piątek, 6 stycznia 2017

Trying not to jade the jade

   Hello, dear Readers!
The first post of 2017 is actually a past make. I had made this dress in October 2015, and since it was much too big for me now, as I've reduced, I decided to take it in. And as it's finally sunny here, me and my Husband could take some decent photos.


   This was my first "big" project: first time with silk, first time with evening clothes, first time with two fabrics treated as one, finally-first time with overcasting by hand all the seam allowances.


Big bow to my Husband for taking the photos and for helping (as always) with fitting and hemming!

    The pattern is Vogue 5456 from 1961 and the main fabric is a silk dupioni in a shade of jade green from Truro Fabrics.


It is fully backed with a medium-weight cotton canvas in dark green, for three reasons:
-to give the dress more body and make it "fall heavier"
-to reduce the crazy-wrinkling properties of dupioni (it crinkles from even looking at it)
-to have something to hand sew to without marking the outside fabric.





    As for the fit, I had to make regular alterations, such as FBA, but I had to go much further with back adjustments than I usually do; I have a short and narrow back and I ended up taking out 3,5(!) inches of back width and 2,5 of back lenght in this pattern.


    I lenghtened the dress by an inch.The dress fastens with my favourite lapped zipper, finished off with a tiny snap and the neck.


   The dress took about 100 hours to make, and most of the time was spent basting the seams and hand-overcasting the seam allowances. On the bright side, it was such a training that my hand sewing skills grew significantly.


 Some details

    



    I love sewing with stable silk fabrics and I love wearing silk; it keeps me warm when it's cold and cool when it's sizzling hot outside; ever since that dress was made I was lost in a silk fever.
Dupioni is a wonderful silk to start sewing with-it's stable, doesn't shift and takes the corrections gracefully.

Thank you for reading. Have a wonderful day! :-)


7 komentarzy:

  1. Przepiękna suknia! Warto było czekać na jej ujawnienie! :)
    Niby prosta konstrukcja, ale w Twoim wykonaniu i dzięki szlachetnej tkaninie wygląda bardzo elegancko i szykownie.
    Czy to whipstitch zabezpiecza zapasy szwów?
    Oprócz umiejętności krawieckich, bardzo zazdroszczę Ci umiejętności kurczenia się w poprzek!
    Chyba mnie w koncu przekonasz do szycia z jedwabiu! Tylko to 100 godzin... Skąd je pożyczyć? :)
    Znów gratuluję i ponawiam życzenia wszystkiego najlepszego i szyciowego w nowym roku <3

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    1. <3 Bardzo Ci dziękuję za wsparcie :-) Zapasy szwów zabezpiecza blanket stitch - podoba mi się, jak zabezpiecza brzegi tkaniny :-) Te 100 godzin w większości poszło właśnie na wykańczanie szwów. Jeśli byś je ozygzakowała(cóż za słowo...)maszyną, skróciłabyś wszystko do 40 :-)

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  2. so beautiful, really lovely (adore that colour too!)

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  3. Absolutely gorgeous, that color suits you beautifully and the dress design is such Mad Men perfection. I have a hard time believing this was your first time with several of the elements you used for this project, as the end result is so successful. I especially enjoy using two fabrics as one. Wonderful work!

    xx Lauren

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    1. Thank you very much, it's heartwarming to read such words. I hate coquetry and all the people who write "that's my first dress ever" when it clearly isn't, so I don't ever do it. I have sewn some dresses before this one, but never with silk, never with a backing fabric, never with such attention to finishing details...I have, however, read Claire Shaeffer's "Couture sewing techniques" over and over again and I've spend a lot of time practising hand sewing. Plus dupioni is so cooperative. :-)

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  4. Stunning!! I love the colour and that neckline! Now I am jade-green with envy ;)

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