Spring dresses.. continued.

This is the second of the major jobs I had for Spring racing.

My client bought in a picture of a dress by Christopher Kane; a beaded satin cocktail dress with apricot pleated skirts and tulle. Its ladylike, yet pretty edgey as well, of course.

Samantha Harris in Christopher Kane; image from "Style Me Romy"

Our intention was to get the beading done in Bali, as my client was visiting for a holiday.

I chose duchess satin for the tunic-inspired part of the dress, as I needed shine and weight, as well as structural integrity, to handle the weight of the beading and cutouts.

I got a remnant from Rathdown Fabrics; 2m of pure silk duchess satin for $35.... it was my first purchase there and I am now converted! Such amazing prices, and if you visit often you will find what you need. Its just a bit of a lucky dip.. but I like challenging retail experiences ;)

I had to dye the satin once to get the right colour; a pale kingfisher blue, but not too pale; tricky.

Then I replicated the overall shape with a princess line pattern and cut out the hip panels. I chose silk georgette for the hip panels, over-layed with a pre-pleated tulle to give the layers and reduce my work; i love perma-pleats sometimes!

The next hurdle was that the beading came back... less than useful, shall we say. There were about 11 partial flowers over 2m of tulle, which, had it been complete, I had intended to cut out in the princess pattern and stitch together with the satin panels.

In the end, I cut out all the flowers and spent an afternoon arranging them to look like a "design feature"; as they say in Fashion Design 101, if you make a mistake, make it look intentional!

I added double- layered tulle sleeves with a flower in the centre of each, thankfully there were enough to stretch to that part of the dress. A ruffled tulle and satin collar was also added and, the whole thing was lined in flesh - coloured silk habutae; the best kind of lining, as far as I'm concerned!

The skirt inserts of georgette and tulle were sewn together and gathered, then I pinned them into the cut outs around the hip and arranged them carefully so as not to drag the satin tunic in any direction, or ruin the drape of the georgette.

I used an invisible zip down the centre back and hemmed everything right at the end, then slipstitched the lining to the satin parts of the hem.

So that was our tribute to Mr Kane; we hope he doesn't mind.

Recent Commissions

These are some of my more recently completed jobs of particular interest.

This Edwardian skirt (left) was bought to me by a friend who had found in on Ebay for $10. The lace on the outside was mostly intact, but the entire lining, a silk acetate I think, had disintegrated into barely connected strips of fabric. And there were also massive tears all through the georgette lining under the lace.

So we decided to try a rescue mission and see if we could salvage this beautiful garment.

I copied the skirt pattern and cut a silk georgette lining in softest pale pink, which creates most of the colour you can see in the skirt.

I then re-constructed a lining skirt, or petticoat, on the same 5-gore pattern, with all the extra volume gathered at the back to create the (small) bustle shape. The hem of the petticoat was constructed with concentric strips of bias taffeta to give fullness at the hem, and edged with a large ruffle for good measure.

I used a blue-shot pink polyester-spandex taffeta for the petticoat that gave the skirt some depth of colour under the lace and georgette. The same fabric is used for the waistband/sash, and is washable: hooray!

This cocktail dress was commissioned by a

client to wear at several black tie events,

over the coming months.

She wanted a flattering and easy-to-wear dress that she could bundle up in a suitcase of necessary. She loved the midnight blue colours, and also like the idea of velvet. She definately didn't want "another black dress".

The design challenge with this dress was to create an after-five dress that wasn't too frilly, but would enhance the client's femininity, as well as making her feel special.

Softness and drape were a special part of her requirements. I ended up using a blue polyester jersey as the "lining", over- laid with rayon velvet patterned with devore roses. It was a challenging fabric combination to use though, and I would definitely re-consider such a choice in the future, although I love the final look of the fabrics together.

Lastly is a fantastic linen/silk jacket/blouse that's in-progress at the moment.

This has been a long-running commission for a client who sews herself, but was seeking a variation in her wardrobe, and something interesting for her larger size.

She found the fabric online, and bought a whole roll.

I have to say its one of the most amazing fabrics I have ever used. It has a twill pattern, but is extremely light and as open as a linen weave. It hangs beautifully and shines in the daylight. Its kind of like what I imagine they made the Hobbit's Elven cloaks out of for Lord of the Rings. Hows that for a nerdy reference?

Anyway, I am using pleating, sewn almost flat across the from to create texture, and rolled bias strips as a collar, that will overlap across the front.

Final photos to follow!

Winter Thralls

Well, here we are again, in the thrall of Melbourne's winter. And my studio is so cold!

Despite this, some excellent far-sighted clients have had me sewing away on some lovely little projects that really show what winter dressing is about!

This boiled wool cape is lined with black cotton voile and has a rink collar. It buttons down the centre front, on the inside. Made to order.

I love it particularly because its such a good example of a client wanting an old-fashioned garment, but with such a modern feel to the aesthetic.
Credit must also go to my colleague Jaimi Kark, for her inspiration to the client from her eponymous label, and the collection, the Interview, from which this concept was derived.

Also happening a lot this winter are requests for"pinny dresses". These kinds of garments fall into the "new utility" trend that's taking off in Europe; they are stylish and simple to wear. Pinnies are excellent for layering, and if made in cotton, they are transferable to one's summer wardrobe.

Geometric print cotton pinny, high-waisted with invisible front patch pockets. Made to order.

Also happening this season is the ever-comfortable knit.
As a dress, long top, leggings or layered cardigans, the wonderful range of softest merino and other good quality knits is really exciting. My favourites are at the Fabric Store on Brunswick Street,
because it has a huge range and good prices.

Lissom Yarn will shortly be stocking a range of knitted dresses-slash-tops made for winter layering, as right, in the black merino herringbone knitted dress. Also available in khaki, charcoal and gray marle.










Stretch rayon knit wrap dress with black and white printed cotton collar. Made to order.



Merino knits are also great because they are a natural, sustainable and far superior (in my opinion) fabric to many other knits that tend to pill and look tatty
quickly.

Stay tuned for more winter ideas, and with spring on the way, I'm hearing wedding bells and other indicators that brides are out and looking for gowns!
We'll be looking at the origins of "the wedding gown" and why our bridal stereotype is culturally a little bit strange. Yay!