Getting Better....

Here are the latest pics of the reception dress. With a regular bra and a bit of fiddling around the bust area, the fit was instantly better. I also cut some of the excess fabric out from under the arms. As you can see, the fit is MUCH better than before.







There are still some wrinkles that I can't seem to fix. Releasing the side seams didn't help at all. Maybe take more off the back underarm? I don't know if adding a bit of boning would help? Or if this is as good as it gets? I am a bit of a perfectionist, so I would love the fit to be PERFECT, but I think this is at least livable.

At least the train looks good.....

The reception dress is now mostly put together. And of course now I am seeing all kinds of problems.

Here are some pics as is. The facings are not in and the red bit at the top is just tucked in so I could see how it would look. The side pleats in the skirt are also not pressed. I am planning on hemming it just below the knee. And I will eventually have a petticoat to wear under it as well.



I obviously need to do a bit more pressing of the princess seams, but what is really bad is all those wrinkles/pulling all over the bodice, especially on the back. I am wondering what I did wrong, as the muslin did not do this. Maybe a waist stay would help some, keep the heavy skirts from dragging down the bodice so much? Any other suggestions out there? Particularly any thoughts on how to fix it WITHOUT starting over?

Sigh. One step forward, two steps back.

As far as the ceremony dress, here is a picture of the ginormous red train, inside and out. This is based on the back pieces of the Truly Victorian Fantail Skirt pattern, although I lengthened it a bit. The white strip on the inside is where the ties will be inserted to gather it in the back.



I dropped it off last weekend with a fellow costuming buddy who very kindly offered to do some beading on it as her wedding gift to me. I can't wait to see the results! Now I just need a dress to attach it to......

Parting shot:
Fred has been getting all the attention lately, so I thought I would shine the spotlight on his brother George for once. George is missing his friend and consequently is very wild and crazy playful. Here he is in one of his rare moments of rest.

Almost a dress

Front of reception dress is done! And the back is done too!! Now all I have to do is put the halves together and do the facings and I will actually have at least one dress to wear!

Yay!!!

One thing that is already bugging me is the invisible zipper pull that shows in the back. I should have moved the zipper to the side where it would be less noticeable. But I am certainly NOT going to change it now. Maybe I could come up with a way to emphasize it, since I can't hide it at this point. Add some red beads or something and make it a little feature. Hmmm.

Another thing that is bugging me is despite getting a heavier cotton to underline, you can still see the pleat folds through the skirt. The seam allowances are less noticable, but still somewhat visible. ARGH!!! No wonder I never sew with light colored fabrics!!!! This might be another thing to try to deal with if I have time, but for now I need to just let it go. I don't even know what I would do about it I had the time at this point, because I am absolutely not taking it apart and/or starting over, and short of that I don't know if there is any way to hide the show through in the ivory fabric.

These are things that probably only another sewing person would notice anyways. So maybe I need to just relax about it......Easier said than done!!

I should have pictures tomorrow.

No more procrastinating.

Work proceeds on the wedding clothes. I have settled on designs for and made muslins of everything. Some final tweaking for fit and I will start cutting the "real" fabric this weekend.

The Plan for the ceremony dress is a combination of these two patterns, an OOP Vogue pattern and the fantail skirt from Truly Victorian.



It will have red fabric around the neckline in the front and a loooong red train, which if I have time will be beaded. I have pictures of the muslin of this, I will try to post them tomorrow.


The reception dress is based on this vintage Vogue.



I am dropping the sleeves because they restrict movement too much and this dress is specifically for dancing. I could probably do something with a gusset if I was bent on keeping them, but frankly I don't have the time to mess with it at this point. Plus if it is sleeveless it connects back to the ceremony dress more, which is a nice bonus. The trim around the neckline is again the red fabric. And I have some fabulous red netting with a little bit of silver sparkles to make the petticoat.

I am also covering a pair of shoes in the red fabric. If I have time. :-)

The Boy's suit is moving along ok. I actually have the real fabric prepped and cut out for the pants. The jacket muslin has been approved so I can move forward on that. I still need to muslin and make the vest, but if it comes down to the line, he says I can drop the vest, so that might be the last thing I work on. I am also making him a tie out of the red fabric from my dress.

Shew!!

I love Summerset's Parting Shots, so here is one of my own. Orange kitty Fred with his leg in a cast. Awwwwww!