I bring you a story about Sam, and another installment of cheery yellowness today! This time, the yellow is gathered and billowy, and… oh, wait. Save that for the end! First I had to press, pin, and stitch a few things.
Tomorrow I’ll finish it up: zipper, neckline poufy feature (just Google “Belle”) and some shirring up of the skirt layers. I love handwork! I’m really excited to add the extra bit of bling I have planned as the finishing touches on this dress. Today, though, was all about these 3 things…
1. The Underskirt, which is a layer of sheer yellow organza over yellow cotton broadcloth.
(I’ve used a lightweight cotton fabric to back the sheer sparkly dots with. Anything to keep kids a little more comfortable also keeps them a little more cheerful!)
2. The Overskirt, which is yellow brocade like the bodice and has a reversed hem.
(Here you finally get a hint of the YELLOW, not white, of the brocade fabric!)
3. Attaching them together, because it is a dress after all!
(That’s 90” of skirt onto 20” of waist – Whew!)
The center picture (above) shows one reason that sewing brocade, satin, and other Oooh-Aaah special-occasion fabrics isn’t an everyday love of mine.
Gathering up those yards of unraveling brocade skirt and stitching it onto inches of unraveling brocade bodice resulted in my sewing room looking like some odd yellow shiny lichen has started to take over! I’ll be on the floor with inside-out packing tape around my hands, picking all that loose fiber up before I can vacuum.
I miss the days when I could call “Thread Safari!” at the top of my lungs, and my 3 little kids would come running to play pretend with me! We all (well, OK, THEY all) pounced like ferocious beasts upon thread and stray trimmings of fabric with their sticky paws… until one day, my oldest child stopped at the doorway and said “Wait – this is work!” or something along those lines and the Thread Safari era was over. That oldest child of mine happens to be my blogging partner Sam!!! Spoilsport! ;)
I did a quick mock-up of where I am heading with this dress’s final skirt design.
I’ve tried to be 4 things at once with this dress design: true enough to the Disney movie “Beauty and the Beast”, do-able by me, make something that will survive its afterlife in the dress-up box, and keeping to affordable/available fabrics. I think it’s working!
Gail
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