July 21 , 2008

For the first time I will try to recreate a fashion plate. Usually I make my own designs, but this one has caught my eye.

Patterns used:

I think I will use the following patterns:

Underskirt: TV208 skirt A

Overskirt: TV301 or apron from TV208

Bodice: TV460

Fabrics

Black dupioni silk

Black cotton for lining

August 14, 2008

Today I've started this project. First I've cut out the fabric (both silk and lining) for the underskirt, TV208 skirt A. At this moment I am not going to cut out the apron. First of all I am not sure if I will use the apron from this pattern, second I want the apron to be a separate overskirt.

I haven't made any progress pictures at all tonight, because I've been struggling with the fabric. The silk and cotton kept sticking together, so it a bit of a job to get all the lining pieces smoothly pinned to the silk pieves. But in the end I won and the skirt is sewn together.

August 15, 2008

Today I've continued with the skirt. Put in the waistband, the placket and hemmed the skirt. Here's the skirt finished sofar. I don't have a dressform, so I used a bookstand to hang the skirt on. Please ignore all the toys :-).

Front:

Side:

Back:

Pleats on back:

Next step is to make all the ruffles. I hope I have enough fabric. I had 10 meters to start with, but this skirt already ate up so much fabric, I think I have to buy more. The ruffles will also require a lot of fabric.

August 16, 2008

OK, today is the first day of many of pleating ruffles. I've cut out 10 strips of 20 cm wide silk. Sewn them together and hemmed the bottom. Here's the long strip before pleating:

The pleats are 3cm wide and 1 cm deep. I measured the top of the pleat (but guessed the bottom) and pinned it in place:

Pressing the pleats:

After a long day of pinning and pressing I could finally sew this first row of pleats to the skirt. The white line you can see in the pictures is soap which I used to mark the stitch line.

Front:

Side:

Back:

August 17, 2008

Another day full of pleating. For the next row of pleats I've cut out 16 cm wide strips. These pleats are also 3 cm wide, but 2 cm deep. Here are pictures of the second row sewn into place.

Front:

Back:

I still have to sew the trim over these pleats, but unfortunately I don't have enough in my stash. And I think I am not going to sew ruffles above the pleats as shown in the fashion plate.