Dress Developments X: Muslin Tuesday, March 9, 2010

So this evening I had my dress mockup with my wonderful seamstress. She's great and I already love working with her.

For tonight, I brought all my "bridal accoutrèments:" shoes, waist-cincher and bra. I wore my hair down, since that's how I plan to wear it for the wedding.

For the uninitiated, the custom dress process begins with extensive measurements, followed by a mock-up of the dress in a cheap fabric (like muslin). The muslin is fitted & adjusted, and then it's taken apart and used as a pattern for the "real" dress.

So in my previous dress post, I was torn between three sketches. Here's the one we picked:

The A-line/trumpet shaped dress with a wrap-style top, beaded trim at the neckline and in the back, and a beaded train.

Unfortunately, the design will have one major change; instead of cool beading at the bottom of the dress like I'd envisioned, we will have it showcased on the back center panel of the dress. I'm not sure why we made this change. I think it would have been too hard to have the beading on just the bottom, since the lace would have to be taken apart and applied by hand. Too expensive!

Anyway, here's the muslin:

Hmm.

There are a few things that will be different from the dress as shown:
- The bodice will have the wrap-style fabric attached to it. This is like, an "underbodice."
- The straps on top will be thinner more of a "sweetheart shape" in front.
- The V-neck will be an inch lower.
- The waistband will be wider, and beaded.
- The dress is supposed to flare out towards the bottom with the slip and petticoats under it, etc.
- The part of the back that is colored (see picture #3) will be beaded lace. 

Is this really my dress? I am not all that thrilled about it. It just looks like a big sack! A big, exceptionally-fitting-on-top sack! A sack of two colors!

I think it's interesting to see how I look in a long white dress. Also, I have heels on in this picture. I'm short waisted, so when I elongate my legs with heels and wear a natural waist, the dress looks empire-waisted! It just shows you how misleading it is to see these dresses on models and mannequins, when all of us are so different.

I guess it is starting to look like my drawing. However, I really want to change the back. I'm not sure how, but I think I'd like more drama & creativity than a big panel of beaded lace, however easy it might be to make. And I think the rounded train shape looks hopelessly dated. Back to the drawing board, sort of.

Dress Developments IX: Say Yes to the Sketch Thursday, February 11, 2010

So I did it -- I finally started the dress process.

Last weekend, I got measured, and as I write this, the seamstress is working on a muslin. But before I visited with her, I had to have a design, right?

I had been working on these, and with all my previous inspirations taken into account, plus my own body type, and some newer ideas from the likes of Amsale, Ulla-Maija and other modern-classic designers, here are the Final Four.

 

Dress 854 is a plain A-line dress. The back is inspired by this one from Amsale; asymmetrical, drawing attention in the right place. The front is a flat front skirt, although the sketch appears to have princess seams. There is some slight gathering at the waistline.

I'll be honest; I really didn't like this dress. It's a beautiful A-line, classic dress, but I wanted something with more... personality.

Dress 858 is a modified A-line (trumpet) with princess seams. Being short and, for lack of a better word, "curvy," I felt like a plain A-line might be overwhelming, especially in light of the fact that I want to wear a full skirt. The problem is that I don't like princess seams, but they seem necessary to get the full skirt. 

And here are my favorites. Another solution to the full skirt problem is to have a seam below the waistline. After all, that gathered fabric has to come from somewhere! This dress has a seam that curves downward, which I hope would elongate the body. It also just looks more modern.

I love this dress! I think it's modern and interesting, but I'm not sure if I am bold enough to wear it. Plus, the seam really does cut the visual line of the body, which may or may not be a good thing. Here, the same dress without the seam (but the fullness of the skirt would be considerably less):

So which one did I choose? I'll show you in the muslin fitting, next week!

Dress Developments VIII: Shopping with the Moms Friday, January 15, 2010

After I decided to have my dress made, and after meeting two unsuitable seamstresses, I was lucky enough to discover the resource that is Fabrique! Fabrics. I went there this summer, met the owner, and was sold! Problem was, I wasn't quite ready to decide what dress I wanted to wear.

Fast forward to this fall, when my mother and grandmother visited me from out-of-state. True, I would never have that "trying-on-dresses" feeling with my mother there, but this would have to do.

My mother is a third generation sewing enthusiast. She learned the craft from my great-grandmother, with whom she spent her summers as a little girl. My mother made many of the clothes I wore as a kid. Old Christmas ornaments, many of my baby clothes, a quilt, and a Christmas dress that I remember being made from a pattern my mom cut out of paper bags. Eventually, we moved too many times and my mother remarked that buying clothes became cheaper than sewing, so I haven't seen her pull out her old Bernina in quite a while.

But I have many great memories of sewing with my mom. The picture at left is the sewing machine my mom used, a Bernina 830 (circa 1979 or so). She'll be happy to emphasize to you that it still works.

When I told her about Fabrique, that it was a couture fabric store that had an entire section dedicated to bridal fabrics, she was so excited! So I made sure to take her and my grandmother, and I felt like I had two experts on hand to help me in this first stage of bridal dress shopping.

The store has a good selection of bridal fabrics; almost any bridal dress fabric you've heard of is there: silk satin, silk dupioni, shantung, mikado, and even a few high quality poly-satins if I remember correctly. Here's my mom checking them all out:

And here's my beautiful grandmother, looking on (and surrounded by trim):

But my favorite is the lace. Lace!!! I don't want an all-over beaded lace dress (although I think they're beautiful), but I want to incorporate lace in some way. The laces at Fabrique range from $50 to over $400 per yard. Some are domestic, some are imported, but every one of them is stunning. Here, the store owner shows a hand-beaded lace, with crystals attached. You just have to click these to see the beautiful lace up close!

Yep, you read the price tag correctly. Here's another...

And this is the one I bought!

I bought some trim, and the beads happen to be nearly identical to this lace. Perfect!

My grandmother's hands rest next to my iPod. I bring that thing everywhere -- it's so helpful to be able to show vendors exactly what I want. I even have a runway video of the dress on my iPod, and it's indispensable. If you look carefully, you can see my sketch in the foreground.

Also in this picture, my grandmother is wearing her original wedding set. I wish I'd taken a better picture. She recently found this after it had been packed away. The set is over 50 years old, as it was given to her by my late grandfather when they married. How sweet!

Despite originally wanting to wear a matte fabric like silk dupioni or radzimir (if I could ever find it), I ended up choosing a smooth, lustrous silk satin. Silk satin is responsible for beautiful gowns like these (click to see the fabric in motion):

Along with the fabric, I chose the beaded lace, and the matching trim. My grandmother decided to buy the dress fabric for me as a birthday present! I am so humbled by this and hope the dress is as beautiful as we envision it.

The dress: Which fabric? Friday, September 18, 2009

Now that I've chosen my dress, I need to figure out what fabric to use. As mentioned, I'm partial to silk dupioni, but I'm not sure if it needs something heavier. While studying fabrics, I found it absolutely fascinating to see how silk is made. I remember a couple years ago watching a documentary about it, and I found this cool how-to with pictures and explanations.

I also found this *wonderful* glossary from, of all places, J. Crew.

Our cotton cady comes from a premier Japanese mill. This fabric has a compact weave and a crisp cotton hand, making it ideal for structured silhouettes that fit the body perfectly without drape. Our designers love the juxtaposition of simple cotton with a very elegant shimmer.

Cotton organdy: an ethereal, semi-sheer fabric with a stiff, crisp finish that seems to float on air. Ours is covered with gently swaying, embroidered flowers and comes from the same Japanese house that makes our very best eyelet laces.

Our signature cotton, also known as Liberty Tana lawn (named after Lake Tana in Sudan where the cotton was originally grown), comes from Liberty Art Fabric—legendary for their distinctive textiles and prints. It's a soft, lightweight, woven cotton, combed with a crisp finish and boasting a graceful drape.

Pronounced "tool" and well-known as the stuff ballerina tutus and wedding veils are made of, we use it as a crinoline in our Whitney dress to give the skirt a dramatic silhouette. The word "tulle" comes from the French city of that name, but it applies to hexagonal mesh fabric no matter where it's made.

A very refined, utterly elegant fabric with a cool, dry hand. We searched far and wide for an airy, angelic fabric like this and finally found it at an Italian mill with a sterling reputation for fine linens.

This softly rippled fabric is silk-cotton cloqué with a "hammered" finish and a full-bodied drape. It's specially treated during the weaving process for a slightly crisp handfeel and a very festive rustle.

Also known as crepe-backed satin, it's a designer's dream because either side of this splendid fabric can be used as the face. The contrast of matte crepe and shiny satin in the same design, coupled with a luxurious drape, is simply spectacular.

Crinkle silk chiffon lends an ethereal quality to party dresses and gowns. Its whisper-light beauty and subtle texture adds a touch of dimension to basic chiffon. It drapes beautifully, and takes dyes and prints particularly well.

The marriage of smooth silk and crisp cotton creates a lightweight, diaphanous fabric with a subtle shine and a soft handfeel. We think it's just perfect for a wedding dress.

Dupioni is a lustrous silk characterized by a quiet sheen and nubby texture. Woven in India, dupioni takes dye beautifully and thus, is often shown in a wide range of rich colors. Its crisp hand makes it a popular choice for dresses as it lends subtle structure and elegant drape.

A four-ply, crisp organza with a tight weave. We get ours from a very famous Italian mill. It's a heavier fabric with an even texture and a luxurious matte finish.

A heavier, elaborately woven fabric that combines several textures into one material. It's a subtle way to wear a pattern, making it a perfectly unexpected option for a wedding gown.

The ultimate in elegance with a luxurious feel and a brilliantly lustrous shimmer. This rich, substantial fabric has a crisp, firm texture with raised cords, making it ideal for structured silhouettes that exude sophistication and drama.

An ultra-luxurious, very special fabric usually reserved for royal weddings and haute couture. This midweight Italian silk is so rare that we have only a few limited gowns available.

Lightweight and lustrous, it's woven the same way the Persians made silk taftah five-hundred years ago: with very fine, almost invisible ribs that make a festive rustle whenever you move.

Silk tricotine is a triple-ply matte fabric with a twilled weave and a slight sheen. Cut on the bias, it has a heavy drape with a beautiful, flowing movement. It's substantial enough to shape itself to the body without cling.

The smoothest silk with a touch of wool, lending a very sumptuous hand to the fabric. Silk wool is known for taking color beautifully and imparting a rich, deep lustre.

Slub silk was historically used for "high court" gowns because of its luxurious handfeel. The subtle, uneven texture of the fabric is due to the weaving of double strands of silk. We love the rich look and feel of it for our special occasion dresses.