Tag:

pattern drafting

Robe passepoil

by Pauline Alice 29 juillet, 2013

written by Pauline Alice

Hello, as promised, here is the Piping Dress:

I drafted the pattern myself and I still have to improve the shape and the fit, but I am quite happy. The bodice is one piece with front darts and it is sewn to the yoke/straps at the collar and at the back. The bodice and the gathered skirt are joined with the waistband. I also added in-seams pockets (so useful!).

Fitting the yoke/straps was a nightmare: I had to make 2 more muslins before getting it ok and I am still not completely satisfied (as you can see, the back rides up a little bit).

Even with these little problems, I love the dress. The shape is very nice and flattering, the fabric is amazing and the piping details set it apart. And the open-back, what can I say about it? I just love it! I am fulfilling my summer to-do list one item at a time: this one checks the retro dress inspiration moodboard.

Would you like to be a pattern tester? Wait for wednesday post for all the details…

Have a nice week!

29 juillet, 2013 0 comments

Blog Mes projets perso projets Tutoriels et techniques

Construction de la robe Scarlett O´Hara

by Pauline Alice 12 juillet, 2013

written by Pauline Alice

If you’re like me, when you see a garment you like on the internet, you want to know how it’s made. There is nothing more frustating than finding the perfect dress or skirt and having no idea of what pattern was used or good enough pictures to figure it out. What I love are blogs with construction pictures, that way, even if I don’t have the pattern, I can try to make something similar. If only I did that! But everytime I try to take pictures of the construction, I forget and keep on sewing until it’s almost finished… Do what I say, not what I do 🙂

Ok, I made an effort and took pictures of the construction of the Scarlett dress, good girl!
Let’s start with the corset:

It’s made of heavy muslin (or coutil in the corset world). I am pretty happy with it being my first corset but I would make some changes for the next one. I wasn’t able to find spiral metal boning in any notion stores in Valencia so I had to use plastic boning. Not bad for a night but I don’t think it would be confortable for a longer time. Nor was I able to find a busk to close and open the front. So I have to lace it open everytime I want to wear it.

The pattern is made from my measurements and is amazing. I found it here, the fit is perfect and it’s very easy to follow and make, you just need a piece of paper, a ruler and a calculator. The same girl also has a tutorial on how to sew the corset here. I didn’t make the same flat-felt seams, just regular seams with slip-in-the-ditch to create boning channels.

I didn’t have metal grommets so I sewed them by hand like small buttonholes. Took me a whole movie, not so bad…

Here is the hoop-skirt: the most important part of the costume as it support the whole dress. The volume depends of how many hoops you add and the width. Here is how I made mine:

Now the underskirt: you need it to cover the hoop skirt and smooth the boning lines. It’s very simple to make: gather a big rectangle of fabric! For example, mine is 4 meters wide (it has to be wider than the hoop skirt, important). I made a small gathered flounce at the bottom (6 meters x 20 cm) and sew it to the big piece. I also made a separate waistband so it would be easier to gather the ribbon around my waist to close the skirt.

scarlett-dress-construction-sewing-pattern-9

I also found this pattern on the internet but I think it’s out of print. Maybe you can find it on ebay or etsy.

And for the umbrella, I found the recover tutorial here. I had a vintage umbrella from the 20’s with a broken fabric so I decided to recover it. It’s not difficult to do and it’s a great way to customize an old umbrella.

I hope it was useful and that you enjoyed it. If you’re still reading, sorry, this has to be the longest post ever 🙂 If you have any questions, just ask in the comment section, I’d be happy to help.

Have a nice week end!

12 juillet, 2013 0 comments

Blog idées et inspiration Mes projets perso projets Tutoriels et techniques

Robe Scarlett O´Hara

by Pauline Alice 10 juillet, 2013

written by Pauline Alice

scarlett-ohara-barbacue-dress-sewing-pattern-1

That’s the last dress I made: the famous barbecue dress worn by Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the wind.
I made it for a special occasion (I don’t wear that kind of dresses on a daily basis, sorry to disappoint you): a costume birthday party! How cool is that? I love costume parties…
And as the theme was the cinema, I couldn’t think of a better heroine than Scarlett.

I drafted the pattern myself: the skirt is gathered (5 meters of fabric) and the bodice has front and back darts. It was not a dificult dress to make even if it looks like it, but quite time consumming (one week-end non-stop).
The most important part of the costume is the foundation: a corset, a hoop-skirt and an underskirt. I will explain all those parts in the following post.

The dress was surprisingly very confortable and so dramatic. I didn’t want to take it off at the end of the night…
I leave you with a short excerpt from the movie where you can see the dress and the foundation worn by Scarlett I used as inspiration.
See you on Friday for the details post.

10 juillet, 2013 0 comments