Glamour Puss Dress 3

Well glamour puss is developing . I have made the corset which needs to be fitted to T agin just to make sure it fits perfectly.
This dress has 4 layers in the bodice , an inside lining which sits aginst the body , the foundation or corset and then the silk outer layer and lastly the beading which will be mounted on the silk.
The lining includes a mid riff section while the  boned foundation doesnt but does extend all the way to the waist. In the pattern the outer layer is made up of a pleated bodice and a contrasting midriff . I am making it without the pleated outer and replacing this with the beading. I have decided to use the lining pattern as both lining and outer layer and then to mount the beaded lace on the bias  onto the outer shell . Doing this will, I think ,mean that I dont have to cut the lace up except at the side seams.Bill has told me to make the lace side seams very wide (at least2 ") and the to use a hammer to shatter the beads and crystals in the seam allownce so that I can sew through it !!!!! This means that I dont run the risk of the beading thread unravelling on the back of the lace  as it might if I unpicked the beading I would never have thought of attacking this beautiful fabric with a hammer !!
Here she is with tulip skirt attached and the outer shell layer ( really the lining pattern) . Now I have to catch T and try it on her to deal with her sway back and scoliosis . I hope that we dont have change too much of it.

Glamour Puss Dress 2

The above pic shows the bodice after I fitted it to T and found that she is short waisted and also has a mild scoliosis .I had to remove about 1 3/4 inches out of the  bodice length and alter the centre back seam in order to keep it in the centre back and accomodate her scoliosis.
After making the adjustment to the pattern pieces and truing up the sides of each piece I made another corset . The muslin was backed with Shapewell interfacing which was sewn into each seam and then trimmed back to reduce bulk each seam .
My teacher Bill, uses ridgeline as apposed to boning in pockets . Since I am his student for the next few weeks I will do it his way .He wraps the end of each of the ridgeline piece in mulin to stop any discomfort  before sewing it onto each side of the open seam allowance with Zig Zag stitch and a strong jeans machine needle.

Glamour puss and T shirts .

Well the the sewing has been happening in Brunswick and I have produced a stripey T shirt  from a poly cotten I purchsed at The Fabric Store when they first opened . I used my cutomized pattern but did a different neckline as I didnt like the join in the binding which I got when sewing the shoulder and binding as one .This method used a crossing over of the neck binding which was cut on the cross.I think I quite like the V sitting inside a round neckand will use it again. I decided to trim the neck with some little buttons a friend had given me .Over all Iam quite happy with this T shirt . I must do battle with my cover stitch machine however and try to work out how to use it to the full

Glamour Puss Gown

I am rather excited as I have a deluxe project to start on and complete over the next 2 months. A friend of mine is having a VERY special event coming up and asked me to make her a suitable dress. This was very fortunate as I have signed up to do a course in Couture Sewing at the CAE here in Melbourne and needed a couture type project to work on . I elected to learn how to build a boned bodice . I have made them before and probably could do it without the class but the thought of doing this every Saturday for 6 weeks and with the help of an expert was just too good to pass up. I am going to use Vogue  Pattern 1154 by Badgley Mischka. http//voguepatterns.mccall.com/v1154 

This consists of a jacket and strapless dress. The dress I will be making will be made out of Green dupioni shot with pink . Instead of the pleated bodice there will be a plain bodice covered in beaded fabric which will be mounted over the green silk. Should be lots of fun to make . This week I am going to cut out all the pattern pieces in muslin , stitch in all the stitching lines etc in black cotton  and then make up the muslin and fit it with the boning inserted,get the necessary pattern alterations done and then wait to go to my first class.

The T shirt Quest.

I have decided that I need to perfect a T shirt pattern so I can make consistently good T shirts . I have realized that the fit of a T shirt is VERY heavily influenced by the drape and elasticity of the fabric used . I have start with a viscose knit which has allot of stretch but not as much as slinky knit.
I used an old T shirt which fits me well and decided to copy it by laying it on a sheet of pattern paper placed over a blanket . I then used a  needle to punch the outline of the pattern pieces onto the paper . Next I transferred all the measurements from the Tshirt to my pattern and then copied that pattern and added seam allowances etc. I made up a toile in a similar viscose rubbishy knit and the found that the shoulders were too wide , the sleeves were too wide and that the body was a little too wide .  I also decided that I wanted to raise the back neck by about 7 cm as I find that having a high back neck is MUCH more flattering my body which has more than average sloping shoulders ..
 I made these alterations and then transferred these changes to the paper pattern. It seems to me that I will have several different T shirt patterns made up to suit the different types of knits which I will want to use .Knits like wool jersey which are very stable may well need darts whereas the viscose knits don't .

I have made this pattern up in a Viscose which I bought from Tessuti some years ago . I am not sure I like the pattern on the fabric anymore but oh well . I also havent finished the hems. I have to use Dolly for my shots as invariably there is no one around to take photos of me and my slopey shoulders.

Red tunic to go under Zippy Jacket.

After much pondering on layers under Zippy Jacket I decided that I needed something with a fitted sleeve ( I never show my arms )_ and that was about 1/3 longer than the jacket and had a shaped hemline. I found New Look 6010 and thought that I could alterit to suit. The pattern was a good fit and dint need any changes to the bust or length ( unusual for me) .I altered the pattern by ignoring the collar and scooping out the neck to compliment that of the jacket. I decided to go with a self trim on the bib of this blouse using gathered strips cut on the cross in three gathered ruffles either side of the centre front.The bias cut means that the edges will not need to be finished and I get the soft romantic look that I wanted on this cotton tunic. I used very understated buttons as I didn't want the buttons fighting with the zip on the jacket.

The pattern was well cut except that there seems to be problem with the front shoulder having to be eased into the back shoulder . This isn't mentioned in the instructions and after carefully looking to see if I had made a mistake I couldn't really see what had gone wrong to make this necessary. It worked out fine but I cant see why ease in the front would be necessary as it is usually in the back shoulder to accommodate the shoulder blade . Next I want to make some T shirts to wear with this jacket .
It is very hot here in Melbourne and we are anxiously watch cyclone Jaci which is actually bigger than Katrina and is heading for the Queensland coast . Our thoughts are very much with poor Queensland as they face this new catastrophe.