Next at St. Ed's is "Secret Garden" with costumes designed by the wonderful Susan Branch-Towne (her sketch is above); next to the sketch are the basic directions for constructing the dress which was patterned and cut by the lovely Lucie Cunningham! In stark contrast to the pace of "The Importance of Being Earnest" where I was making multiple garments in 5 weeks, this dress took me the full five weeks to construct - you will see why in the following pics:
We are using chiffon over satin - here, again I start by thread marking and flat lining by hand.
For the chiffon layers and sleeves, I am using french seams which create a beautiful finished look.
For the bodice, the chiffon (which is cut on the bias by the way, making it much more challenging) is gathered over the satin under layer and attached by hand.
The center front piece is backed with a thicker fabric so that it holds it's shape.
This is the sleeve portion - in the center is a french seam and then around the outer edge is a 1/4" rolled hem.
The sleeve top is then gathered and very narrow elastic is attached.
Here, I am attaching the chiffon over layer to the skirt piece. Below, you will see the gathers:
A majority of this dress was constructed by hand, so I took great pains to find just the right needle: not too big or it would cause large holes in the chiffon; not too small because it would slip out of my hand and/or get lost in the layers. It also needed to have a very small eye to avoid damaging the fabric.
Sleeves and skirt attached to bodice.
Next are beautiful details like these bows which are added to the sleeves:
Handwork details
Attaching trim at the waist.
Inserting the bodice lining.
On to the hem - there are two: one chiffon layer and one satin layer. I've used twill tape to mark the hemline. Note: the chiffon is cut on the bias and has to hang (preferably from a mannequin) for at least 24 hours because it will 'grow' and it will do so unevenly. Below, I secure the hemline from fraying (before I cut it) with the miracle that is Fray Check:
A hand rolled, pinned, and machine stitched hem. Seemed like miles of chiffon!!!!
Details: Hooks and eyes and snaps at center back.
TA DA!!
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