Since my class doesn't start till 6:30 pm tonight, I decided to start work on my cocktail dress muslin.
The pattern instructions don't mention underlining (they rarely do), but if you're going to make this dress in the recommended sheer fabrics, it's going to need something underneath, right?
I happen to have some poly georgette and chiffon purchased years ago for other projects and never used. Rather than just cut the muslin out of an old cotton sheet, which wouldn't really give me a sense of what the challenges are going to be, I decided to cut both a cotton sheet and my poly georgette simultaneously. Having the sheet under the georgette really helped to stabilize it as I cut, and it can serve as underlining where needed.
Unfortunately, I didn't have quite enough of the pale peach poly to cut the whole dress, so I cut the skirt in this black and white striped poly chiffon.
The whole dress is cut and hanging on my body form, to do whatever growing it has to overnight.
I already cut the cummerbund in the peach georgette, but I'm wondering if it wouldn't work better in the stripe (it's cut on the bias), which would draw the eye up, making the legs look longer. It's going to be gathered, though, and I'm not sure how a wide bias-cut stripe is going to look all bunched up. I guess I'll experiment with it more tomorrow.
I picked up some black crepe swatches yesterday. Not too exciting but a possibility.
And that's it. I've already picked out my outfit for school tonight; I just have shave and make myself presentable -- first impressions and all that...
Have a great day, everybody!
Ooooh, good luck in class tonight! How exciting!
ReplyDeleteI wish there had been enough of that peach fabric for the muslin. How pretty the dress would be in a peach silk chiffon. By the way, this dress would also look wonderful on your sister in law.
ReplyDeleteI guess I could buy more, but for a muslin I don't know if I want to bother.
DeleteI think a smokey navy would look great on Cathy, and I vote for the full skirt.
ReplyDeleteI much prefer the stripes. :-)
ReplyDeleteI much prefer the stripes. :-)
ReplyDeleteClaire McCardell did a lot of bodices with stripes on the bias that used tucks and ruching, so you may want to check out the metmuseum.org archives for ideas.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing how this turns out, what a fabulous design!
ReplyDeleteI have recently embraced muslin making. I often feel so pressed for time that it seems like a luxury to make one before I tackle a wearable garment, yet it's a valuable process. I feel like I get any experimental or more risky ideas out on the muslin first, and nail those new techniques.