Skin back in the game

**Project from October 2016...returning to sewing after a 3-month hiatus**

What better way to get back in the game than with a pile of silk georgette, a Japanese pattern book and a deadline?

Given the hard time I gave Drape Drape and the cardinal sins I committed while making this dress, I don't deserve a beautiful dress or a successful project. I did make a muslin though!

Ways in which I've been tempting fate with this project:

• Not checking the grainline in favour of some basic pattern placement
• Cutting one piece on the cross grain and its mate on the straight (which oddly had an noticeable effect when sewing the lining hem)
• Assume you know better than the pattern when it comes to knowing where the CF (centre front line) should be
• Arbitrarily cut new pieces to fit what you think they should look like
• Opt not to test the pattern adjustments (which again I just jumped into) before cutting in to the real deal
• Hang it for the bias to drop from the wrong body parts on the mannequin

BUT! For once I had enough fabric to make the project with the pattern placement I wanted!

This is Dress #11 from Drape Drape by Hisako Sato. The outer fabric is from Emma One Sock (probably long gone from their stock) and the lining is from my recent Japan trip. I think it's a habotai.

I wasn't expecting to wear a bra with this so I put in a couple of layers of jersey as some sort of bra panel/modesty panel. Hopefully it'll be enough.

Waiting for some finishing

The I ripped out my first attempt at hemming the long floaty panel, as it was a bit of a mess - I initially tried sewing around a basting line, but that stopped the hem rolling over into a neat/natural position. It looked pretty rubbish. In the end a press and a bit of hand rolling was the best option.

Originally I was expecting this to sit higher on my back shoulder blades but I think the design is actually supposed to be a lot lower and will hang naturally below the bottom of my shoulder blades. It's hard to tell on the photo of the model but it looks correct.

Front

Back

My main worry with this project is that there is a lot of weight hanging off a single layer of georgette and from a very small point. I also think that seam is under a lot of stress, because it is being pulled to one side (which you can see in the photo above). Maybe stitching some twill tape into that edge would have been a good idea. I wasn't keen to do it while working on the dress because it just seemed overwhelmingly complicated.

Anyway, here's to my first drape drape project. Here's to getting back into the game.

K x

P.S. This dress is going immediately in the remaking pile. I loved the idea of it, but I don't love the finished product. Am I the wrong size/shape? Is it impractical in Britain's climate? How can I hide the dodgy neckline finishing. It needs to change. If you thought it was sitting strangely on the mannequin, have a look at how it fits me...

I think I need a dress with shoulders. Any refashion suggestions greatly appreciated!


P.P.S. As another reminder that no idea is ever original, I was wandering around the Tate Modern recently and came across this work by Lygia Pape (Weaving 1957). It prompted the same curiosity in me as the fabric above when I first saw it. It's one of those ones you could stare at for hours learning the intricacies of the pattern.

Lizzie (or how I realised this one might be a step too far)

Ladies and gents, I present the Lizzie dress.

Long ago in school when we were learning about the Tudors (every Brit will have studied the Tudors on an annual basis between the ages of 4 and 18), a kindly teacher showed us The Ditchley Portrait. "That's a nice dress." I said "I'd like to have a dress like that."

I'd also like to rule over all of Europe

So I made one. (The ruling over Europe bit is taking a bit longer to organise)

Admittedly, I knew then that getting hold of a dress based off Queen Elizabeth I's most famous apparel would be costly. Very costly. I lamented the potential process of acquiring and subsequently spending my life's fortune on such an exquisite creation. Seemed like a lot of effort when (frankly) there would be slim occasion to wear it without looking like a crazy lady.

So this fabric appeared on my doorstep and the Angels of Artistic Licence sang out from the heavens. A symbol of mercy for every penniless creative with lofty ambitions!

Using the mod dress pattern again, I traced a lining pattern and an outer pattern for a vaguely normal dress. The two are connected at the neck and shoulders, but nowhere else. They are different sizes/shapes and the outer has no fastenings, while the lining has a zip in the side seam.

You know, so the outer looks all floaty and theatrical

The lining fabric is butter muslin, so I'm sorted if I ever find myself needing to drain soft cheese (win!). B patiently cut the hems and he has also counseled in favour of wearing spangly tights.

K

Illusions, visual effects and mind-boggling stripes

I shouldn't really call this an Anna dress, though that's how it started its life. Sure it's got a slash neck and a maxi skirt, bust pleats, kimono sleeves and back darts, but the skirt and the profile of the finished project are so far removed from the pattern, I can't pass judgement on the pattern itself at all. (This obviously calls for another version).

The main reason for this? The fabric. This was hands down the most difficult fabric I have ever dealt with.

 Not only is the high quality slippery silk charmeuse prone to shifting out of shape, the print is incredible. A friend summed it up very well by saying the fabric left no room for error whatsoever. And of course there were errors! Matching nonregular stripes and diamonds in an unstable fabric across several seamlines is not easy. Plus, when I first bought the fabric from Emma One Sock, it looked like a border print. The repetition is actually much closer so diamonds were obviously going to feature more than planned. 

That being said it's an excellent opportunity to talk a bit about visual effects, and the capacity to create and exploit them when sewing. I love a good visual effect, whether achieved through lighting, weird shapes in odd places or the way something moves around. In garment sewing, you can create a lot of effects just from the colours, shapes and textures you wear.

By Hand London's designs always seem to make excellent effects in exaggerating their shapes. It seemed to be a good opportunity to complement that with a similarly audacious fabric. Obviously discount Roberto Cavali silk charmeuse would do the trick (bought in Feb). With that in mind, I wanted a dress to look as wide as possible at the shoulder (and follow the line of arms when they're moved), vary the size and number of the diamonds at the waist, make you look longer than a stretched cat, and for the skirt/hem to unfold in motion, revealing hundreds of concertina'd diamonds. 

Cue many late nights and stresses over cutting. 

If I can weigh in with a good tip for cutting silk: lay it out on your mattress, or on top of a duvet cover. It's much more effective at gripping than the tissue paper technique. Don't tell anyone else, but it also means you can stick pins vertically into the mattress, lowering any warping or shifting of shapes that might occur.

The angle of the seam and grain lines didn't correspond very well with the stripes so there were some very heavy modifications on the fly to match up diamonds and release fullness where it didn't look weird. The result is a much slimmer hipline than the original Anna, but also something a bit like grown on godets. They kick out beautifully.

The back was another story. Turns out any "curvature" is hugely exaggerated by the print, looking a bit odd. Looking like a column is nigh-on impossible. So to mirror the bodice front, I included some pleats to get the effect closer to vertical. In wearing, there are some amazing twists and angles to exaggerate the way you move or stand. If ever there were a dynamic dress, this would be it.

Could this have been solved by making a muslin? Perhaps, but only if you could emulate the print and hand of the fabric. Frankly, I don't think it would have helped my ability to visualise the project at all. I still love it!

Incidentally, it's our office Christmas party this week and I'm thinking about fabulous dresses for the occasion. I'm going for the Burda 12/2012 cover dress in an amazing sandwash midnight blue silk. Can't wait to show you.

Ciao,

K

(Also, photo credit to George O'D! An ever-willing photographer!)