So, trim for the golden gown has been keeping me awake at night this week.
I got through the skirt preparations just up to pulling the strings for the cartridge pleats. I’ll do that bit once the bodice is all but finished, since the pleats will be sewn directly to the bodice. I decided to make my own trim, which is fine, except that I didn’t plan exactly what the final look would be. I knew that I wanted thick white bands, and possibly gold piping around the neck line and on the capped sleeves. When I started prepping the bodice layers, however, I found the white bands to be nice, but boring. Next, I considered “embroidered” white bands, but I thought about shopping for thread, the potential for disaster with my machine, and the sheer time involved with stitching that many yards of trim. I checked my fabric stash and found the trim that I used for Cleopatra (see Halloween Closet). It should be just enough to line the top and inner edges of the bodice and skirt…thank goodness I always buy way too much. At that point, the plan was to layer the trim on the white cotton, and to stitch pearls at intervals on top of the trim. Then, I remembered that I bought gold metal findings with blue crystals in them for this dress. Sadly, they didn’t look right with the white, and they looked lost in the new trim. Originally, I hadn’t planned on much color contrast in this gown, and I hadn’t yet thought about binding on the bodice edges. Enter piping. I’ve never made piping before, and the available piping in the store is never quite the right color. I’ve always been intimidated by the application of the binding, rather than its creation, but the theme of this gown has been “Do it right”, so I couldn’t say no. I went through my remnants in the stash (I raid the store’s bin like it’s my job) and found a navy blue cotton broadcloth in just the right size for the amount of piping that I need. The color compliments the [now blue and] gold gown nicely; it also brings out the dark blue in the primary trim. The gold findings can be seen better against the blue, although, I’m concerned that the piping isn’t thick enough. I may create a sort of accessory for the finished product: a half inch strip of interfaced navy with the findings attached. I could pin it to the top and point of the bodice like jewelry. It would cover any gaping in the center and solve the issue of keeping the findings anchored and centered…. Wow, blogging certainly helps–you can write out your problems and get them solved without losing sleep…
Back to trim now. Next, fitting the tissue for the bodice *groan*.
Thanks for reading!
OH! I just remembered. In the back of my mind, I’ve been trying to figure out how to make the ribbons for the mistcloak (read Mistborn) that I plan on making sometime before the end of faire. My failings in making one very long strip of bias tape finally paid off this morning during the piping lesson. While I managed to make longer strips than usual, I still ended up with six connected strips instead of one. I think it has something to do with the angle of my first cut and gets worse when I line up the edges for the final stitch. Anyway, if I can manage to screw them up the same way when I get to work on the cloak, I’ll have the length of strips that I need, already joined, making them easier to sew to the horizontal pieces that will make the base of the cloak. Yay!
Thanks again.
Green Linen Shirt 