|
Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 20, 2008 13:10:15 GMT -5
An image of hte bib and the bodice beneath. You can see the cups of my stays, stuffed with shopping bags. ;D A detail of the back. It's longer than I'd hoped. I'll probably trim it a bit more. With the skirt and bib tied on (no back skirts yet) Another angle of front: Rejected back. I want it fuller and puffier... so I'm going to remove it and resew it on with pleats as opposed to gathers.
|
|
chiemi
Clergy
"Shelves in the closet. Happy thought indeed. "
Posts: 140
|
Post by chiemi on Feb 20, 2008 13:14:12 GMT -5
I love the fabric! I think that it's going to be a lovely dress. I can't wait to see the finished product.
|
|
maudelynn
Clergy
~ I may not always make good sense but I ALWAYS make good tea!~
Posts: 193
|
Post by maudelynn on Feb 20, 2008 13:24:41 GMT -5
Gorgeous!
|
|
|
Post by cosmoblue on Feb 20, 2008 13:50:14 GMT -5
Nice! Very impressive work for a first time draping a gown on the form. I don't know how pleating as opposed to gathering will make the back puffier. My back was mostly gathered, but it was also pleated. I am excited to see how it looks pleated. You may want to add a bustle pad.
|
|
|
Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 20, 2008 13:54:14 GMT -5
Thank you. ::blush::
|
|
|
Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 20, 2008 13:56:04 GMT -5
pleating may make the folds larger... these tiny gathers don't flounce enough... I don't know... ARgh!!! I don't want to look like a hunchback either... Maybe I'll try it on tonight and see hwat it looks like on me before I remove the back skirts.
|
|
|
Post by cosmoblue on Feb 20, 2008 14:06:29 GMT -5
pleating may make the folds larger... these tiny gathers don't flounce enough... I don't know... ARgh!!! I don't want to look like a hunchback either... Maybe I'll try it on tonight and see hwat it looks like on me before I remove the back skirts. I think I ended up with about 24" gathered into about 5" Then two double pleats on either side of the gathers.
|
|
|
Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 20, 2008 14:20:26 GMT -5
Ah ha. I think you might have solved my problem. I will let out some gathers to supplement the length and then pleat the rest of the gathered material.
What would I do without you, Cosmo?
|
|
|
Post by dawnluckham on Feb 20, 2008 22:21:36 GMT -5
Steph, I think I like the back very much. I think Cosmo's on the right track when she suggests a little bustle for the back.
I do think, however, you'd like this gown much better if you pleated the front. You can even pleat all the way across the front, but you'll like the combination of the smoother pleated skirt with the gathered bib front.
Fab work! You're an incredibly brave creator. I love how you just dive right into and make these great things!
|
|
|
Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 20, 2008 22:43:01 GMT -5
Thanks Dawn. I've been eyeballing it tonight and I am prone to agree with you re: pleating. I'm not thrilled about taking the bib apart, but that's what happens when I hurry. But I was looking at it and I think I was trying to achieve what muslin or voile can do with chintz, and it's just too bulky. If it were a finer fabric, a gather would look a lot better. I'm not happy with this look.
I will probably deconstruct the bib and redo it with a more structured look. I may even pleat the front skirt a few times too. I will probably do as Cosmo did in the back and just pleat existing gathers, I think that will add some volume.
I'm not feeling very ambitious tonight. I *might* do the back skirt first. We'll see. I do have teh camera if I make changes.
Thank you. Both you and Cosmo are inspiring to me. I jump head on into stuff and then have to back up to see what I've mussed up in the process.
Patience is something I do not have, and it makes me work twice as hard.
|
|
|
Post by cosmoblue on Feb 20, 2008 22:55:38 GMT -5
This is the back of my gown. This is my gown showing the pleats. It was hard to show the detail since I had to use a flash on shiny refelective white fabric.
|
|
|
Post by Mme de Beaufort on Mar 10, 2008 10:56:28 GMT -5
So I removed the back and reattached it like TEN MILLION TIMES ARGH!! I couldn't get the pleating right, and frankly, it's still not right, I hate how messy it looks up top, and I have to refine it somehow. I tried the whole thing on and my girls are like BLAMMO HERE WE ARE!!!! My husband was like a moth to a flame, following me around and being quite ungentlemanlike I dare say all through the try-on. I want to change the bib too but the motivation just isn't there. I put it on and now I'm doubly depressed just seeing my huge arms and my bulging boobs, and the chubbiness straining out of of my shift and stays... AGGGHH!!! Anyway, here are some pix of my hideousness--I chopped off my face because I had Sunday Morning Sunburst hair, and I wasn't about to coif my hair for a quick fitting... from the back. Unlike on the duct-tape-dummy, the lower sides are wrinkled when I wear it... Urg. The front, with the girls presented on a platter. Et la piece de résistance.... Les girls, about to leap out onto the deck and to bounce away.
|
|
Lady Serendipity
Clergy
"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort". --Jane Austen
Posts: 120
|
Post by Lady Serendipity on Mar 10, 2008 12:52:52 GMT -5
Okay, that really is SUPER boobalicious! rofl!
(but what are you endowed ones supposed to do?! The girls have to go SOMEWHERE!) (this is not a problem that I personally am lucky enough to have, lol!)
As to the rest....I think it's looking lovely! My eye (in this area!) is not as trained as you all here, and I understand wanting to get it Just Right....but I'm thinking it's not as bad as you think it is!
It really is such a lovely fabric too. Don't give up on it! It's going to be gorgeous in the end! (*insert cheerleader emoticon here*)
|
|
|
Post by dawnluckham on Mar 10, 2008 13:02:47 GMT -5
Steph, I don’t think it’s all that bad! Have you ever tried “cartridge pleating?” For a skirt with a lot of fabric, I often knife pleat to the back princess seam and then cartridge pleat all of the skirt that’s left. I don’t “hinge” the pleats as they do mid 19th century (this is what you’d hear the American Civil War re-enactors talk about). It actually ends up being closer to the “stroked” gathering once the skirt fabric is enclosed in the bodice to skirt seam. It shows well in my red striped dress here: As far as the low front goes: You haven’t tried this on with a neck handkerchief (fichu) yet. I think even if you want this for evening wear, a pretty, sheer tucker or fichu would make you more comfortable and it would help contain a bit of the “spill” aspect that you’re worrying about. You also haven’t got the sleeves on and you wouldn’t worry about your upper arms once the sleeve is attached. You could also add to the sleeve some trim or ruffles out of the same fabric as the fichu is made. For day wear there is always the chemisette option. And yet an additional idea is to make yourself a “canezou” – a little sheer sleeveless spencer-like garment. Elizabeth Tuckerman Salisbury by Gilbert Stuart. Look at what she’s got at the front of her gown. I’m not sure if that’s her chemise that shows or if it’s a “tucker” of sorts. She also wears a very sheer chemisette. www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Artists/stuart/elizabeth/enlargement.htmlMadame Xavier Odent by Louis-Leopold Boilly If you look closely, I think she wears the canezou which is worn over top of the gown (as opposed to underneath like the chemisette is). hal.ucr.edu/~cathy/artists/boilly5.htmlHere’s an original from Vintage Textile
|
|
|
Post by cosmoblue on Mar 10, 2008 13:22:36 GMT -5
So I removed the back and reattached it like TEN MILLION TIMES ARGH!! I couldn't get the pleating right, and frankly, it's still not right, I hate how messy it looks up top, and I have to refine it somehow. I tried the whole thing on and my girls are like BLAMMO HERE WE ARE!!!! My husband was like a moth to a flame, following me around and being quite ungentlemanlike I dare say all through the try-on. I want to change the bib too but the motivation just isn't there. I put it on and now I'm doubly depressed just seeing my huge arms and my bulging boobs, and the chubbiness straining out of of my shift and stays... AGGGHH!!! Anyway, here are some pix of my hideousness--I chopped off my face because I had Sunday Morning Sunburst hair, and I wasn't about to coif my hair for a quick fitting... from the back. Unlike on the duct-tape-dummy, the lower sides are wrinkled when I wear it... Urg. Steph, I don't think you need to worry about redoing the bib at all. It looks fine. It does look like you could re adjust the way it's pinned, by moving the pins up and out a bit. When I sewed my back with all the gathers I had to use like 100 pins and sew super slowly so that they stayed beautiful. I am available to help if you need it.
|
|
|
Post by Mme de Beaufort on Mar 10, 2008 14:52:53 GMT -5
I definitely thought about a chemisette, no doubt, and I think Cosmo is right, I do need to pin it a bit better.
I'm not sure I understand the pleating you're showing me there, it looks very dense. As messy as this current pleating is, it is really voluminous and it is the way I wanted it to look, but the line where the seam is, is really horrible.
I just need patience... And I'm sure adding sleeves will also help with other issues, and also whipstitching the lining in place will stabilize it more.
|
|
|
Post by dawnluckham on Mar 10, 2008 16:33:46 GMT -5
www.elizabethancostume.net/cartpleat/Here’s (above) a little blurb about cartridge pleating (for Elizabethan costume). As I said, I knife pleat to the back seams and then I do this hand stitching of parallel rows. The stitches are roughly (about) ¼ inch long or a little smaller. Sometimes the fabric weight plays into this and you need to take larger stitches. The instructions I’ve linked to indicate folding the top of the fabric over. If you’re not going to “hinge” the pleats and you’re just going to enclose the seam, you don’t need to fold the top. It’s really important to try to make the stitching on the second and third rows match the stitching on the first row. I use three needles at a time (one for each row of stitching) and your thread needs to be strong and as long as the area you need to gather. This technique is a really headache free way to gather a lot of fabric into a small space and it makes pleating quick and easy. You can spread these pleats out more than the little space that I used on the stripe dress. Here is a dress I completed last week that has a different back design. The pleats are spread over a wider area.
|
|
|
Post by Mme de Beaufort on Mar 10, 2008 18:00:13 GMT -5
I wish I could abduct you for a week. The sleeve on the striped dress is exactly what I envision, and the backs on both of these gowns are amazing.
|
|
|
Post by cosmoblue on Mar 10, 2008 20:27:20 GMT -5
I wish I could abduct you for a week. The sleeve on the striped dress is exactly what I envision, and the backs on both of these gowns are amazing. Steph - You and Dawn do seem to have incredibly similar taste and style.
|
|
|
Post by Val on Mar 10, 2008 22:01:03 GMT -5
Stephanie, I was thinking how pretty that would look with a fichu, when I saw someone else had already mentioned it. I know I've seen pictures of older gowns that did the same thing with the girls, and they wore the fichus. Love the fabric design
|
|