The Sewing Place

Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend

CarolC

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #30 on: February 04, 2018, 23:11:28 PM »
What a pretty dress! And how brave you are to take it on!

I made something sort of similar recently for dance with a mesh top and lined lower part, though mine wasn’t as complex.

I treated the whole, including the mesh part, as a single pattern based on a basic jewel neck, then added the lower solid part neckline and back lines as style lines. If you use stretch mesh, you will need to take it in a bit to fit, but non stretch illusion might give more support. If you use stretch, you could add nude elastic straps to help support the dress.

To attach the mesh, stitch to the white as with any panelled pattern, then attach the lining to the joined raw edges to enclose them and flip it down.

The lace is hand stitched on in chunks (Kate M’s dress was done like that). Again non stretch base might be easier to handle as the stretch mesh will need to be stretched to the correct shape as the lace is put on.
 :flower:
 

DementedFairy

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #31 on: February 05, 2018, 08:47:07 AM »
FAbulous advice folks, keep it coming.  I like to absorb all the slight variations and smoosh them into one!
C'est moi!

CarolC

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #32 on: February 05, 2018, 14:12:22 PM »
Hello again! One more thought - for the skirt, it looks like double or triple circles, perhaps diminishing in fullness as the layers go inwards. To cut the double or triple circles, you divide the waist by however many (2, 3, whatever), then make make up the appropriate number of pieces.

So for a double circle, divide the waist by 2 and use that measurement as the inner circumference of the circle pieces. Depending on the width of the fabric, cut 4 half circle pieces or 8  quarter circles to make up the full waist circumference. For a triple circle, divide waist by 3 and cut 6 or 12 pieces; for 1.5 circles, divide waist by 1.5 and cut 3 or 6. Hope that makes sense!

BrendaP

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #33 on: February 05, 2018, 17:42:12 PM »
None of the skirts in the images posted look to me to be even full circle; which is maybe just as well as multiple circles in a full length skirt would take acres of fabric.
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

DementedFairy

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #34 on: February 05, 2018, 19:29:17 PM »
It's very full and at least 2-3 layers, but there was no bulk or visible seam at waist or hips, which is what I'm trying to work out.  A lot can be covered with the lace bodice, but the key to working the yardage out will be those skirt pieces
C'est moi!

Vegegrow

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #35 on: February 05, 2018, 20:36:59 PM »
the veiling we used to sell was 300cm wide... you need to know your brides waist to floor measurement including shoes ..
"The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary." ~Mary Kurtz

Manuela

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #36 on: February 06, 2018, 12:29:58 PM »
Here is a very useful circle skirt calculator that'll do all the maths for you:
Circle Skirt Calculator

DementedFairy

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #37 on: February 06, 2018, 17:27:22 PM »
No fears about calculations, don't forget I'm a maths lecturer!
C'est moi!

Marniesews

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #38 on: February 14, 2018, 00:16:29 AM »
Sorry I'm late to the party, not sure if it's too late. I was going to suggest multiple circles for the underskirts but CaroleC has given a good description. It does take lots of fabric but 3m wide tulle/soft dress net 300cm tulle isn't very expensive and has a lovely bounce. I also saw the rtw petticoats on the first page and that might well do with the addition of crin for extra support. You can attach it with little tucks to make it kick out more - the underskirt on its own may will need a bit more oomph.

If I'm not too late, @maliw you could shortcut with a bought underskirt and either add the crin to make it long enough or buy a longer one and hem and add crin at the same time to make it the right length too. This one is millinery crin but is fine enough for underskirts and a fraction of the price of dance crin even if you buy a full 30m roll.
Hopefully back more regularly! Ballroom sewing may be permanently paused but bag making is the current focus.

maliw

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #39 on: February 14, 2018, 12:04:58 PM »


If I'm not too late, @maliw you could shortcut with a bought underskirt and either add the crin to make it long enough or buy a longer one and hem and add crin at the same time to make it the right length too. This one is millinery crin but is fine enough for underskirts and a fraction of the price of dance crin even if you buy a full 30m roll.
Thanks for that Marnie, I haven't started yet so something to consider.
At leisure on the leisure penninsula

DementedFairy

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #40 on: February 25, 2018, 14:06:56 PM »
We went shopping for the main fabrics yesterday, including curtain lining for the toile, and had a good look at lace patterns.  At least they now know how crucial it is to find the RIGHT lace, and also saw how pricey it can be.
We got a poly shantung in ivory for the dress, with a good weight anti-static lining.
I've just cut out the toile- to my delight, she is very close to a straight up size 18 on this rather old pattern [more like a 16 irl]
She brought me her attempt at a duct tape dummy too- it's  a bit wonky and squishy, but will be a help in keeping the dress nicely shaped and avoid the illusion part stretching out [when we get to it]
Hoping to get the toile fitting done within the fortnight.  Watch this space!
C'est moi!

DementedFairy

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #41 on: March 17, 2018, 17:02:44 PM »
First toile fitting today, and all went swimmingly.  I cut out the underbodice in the curtain lining, and used some of my quality interfacing on it, then just used the nice quality plastic boning that comes in its own casing, and put them on the sides and bust seams in preparation.  To fasten it I used some bra/corset hook and eye tape.
I'd pencilled on where I thought the sweetheart shaping should go, and cut it away a bit at a time until she was happy...which was exactly on my pencil lines lol
Very minor tweaks to get it sitting nice and snug, and checking how it looked with the bra cups from eBay, and then a quick whizz on the machine to make those adjustments.  The dress itself was just as easy to fit.  She just needed a little more ease over the hips, so I tweaked those seams too.
I did a very rough mock up of the illusion mesh bodice section using  a piece of scrap crystal organza, and that was fine too.  I just wanted to be able to use it to estimate how much mesh to order, as it seems quite pricey.
Now I need to do some quick calcs to estimate how much yardage we need for the tulle overlayers, then they can get them ordered while I cut out and sew the main dress and lining.
We may need to visit Nottingham to get the lace though- might be a cool day out.  Last time I did that ws for my daughter's wedding dress...6 years ago now!
C'est moi!

DementedFairy

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #42 on: March 17, 2018, 17:04:06 PM »
Forgot to mention- I opened up the wedding skirt toile from last years sewing adventure, and pinned it onto the back to use as a rough guide to train length [the pattern as it stands has a tiny train, she wants a bit more]
This method worked well, so now I know what I'm working with!
C'est moi!

DementedFairy

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #43 on: April 01, 2018, 10:03:52 AM »
Lots has happened since the toile fitting.  I dismembered it, to use as the underlining, pinned it straight onto the fashion fabric, and basted along all the stitching lines, then rough cut with generous seam allowances [in case of further alterations nearer the time]
I took my time stitching it all together, and then pressed the hell out of each seam, clipped, and catch-stitched all the seam allowances down nice and flat.  This is a tedious task, but really helps. 
By the time I'd got front and back assembled, I could see that the seams on the back particularly are going to stretch like crazy [none are on grain] so I need to contrive some reinforcement.  I'll probably use selvage strips from main fabric and lining scraps and sew them along each seam.  I had to do this on the wife's wedding dress to support the beading weight.  This fabric is doing it on its own!  I'm undecided at this point whether to do that by hand or just machine it on, as the tulle layers will hide any stitching lines anyway.
At this stage I also realised that quite a lot of the pencil markings from the fitting were showing through BOTH layers [unexpected], so I had to go at it with stain remover and a small scrubbing brush.  There was also an unexplained mark on the underlining, and a bloodstain from jooking myself on some pins.  All cleared up fine.
Then the tulle. :S
I spent some time [like, weeks] planning this, and when the tulle finally arrived this week, I was VERY daunted by how fine and soft it is.  Just what was needed of course, but floatier than anything I've ever worked with.  :S
I took a deep breath yesterday, and got it  all spread out on the living room floor, after removing several coffee tables, piles of stuff, and cats.
7m of 3m-wide fabric take SPACE.  I pinned the raw edges together [not easy as the stuff just spits pins back out again]and crawled around, tugging and smoothing and swearing [and sweating- I had to strip down to my undies in the end, there's an image you didn't want!]

Some time later, I managed to pinpoint the place to remove the waist circles [9.5" diameter] from the miles of fabric, got it folded appropriately, and did the deed.  I'd long since decided not to even attempt to shape the egg shape I actually need, but to do that when the dress is on and hemmed, as it will need trimming again anyway.

I then took it through to the sewing room and dropped it over the assembled dress bodice, pinning it to the waistline. 
And then realised that I REALLY SHOULD have marked the CF and CB before picking it off the floor.
BUM!
I shall contrive.
I'll faff with it  a bit then attach some hanging loops and get it stashed away.  There should be another fitting next week, when I can drape the illusion mesh bodice and talk about the back fastening and lace.
C'est moi!

sewingj

Re: Fairy Finking- wedding dress for a friend
« Reply #44 on: April 01, 2018, 10:08:01 AM »
I`m having a panic attack just reading this!