Monday, April 18, 2011

Working, working

So the first official fitting resulted in a negativo on the current design. We didn't like the way it fit, and Allison decided it looked too much like a baby doll dress which she doesn't like. So the next version is going to be a bodice to the waist with a flared skirt. Re did the bodice on Saturday and I have come to the conclusion that the Vogue bodice wasn't drafted with a human figure in mind~ unless it's a line backer with a triple D cup size. So I have scrapped their dress altogether while keeping the basic idea. I'm using a bra body, adapting the cups to have ruching at the center seam, and then attaching that to a form fitted bodice to the waist. The skirt will be eased at the waistline, so it is nice and doesn't add bulk, and then have fullness at the hem.

I'm heading off now to finish up the bra top draft, make the skirt and skirt lining, and then will be redoing a muslin for the bra top and bodice, so Allison can drop by tonight for that fitting. If I have time, I'll finish up the bolero too.

First draft muslin-REJECTED- pictures here. I'm also thinking she needs to find time to go to the tanning booths before Prom! LOL


Saturday, April 16, 2011

Okay.. the push is on!

With a few time outs for a jacket for me, then an instant gratification tee shirt, I started making Sara a dress for her birthday. It turned out amazing, fit perfectly, and she looked fabulous. The dress was a combination of both our ideas, so it was her style in her colors, with a little flair. All of my girls are VERY picky about colors, styles, and prints, so needed to check in with her before wasting my time.

She wanted a dress that was fitted to the waist and then flared out a bit at the hem line. I found a nice grey-taupe linen-rayon blend at Joanns that I thought would be great for the skirt. Then found what I thought was a gorgeous kind of op-art-geometric print grey background with some muted splashes of color that matched perfectly. Both the lady at the cutting table and I thought it was beautiful, and I bought enough so that if Sara didn't like it, I could make a blouse for myself. When I showed it to Sara, she thought it was too bright. As I was scratching my head, I said, let's go look in your closet so I can see what you like... amazingly enough, she has stripes and polka dots, and that is the extend of anything resembling a print. Now that I am thinking about it, I guess when you're 16, you generally want to fit in. Anyway, as I was perusing her closet it struck me that I had a Calvin Klein seersucker in a linen and greyish-taupe print in my stash. Got home, and it matched perfectly~as if it had been bought together, and not a couple of years apart at two very different fabric stores.

I took a bodice from a really old Burda pattern..publishing date I think was 1988?, altered it to fit her, and drafted an A line skirt to go with it. She wanted the stripes to go across the bodice, and after I recovered from my horror, her mom reminded me that when you're skinny and tall, you can wear horizontal stripes! So she has a sleeveless dress, round neck, horizontal stripes on the bodice, and a solid A line skirt. I took it over Thursday night so she could wear it Friday on her birthday if she wanted to. She loved the dress, and said she received more compliments than she'd ever got on anything she'd every worn, AND her friends she told I'd made it were amazed that it wasn't from the store. Good feelings on that one! Pictures will follow as soon as Cathy gets around to sending to me.

So now the push is on to get Allison's prom dress done. I'm making a modified version of Vogue pattern #8360 that has morphed into something the Vogue people wouldn't recognize, and a short bolero jacket to go over the top. The jacket is McCalls #6245, and it isn't being changed much at all. I'm using the cap sleeve with a small collar, and the only changes other than alterations for fit are that I'm adding some silk organza as interfacing to the fronts and the collar. They don't call for any at all, and I think it needs a little more structure. Oh, and I'm adding a button instead of the hook and eye they call for. I have a black and gold sequened fabric~ neither of us liked the sequins, but the back is perfect, that will have a black lining, and a gold ball button at the neckline with a piece of black rattail as a loop instead of a buttonhole.

I've been having trouble using the pattern for the bodice for her. For some unknown reason, when I used her measurements, it was huge. The second one, I took way down to what I thought would fit. That was too small around. We'll do our third fitting of the dress muslin in about 15 mintues, and once that's done, I'll be running full out to complete it so it will be done for prom. Pictures will be forthcoming as I go along.

Here is the dress, dress and jacket, and the fabric, lining, and pattern for the jacket, as well as the pattern covers.