Dresses

My niece was turning nine, and I wanted to send her a gift. I've never met her, but my half-sister says she's into Barbie. Of course, the first thing that came to mind that could cross over between Barbie and what I like is: a dress! I always wanted a big poofy dress for my Barbie, but didn't get any until I was kinda getting out of playing with them anymore.

I started with a tiny hoop skirt, boned with plastic boning, and did a dress out of real silk. I had the silk scrap around from when I was choosing fabrics for my wedding dress, and real silk was going to look so much better at small scale than polyester. It still wouldn't drape how I hoped it would, but it's pretty good.

The back snaps up. And the inner seams are fused with interfacing so they don't fray.

If I were to do one again, I would simply interface the whole section the bodice pieces were going to be cut out of before cutting and sewing. Both because ironing the tiny seams was a pain, and also to stop the silk from stretching and causing the ripples on her sides. It would have fit her better.

I don't really go for puff-sleeves myself, but they work for Barbie.

This is the vest for my steampunk dress. I need to get some buttons for the front (it's just pinned). It only fits when my corset is on. I may need to make a second to wear if I plan to wear any of this outfit sans-corset.

When I first showed Steven the front, where I have a relatively lined up pattern across four panels and two pockets, he could only say "you're sh**ing me".

So I took up embroidery. I seem to enjoy it.
Was anyone surprised that I would make my own dress for my wedding? I don't think so. I tested out the pattern I wanted and features such as the lace-up back in the summer "test-dresses", to make sure everything would work as planned.

I also bought some stainless steel rings and etched them.

I made a guestbook out of our clothing fabrics, and did some fun graphic design for our itinerary handout. (The blue on the side there is Steven's silk from his coat, along with the medallions)

And then we got married - and had an awesome party.

(Many thanks to Dan Noé for the photos, and Spicy Braids for the amazing braids you can see in them.)

I meant to do a post on my wedding sewing, but I haven't wrangled up all the photos I want yet. Stay tuned next week maybe.

I'm pretty happy with my newest embroidery! It's on the back of the jacket of my costume. Now I just have to finish the rest of the jacket. The bottom will be finished once the buttons go on the back so it all lines up.

Here's a closeup of the first section I did.

I've finished up the last modifications to my vest and jacket for my eventual steampunk dress. (Shown here with my cheap hoop just for shape)

Aside from the measurements/planning for the hoop and bustle I'm going to make for it, this is probably the most complex piece. It'll be lined and embroidered. I'm hoping the draped skirts, which will look pretty and take up a lot of room, won't actually take much time/energy to whip up. (Except that I plan to have lots of pockets in them.. I guess I need to rethink how long the skirts will take..)

These are the colors I'll be doing it all in. The brown is a little darker and warmer than I wanted, but I can't find or dye the perfect color, so I'm just going with it as is. It'll still look good.

Steven was nice enough to take up and evening duct taping me so I could keep working on this. I'd reached a standstill where I really couldn't do more without a dressform to tweak the fitting. Cheap dressforms are easy to break, and expensive ones are expensive, and this one is just the right shape of me in my corset. :D