Hubris Rewarded

I would give you a playlist to go with reading about this dress, but some of the most important songs from my downloaded playlist aren’t on Spotify, so instead I recommend you listen to this album.

My first thought when making this outfit was that it was time to go back and prove to the Canberra Show that, even though I hadn't been around for a while, I could waltz back and take Champion of Sewing any time I felt like it. Which might be just slightly overconfident, but then I did win, so turns out I was right. Though I must say, the competition this year so strong that I might have even coped with a second place.

Flippantly deciding on such a goal forced me to always do everything the best I could and cut no corners. Creating this outfit was very much an exercise in using all the skills and techniques I've learned over many years. I put a lot of thought into selecting the appropriate seam finishes and interfacing, and hand-stitching as much as possible.

Come on a tour.

Underdress
The underdress is nearly all French seams and it has Hong Kong binding where the neckline is folded over. I used clear elastic as the elastic channel is see-through.

My bodice fabric was pre-decorated, so step one was to remove the bobbles in the seam allowance area. I used the smash-it-with-a-hammer method for the ones that were particularly difficult but that tended to damage the fabric, so most of the removal was done by very careful pliering. 

You have to squish the silver bit slightly before you can pull them apart.

I originally had lacing loops for closure but they did not line up or sit neatly or be at all discreet so I unpicked them and inserted an invisible zip by hand. It is the most beautiful zip I have ever applied. I am now conflicted as to whether handsewing zips needs to become a habit.

Look at that seam matching.

To get the braid to sit in the middle of the waistband without one edge overstretching the other, I ended up setting up two needles and sewing both sides at the same time.

I had to start by tucking the ends of the braid from the front to the back – reversing a very questionable decision on the manufacturer’s part.

Jacket
The jacket is pretty simple, compared to the rest of the outfit. It has French seams and a sew-in interfaced waistband. On this and the overdress I decided to finish the lacing ends with beads. 

Overdress
I cannot stress enough that everything I have talked about so far is not visible while wearing the outfit. I was having great time being unnecessarily extravagant.

The foundation of the overdress is a corset attached to dress along the top and back. The top edge is bound with the matte side of the underdress fabric and hand beaded with a row of moonstones.    

The split and hem are also bound. All the binding was finished by hand to the accompaniment of the BBC Narnia series. My whipstitch has really sped up over this project. The beading along the hem is a combination of moonstone and lava beads (I think that means pumice).

There's a bit of infrastructure inside the skirt – somewhere to hook the skirt up to so it drapes nicely and somewhere to loop the lacing cord ends so they don't trip me when they are pulled tight for closure (it really does need to be that long). 

I sewed in rouleaux strips for lacing and made a modesty panel with some boning along the top to ensure it sits straight. The lacing is pink because range of purple ribbon at Spotlight is sorely wanting.

Accessories
To go with the outfit I made a moonstone and gold chain headpiece, a belt and bead-tasselled loop to tie it together. The bead medallions are made according to this tutorial. I had so much fun making them that I kept going, using up a chunk of the bead stash to make little gifts.

The arm cuffs are 2 layers of satin and the slashes are completely hand-edged with teeny-tiny stitches.  

And finally, I must express a heartfelt thanks to the local Noni B for timing its liquidation sale for when I was looking for a display form. The Canberra Show no longer makes any available and I could not find a dress form small enough to fit my dress over its shoulders. Now I own [and have to find somewhere to keep] my very own store mannequin with removable arms.

In the Forests of Serre by Kinuko Y. Craft.

The Fairy Tailor

I promise the purples match, the camera just doesn’t like them.

Astute readers may notice something different about this fabric selection. After looking at my pile of fabrics all week I started thinking that the grey was really bringing the purples down so I replaced it with a spring green. I discovered the purple satin I had was too much not enough, even to piece, so I bought a nearly identical replacement. Being untextured, it's not quite as nice but it drapes well and I have enough for all the binding too. The bobbly ombre fabric is for the underdress bodice.

On to Patternmaking

Underdress
The underdress pattern turned out pretty much right on the first try. I added width to the skirt pieces to allow for pleats and raised the waist. For the bodice I used the pattern’s armscyes on some rectangles. I still made multiple mock-up bodices, but that was to figure out the order in which to do things. There were so many elements to consider - the bodice is partially lined and partially gathered, has raglan off-shoulder sleeves, an unbroken elastic channel and a side zip, and is (mostly) constructed using French seams.  Even so, I got partway through sewing the real one only to find my plan wasn't going to work and had to go back a few steps.

The final sewing order is:

1. Darts
2. Gathers
3. Side seams
4. Sleeves
5. Lining attached at the neck
6. Bind the neckline
7. Elastic channel
8. Waist seam
9. Sleeve elastic

The finishing at the zip-side underarm is not ideal, but I couldn’t figure out anything better. I found myself comfortably wearing the mock-up around the house while sewing so have earmarked this pattern to make more of in the future, but the zip will be in the back.

Jacket
The jacket is little more than one sleeve and a side front and back. I lengthened the sleeve from McCalls M4378 and extended the centre pieces to join a waistband, with a pleat in the front. This worked fine on the mock-up but was rather more fiddly with the light, maybe crepe, fabric I actually used.

Overdress
My plan for the overdress was to start with a corset which would flare out into a full skirt. It has to flare because I consider waist seams an abomination. I started by cutting down my already heavily modified corset pattern to underbust and spread it out a bit to go over the hips. Then I cut out those pieces with lots of fabric on the bottom, sewing up the corset part and cut down the excess until it made the skirt shape I wanted.

How it started

How it's going. The bulk of the skirt is in the side.

I have a pretty significant hip/waist ratio so getting the dress to fall smoothly there was the hardest part of the whole pattern making experience. No matter what I did I kept getting a little fold at the narrowest point. I'm sure a proper couturier would know how to get rid of it, but I didn't want to try to fit in a lesson, it being Christmas. Given the drape of my fashion fabric, I don't think this will be apparent in the final garment.

Other than the waist issue, this was one of the smoothest pattern-making experiences I've had which was a great relief since I had 10 weeks to go from Idea to Display. The mock-up looks pretty good itself.

Primavera

Has anyone else got an artist whose work you love so much it results in Bad Decisions? For me it's Kinuko Y. Craft. The first bad decision was finishing a book that was really not very good because of her gorgeous cover art; the second was starting to read the sequel. Third, I paid an exorbitant amount of postage to have an expensive-in-its-own-right book of her art shipped to Australia. And lastly, or rather, most recently, I decided I had to make one of the dresses I saw in said artbook. While I am supposed to be finishing up writing an album. 

By coincidence, the theme for the Canberra Show craft competition this year is Myths and Legends, giving me some justification and a two-month deadline.

I have taken a break from looking through the book because it was making me crazy. Got to finish this dress first.

Google informs me that this dress is from the cover art of In the Forests of Serre by Patricia A. McKillip which I have not read or heard of in any other context. I have no idea if this character is actually a fairy, but that's what I thought of when looking at it, so I am making a fairy dress. I am also working in a very different colour pallet that feels more me.

Maybe this could be another bad decision. Or. Perchance. A good one.

I have divided the outfit into three garments: the Overdress, the Jacket and the Underdress. The underdress could have been a blouse and skirt, but I decided I liked the idea it being a functional dress on its own and then the other layers could be added when leaving the house/castle/bower. My other executive decision was that fairies have invented elastic – or at least have ensorcelled cords to have stretch. (Having a ribbon in the underdress neckline was very uncomfortable.)

Patterns I am drawing from:

• Kwik Sew 2102
• Simplicity 6746
• McCalls M4861 as adapted for my Tia Dalma costume
• McCalls M4378 from which I previously made the cape for a Barbie party
• My self-drafted cuff pattern from my ice goth outfit 

The overdress will be made from this lovely brocade I found in Spotlight. If I hadn't happened upon it the whole dress would probably have stayed a mental design exercise. I got 4 metres. Part of me is sure this is plenty but another part of me is deeply worried.

After picking out the brocade I was pretty sure I had some perfect stash fabrics to go with it. For the jacket I am using a heavy silver satin I'm pretty sure I got from a curtain shop. While it doesn't match the rose gold threads in the brocade, it shares a reddish undertone so they coordinate well. I was slightly concerned I had misremembered after pulling out 2 dark purple satins that didn't match at all but then I found the one I was looking for. I think it came from a warehouse in Redcliffe. I have 3m, so this one's going to be tight. I might end up having to piece some of it. The brown and beige are for linings. The sheer fabric will need to be purchased (wish me luck!) I'm thinking pale pink.

2024 Review

I didn't do a lot of sewing this year, at least, not until December. During the year I did a handful of practical things – developing a T-shirt pattern for remaking purchased shirts I didn't like the fit of; and updating purchased cargo pants to take up the hems, take in the waist and put zips on the pockets – but nothing notable.

I'm trying to make a standard skirt base (including this, and this) but haven't quite got the fit consistent, so while I did make a plain skirt this year, it's currently in the mending pile.

In 2023 I had a couple of lessons with Rockstars and Royalty to develop a custom-fitted corset pattern, based on Truly Victorian TV110. Having now got a pattern that fits (like, really nicely) I've made a few this year refining the design using whatever fabric I had roughly half a metre of. 

Then in December I got completely obsessed with recreating an outfit from a Kinuko Y. Craft illustration. I spent 2 weeks developing the pattern and making mockups (everything went astoundingly smoothly) and am a good way through a couple of the pieces. More details to follow…