visits to this space, which my Mom tells me I'm not posting to enough, and should rectify. Mom is right! So, in an effort to do as I am told, I'm starting a Wednesday series in which I'll show you a work in progress. This first #wednesdaywip is very much inspired by my Mom, which I thought a fitting start (pun not intended, but heartily claimed.) We were rained out on Mother's Day, and so we postponed our visit to her fabulous jungle of a garden. As I threw this cornucopia of fabrics together, I thought about how she paints with a stunning variety of leaf and flower. It's really incredible. I wanted this dress to be like her garden in bloom.
So, whatcha working on? Join me in parading if you like, we all love some fabric porn! Tag it #wednesdaywip so we can peep it!
holy crap! i used this pattern for a wedding i was in back in the late 90's. this was before i started sewing, i just bought the pattern and had a seamstress make it up for me. since then i have bitterly regretted not keeping the pattern, or even making note of the pattern number! i recognized it immediately though, in that first picture. those seamlines are so distinctive. and so very flattering! i am thrilled to know the number again. thanks, friend!
ReplyDeleteand just like that, i have my very own copy wending its way to me! hooray for the internets!!!
DeleteI LOVE THAT SO MUCH!! sometimes the internets are wonderful!!
DeleteI just finished a frock fr stage that is a doozy, like a mermaid that has been on acid! Next up is a strapless number with 3D lace flowers on the bodice and a layered floofly organza skirt. I know you will appreciate this. But every time I see your gorgeous photo on the right banner I am reminded of the piece of very similar lace in my stash, and have Twin Aspirations. But i is so goshdarn cold here, I don't think I'll be going there until it warms up!
ReplyDeleteMermaids on acid! I think if our closets ever met, it would be like beams crossing in ghostbusters 😂
DeleteOh my goodness, imagine the sparks and the inexplicable tornadoes of light forking up into the sky! Amaze hehe
DeleteWent straight to eBay and bought that pattern, I'm so excited! I can't wait to see your finished piece!
ReplyDelete😊! You're gonna love it!
DeleteThis is gorgeous already!
ReplyDeletethank you faye ❤️
DeleteI think black and white fabric should be banned for sewing samples - black never shows style lines or details well, and inevitably the white samples are photographed on a white background, which makes it impossible to see the outline of the garment. With your finished dress, there will be NO QUESTION =) Can't wait to see it in all its glory!!
ReplyDeleteHAHA there will be ZERO question, except perhaps of taste!
DeleteI get why they did black, for classiness...but yeah, it should be banned!
I'm beyond honored to see my pattern on your blog! And the dress is fabulous. Only you could look at that black column and turn it into a botanical garden extraordinaire. I bow down, sewing/music/multi-hyphenate Queen!
ReplyDelete😊thank you gorgeous Elaine! I'm planning a coat out of down comforters as well...
DeleteI am loving it! You are an artist with fabric.
ReplyDeleteI have been working on a little sun dress for my granddaughter and doing lots of stupid things that I have had to rip out and do over. It's still not quite finished but I went ahead cut out another dress for myself - an easy pattern that I've made half a dozen times.
I love those easy-made-it-already patterns. Nothing boosts the sewing mood like a sure win!
DeleteCan't wait to see this finished product!
ReplyDeleteHopefully it won't take a year, like the WIP on my table at the moment 😂
DeleteYou have a marvelously magical imagination.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful compliment, thank you!
DeleteOnly you have the eye to put those things together in the bodice of this gown, and make it work I might add. Oh my, where will you wear it?
ReplyDeleteWHO. KNOWS!! Imagining where I might go in it is half of what drives me when stitching :)
DeleteAm trying to work up the nous to finish a tunic-y thing I started in honor of the late Nancy Zieman. She had quite a line of patterns for McCalls in the ... 90s? 80s? Anyhoo, this one (6131) came my way in a big packet of sewing grot from our local Habitat for Humanity Restore. Wish I had enough of the stash fabric to have made the scarf neckline ... am playing with stripes on the neck insert of view B instead.
ReplyDeleteThis is the little item in which I very carefully and quite beautifully inserted a 22" neckline zipper into the tunic back from the bottom up, instead of from the top down. Sigh. I need a sharper seam ripper.
UGH! Oh my god, how did you do that?! You have to laugh, right?
DeleteI didn't know she had a line of patterns as well! Can you do a contrast fabric for the scarf?
Your combination of fabrics is amazing! I am sure with your talent the finished piece will be fabulous!
ReplyDeleteLove it! The only ripples anyone will notice when you are wearing this creation, are the ones higher up that you bring to the table. Now take that skirt full Markle.
ReplyDeleteFULL MARKLE. LOVE IT.
DeleteI love the way you are using the contrasting fabrics on the bodice,it will be gorgeous! I have a dress made from the same pattern, that I wore for a party at Edinburgh University in 1996. Marie, a friend of my Mum, made mine for me in cobalt blue satin. It was so comfortable, even though it looks very dressed up.
ReplyDeleteWow, I just love this. I've tried pairing bits of fabric like what you have done but my combination look more hot mess random than chic like yours. It takes an eye and you have it. Do love this pattern and will need to hunt it down. As for what projects I'm working on, I'm doing the knock off of the dress Pippa Middleton's bridesmaid dress worn to her sister Kate's wedding. But mine is knee length in a black and white print. It sews up pretty easily but the thing is on the bias and was a complete pain to cut out.
ReplyDelete