Monday, November 28, 2016

The Dress

We had a very busy week between Thanksgiving, family visiting, meeting our future daughter in law for the first time, and working on the muslin for Alex's dress. Amanda is delightful and we already adore her. She and Josh are perfect for each other.  It was a great week and our Thanksgiving was wonderful.  

Onto the dress!
I traced the pattern and made a muslin.  It was too small. To me my dd doesn't look any larger than she was when I took her measurements a couple of years ago.  Don't assume anything.  She has done a lot of climbing in the last couple of years and she has gained muscle mass and about 10 lbs.  Wider shoulders too.  I decided not to retrace the pattern, so boring and time consuming and altered the larger size and did a tissue fitting, at least of the bodice.  I ended up using a size 10 at the shoulders and upper body and enlarging to a 12 for the waist and a 14 at her low hip.  This is going by her upper bust, waist and hip measurements.  The alterations I made were a 1" fba, a sway back of about an inch and a rounded upper back, and I lowered the princess seam.  I kept a piece of narrow elastic tied at her waist to check the length and it made pinpointing her back issue easy.  I then made a muslin of the bodice and skirt, fitting the bodice and skirt separately before attaching the skirt.  I used the size 12 measurements to enlarge the skirt and didn't recut it.  It was too big as was the bodice at the waist.  Afterwards I realized that while I had lowered  the skirt waist to where her waist is, because we wanted to emphasize it, I forgot that, duh, the waist gets larger if you lower it 5/8".  Even if I had lowered it by folding out the 5/8" below the waist it would have been too big because it was meant to be above the waist, so larger to begin with.  I ended up taking in the waist and the upper hip curve.  She is straighter from waist to hip than Burda drafts the hip.  I also have to move the shoulder seam back a bit.  When she tried it on she found the neckline too high, and this has got to be the only time I've ever found a V neck on Burda to be too high! I pinned it under until she liked it.  I also cut the back V deeper.  The gored skirt is very flattering on her and she was happy.  The biggest issue I have is that she was instructed to bring a good bra.  What she considered her best bra was sorely lacking.  She will be back at spring break with good underwear and shoes!  Anyone know of a good lingerie store in Austin?  She says that she is willing to travel to Dallas or Houston so any suggestion will be greatly appreciated!

The bodice is  princess seamed with a gathered bias overlay and I am concerned that the princess seam won't have the correct placement because the bra wasn't good. Since the upper layer is going to be either chiffon or georgette I don't want to have to rip it.  I am thinking of hand basting the dress to make it easier to alter.  I will also cut wide seam allowances.

I sent for fabric samples from Emmonesock, Alex picked up some samples from Mood, and I just called Banksville Designer fabrics for more samples.  I made Alex's bat mitzvah party dress with fabric from them 17 years ago, long before internet fabric shopping. I wish that they had a commercial website, but if you know what you want they are a great resource for well priced, high quality fabrics.





These were taken before I lowered the neckline front and back.  She wants a 'hint' of cleavage.  There's  twirling going on in the last photo. Skirt perfect for it.  There will be a gathered overlay on the waistband that I left off.  Fitting this was a lot easier than I anticipated, these are pretty basic alterations that were easy to pinpoint.  
I've got some winter sewing for myself before I tackle her dress.  I need to get a roll of tissue paper too before I cut the dress.  Does anyone have a good source?

21 comments:

  1. Great fit! The back looks gorgeous and the front too. It is more challenging to get a gorgeous back I think, usually a back is a back. Very nice style all over!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Read, Share and follow the instructions on how to get cured from HSV1&2. I got a diagnosis of HSV1&2 March this year and I have been taking pills to prevent an outbreak. I never stop searching for a cure because I strongly believe that there is something somewhere that can get rid of it completely and in August this year, I ran through some comments on Youtube about Dr Osato herbal cure and a lot of people commented about him having the herbs that can get rid of herpes completely. I was excited and I contacted Dr Osato and ordered the cure for myself and he sent it to me through UPS and gave me instructions on how to take it which I rightly followed and behold I went for checkup after two weeks of taking the herbs and my result shows NEGATIVE. My doctor confirmed with me that I am totally clear from HSV1&2. You can as well contact Dr Osato to get the herbal cure from him. His email is osatoherbalcure@gmail.com or WhatsApp him on +2347051705853. Dr Osato also have the cure for the following virus/diseases HIV, HPV, HSV1&2, DIABETES, CANCER of any kind, GENITAL HERPES, COLD SORE, VAGINAL INFECTION, ECT. His website is https://osatoherbalcure.wordpress.com 

      Delete
  2. Re: bra shopping in Texas. I don't know any stores specifically, but she may want to take a look at the group 'ABraThatFits' on reddit. They have shopping recommendations (both online and brick and mortar) for all over the place. I do know Dillard's is mentioned a lot; I think it's a department store?

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  3. I'm so excited Mom!!!!!!!!! @thegamingmasters, I'll check out the reddit thread. Dillards is a department store in the south, they aren't super common in the Northeast I don't think.

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  4. That is going to be beautiful Nancy!

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  5. Alex has a gorgeous figure and this will compliment it perfectly. I also am a Banksville fan and have found them great to work with. I think they read minds!

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    Replies
    1. They do. Laurie, who handles the mail order has been there for years! She sent me samples for Alex's bat mitzvah dress that were exactly what she wanted. I've also bought for other projects over the years.

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  6. I can't wait to see the dress! As for paper, I purchased an entire CASE of exam table paper of 12 rolls, that has almost a cloth like texture to it (smooth, not the crepe kind) for about $60 from a medical supply company. It will probably last me my entire life. I sometimes use a long basting stitch and if I'm careful can even trial fit a bodice on myself. Love the stuff! Of course right this minute I can't remember the name of the company I ordered from. I'd do an internet search for some companies and check, though, as it is definitely cheaper than sewing supply companies.

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  7. I bought a single roll of medical exam paper from Amazon, but I'm about to try a roll of disposable massage table sheets, as you can baste them together as a first muslin (though they don't have grain, so they're not perfect for this).

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  8. I found the tissue paper I was looking for. I'd remembered that Gertie had had a post on it and Google never forgets.
    It's this pink tissue paper, which I bought in 45" because most of the slippery silk I use is usually that wide. It's to make cutting slippery silks or linings easier to cut. I have used the tracing paper that I use for patterns taped together to underlay my fabrics, but this is rougher and works better for keeping fabric from slipping. Great for lining fabrics.

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  9. I buy tracing paper in rolls from Dick Blick. I believe they have a website.

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    Replies
    1. For tracing paper I buy from National Drafting. I use the same paper for sketches for my work, and National Drafting is by far the cheapest. But this is not tracing paper, but tissue paper to lay down under the silk. It keeps everything from slipping.

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  10. This is going to be one awesome dress.
    Wonderful both of your children are happy and you had such a great week together.

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  11. looking fantastic - she has a great shape and the style is so perfect on her.

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    Replies
    1. She is very comfortable in her body and likes it. I'm going to make another muslin because the back and front are to be lower. I want to make sure that there is no gaping and that the shoulder doesn't fall down. I have Kenneth Kings cd book on drafting necklines and he has a method that depends on how low the back is that looks easy but not having used it before I want to test it out before I cut the good stuff!

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  12. This looks amazing.Love the dress.

    I found this via Google http://petticoatfair.com/features/team-members/. My mother always told me to go to the older lady in a bra store...this is a job where you want experience.

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  13. The Maddox Shop Dallas does custom fitting. If not one in Austin they might recommend one. Dillards is a department store. Nice, but down a knotch from Neimans in price and service. Do not know how well they fit bras. They do need to see pics to note the low cut.

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  14. Good work on the fitting. Good luck with finding the perfect fabric (s).

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  15. Dillards and Macys are owned by the same company and have similar offerings.

    Online, Herroom offers very nice bra reviews with pictures of different necklines.I realize it's not the same as in person but it's very difficult these days to find a full service foundation store.

    Best of luck on the dress. I am sure the bride and dress will be gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Read, Share and follow the instructions on how to get cured from HSV1&2. I got a diagnosis of HSV1&2 March this year and I have been taking pills to prevent an outbreak. I never stop searching for a cure because I strongly believe that there is something somewhere that can get rid of it completely and in August this year, I ran through some comments on Youtube about Dr Osato herbal cure and a lot of people commented about him having the herbs that can get rid of herpes completely. I was excited and I contacted Dr Osato and ordered the cure for myself and he sent it to me through UPS and gave me instructions on how to take it which I rightly followed and behold I went for checkup after two weeks of taking the herbs and my result shows NEGATIVE. My doctor confirmed with me that I am totally clear from HSV1&2. You can as well contact Dr Osato to get the herbal cure from him. His email is osatoherbalcure@gmail.com or WhatsApp him on +2347051705853. Dr Osato also have the cure for the following virus/diseases HIV, HPV, HSV1&2, DIABETES, CANCER of any kind, GENITAL HERPES, COLD SORE, VAGINAL INFECTION, ECT. His website is https://osatoherbalcure.wordpress.com 

    ReplyDelete