Bodice Pattern #1

I finally got down to business actually working on this dress instead of just talking/writing about it. I started by tracing my bodice slopers onto butcher paper. Slopers are basic patterns that are used as a starting point for different designs. Mine are made with my measurements, as they were taken this summer. Once the bodice shape and darts are on paper, there’s a whole lot of cutting, taping, erasing and redrawing.
 

Back bodice sloper.                            Front bodice sloper.

Because the look that I want has a princess seam that curves into the armhole, I don’t need to have as many darts as the sloper. Instead of sewing certain darts, I am able to incorporate them into the new seam. I used my waist dart as a starting place for my new seam. I drew a pleasing curve (there’s a lot of silly language like that in patterns) and cut my bodice into center and side pieces. I shaved the dart width off of the inner part of the side piece and got rid of the bust dart. I did this by cutting one leg of the dart and leaving a tiny paper hinge at the edge. Then I just matched up the dart legs and cleaned up the side seam, which had become funny (kind of jogged) in the dart vanishing process. I also cleaned up the curve at the apex so that it would be sewable. It had turned into more of a point than a curve when I got rid of that dart. The next step was to “walk the princess,” which is a fun way of describing scooting my side pattern piece along the center to make sure that they are the same length. In this case, they were nearly identical, saving me from having to make more adjustments – for now. I fully anticipate having to make many changes to this pattern in between fittings.

Now that I have the basic princess shape, I changed the neckline to look like the one on the Resort dress. The neckline, shoulder, and cap sleeve were traced right off of another pattern that I made that has very similar features. I’ve already had fittings in the other pattern; so, I’m hoping that the adjustments we’ve made will save me some time on this project. I’m pretty sure that the armhole is going to need to be made a bit bigger, but I’ll just see how it looks in the fitting.

The back did not need as much tweaking because it will not have princess seams. It will have a normal center back seam, probably with one waist dart on each side. I shaved off half of my dart width and shifted it over to become back contouring. I also added waist shaping. After the first fitting, I might see if I can get away with shoving the rest of my dart into the side seam or into more back contouring, but I want to see how it looks first. Because the front has seaming instead of darts, it would be nice to keep darts in the back to a minimum, but I’m not going to sacrifice fit just to do that. I finished the back by changing the neckline and shoulder and matching the side seam to the length and angle of the one in the front.

To make my cap sleeve I began by measuring the armhole. That helped determine the shape of the sleeve. My cap sleeve looks a bit bigger than many people’s would because I like mine to be longer. I’ve always have kind of serious shoulders; so, my “sweet spot” is lower than many women. If I wear a cap sleeve that is too short, it doesn’t do anything for my arms but make them look bulky. Well, I am making this sleeve, and it is going to work for me. It is here to do my bidding, and I want it to make my arms look good by ending at a place where my arm tapers. I also added in some ease at the bottom so that I can move my arm, and some at the top to give it the slightest puff. I’m not sure if I want this puff, though. My current plan is to use the puff cap sleeve on one side, and the normal cap sleeve on the other side to see how they both look at the first fitting. 

Back, front center, front side, and cap sleeve patterns.

Next up: cutting muslin and the first actual SEWING on this blog about sewing.





The Fabric

At some point, I’ll pick out a fabric. Because of all of the work that will need to go into the pattern, I have a little time before I need to decide on the fabric. I want to at least start looking pretty soon, though, in case it takes a while to find fabric fit for such an important occasion. I definitely want silk, but that doesn’t narrow it down too much. There are plenty of very different silks – many of them completely wrong for this gown. For example, I want to wear charmeuse about as much as I want to work with charmeuse. It is not very forgiving to the wearer’s curves or to the seamstress’s mistakes. No thanks. I’d rather have something a bit heavier to hold certain things in. I’m sure I’ll be in some kind of serious Spanx undergarment, but, still, I want all the help I can get on the most photographed day of my life. I want the fabric to be lustrous, but I don’t want it too be super shiny. Also, if I end up with a satin (which is likely), there will be a LOT of hand sewing. I’m not just talking about hand finishing the hem and detailing – I mean that throughout the whole process everything will be hand basted before even getting near the machine. Yikes.

I’ll begin my fabric search at Mill End and work from there. If I can't find the right fabric there, I’ll probably end up ordering sample swatches from online fabric stores. By the way, is everyone aware that Mill End accepts coupons from other places? Yes, including those 40% off Jo-Ann coupons that are constantly circulating. I just found this out a few weeks ago, and I’ve been spreading the savings gospel ever since. I’m not sure what the exact rules and limitations are, but I will definitely find out soon. 

I would really love to be able to keep the cost of the whole project under $500. It would be excellent if I could do it for around $300, but I’m not holding my breath. I’m sure there will be surprise expenses that add up, but I will get creative and remain positive. The fabric will determine a lot of the final expense; so, that is kind of up in the air for now. I’ve got muslin at $3/yard. I’ll be paying for Sharon’s time for fittings as well. Oh, and I already spent hundreds of dollars on classes, but let’s not count that.

The Plan

First, I’ll trace out the bodice sloper that I made in Patternmaking I. From there, I’ll use my dart manipulation skills from Pattern II to mimic the armhole princess seams on the Resort dress. I can draft a cap sleeve in no time, but getting it to fit just right is another thing altogether. I’m sure there will be several versions before I’m happy with the way my bulging biceps peek out of the sleeves. I’ve been working on a pattern for a casual dress that has a similar neckline; so, I’ll probably steal the curve right off of that. I'll definitely be referencing my Patternmaking I, II, & III handouts and Suzy Furrer's book throughout the whole process.

I’ll sew up the bodice in muslin and go in for my first fitting, where Sharon will mark it up with Sharpie and pins and probably slash open the cap sleeves to give them more ease. I’ll transfer those changes onto my pattern, re-cut, re-sew, and repeat until I’m happy with the fit. I want to start with the bodice because it is less intimidating than a whole gown. I’ve done bodices before. I can handle this.

Once I have that done, I’ll work on the skirt, and I might even break that down into two projects: the fitted top and the draped train. I’ll go through the same process of manipulating the sloper, sewing in muslin, fitting, and repeating until it looks perfect. I'll assemble the final version of each pattern piece in muslin and (hopefully) be pleased with what I see.

I’ll clean up my patterns and probably transfer them to tag. Then I’ll cut the real fabric and begin to put the dress together. I’m assuming that I will need to line the gown, and there might even be some boning and interfacing involved. Omar will not go anywhere near the fabric. I might be able to do some of the hand work at our dinner table, which is bar height, but for most of the work I’ll probably have to retreat to our basement sewing room, where Omar is not allowed.

He looks pretty innocent, but I know better.

THE Dress

Now that we know how I got here, let’s get to the good stuff. I do have a particular dress in mind. After looking at hundreds of wedding gowns online, I was not totally excited about any of them. They were nice and pretty, but nothing really stuck with me. I began looking at non-bridal collections and found a winner.

         On the runway.                              Tina Fey at the 2010 Emmys.

It’s from the Oscar de la Renta Resort 2011 collection; although, it’s a few steps up from anything I’ve ever worn on vacation. I do not want the organza overlay or any embroidery. What I love about it is the silhouette. I want to do it in an ivory (or some kind of off white) mid-weight silk.

I know that I want it to be close fitting from the top to mid thigh. I also know I don’t want much “puff.” I like how the lower part of the dress and the train seem to just hang rather than being stiff. I really do like the neckline and cap sleeves, but they may get designed out if they don’t look great in fittings. We’ll see. I’m not sure what other neckline I would want, though, if that does happen. Maybe a strapless sweetheart? A deep(ish) V in the front and back? Hopefully I won’t have to make any changes, but I’ll just wait for the fittings. I’m not crazy enough to think I’ll do this dress entirely on my own. I will be doing fittings with Sharon Blair at Portland Sewing. I will also be consulting her on technical and design questions.

So just how will I be tackling this project? Well, first of all, I would not be even thinking about doing this if we were planning on getting married in a few months. I’m not that much of a masochist. We don’t have a specific date set yet, but we are planning on doing it next September or October. Not quite a year should be enough to make the most important dress of my life, right? I sure hope so.

The Boy

Thanks for getting this shot, Lauren!

I have entertained the idea of marrying Chris since I was a teenager, but only within the last three years has it begun to look like anything more than a fantasy. We grew up going to the same church, but we didn’t know each other very well until we went on a two week mission trip to Russia. Most of the kids my age were going on a similar trip to Mexico at the same time, but, wanting to be a little bit different, I decided on whim to go to Russia instead. I'm not totally sure why I thought that spending a chunk of my summer in the Urals with a bunch of grownups instead of in the Mexican sun with friends my own age was a better idea, but I'm happy with the result.

I had a terrible (okay, not life-threatening, but ugly and swollen) reaction to the mosquitoes in Russia and only remember much of the trip through a Benedril haze. Chris was the closest person to my age, and he ended up keeping me company when I was worn out from double doses (language barrier!) of antihistamines. We spent a good deal of the trip hanging out and discovered that we had a lot in common, like the same favorite band and very similar brands of snarky humor, among other things. I was smitten.

Back in the US, Chris and I went back to our respective high schools and didn't see each other much until fate (or was it in-state tuition?) stepped in, and we both started at University of Oregon at the same time. Throughout college we developed a friendship that occasionally threatened to cross the line from platonic to romantic, but always ended up back at platonic. We both dated other people, but that never quite took. I don’t know how many times my friends told me to let it go. I tried to move on, but like I said, it didn’t take. I knew we were right together, and I just had to wait for him to figure it out.

Finally, in our last year of school, we got together for real. We spent most of our senior year as a couple, and we've been living together for the last two years. On October 6th, after lovely evening walk with our puppy, Omar, Chris asked me to marry him. I was so excited that it took me a minute to remember to say "yes."

Which brings us back to THE Dress.

The Girl

So here’s the story, folks. I’ve been sewing poorly and making patterns, hmm, non-traditionally for about 7 years. I’ve made probably a dozen garments that I’ve actually worn in public, but mostly I’ve filled my sewing bin with the wounded soldiers of unfinished projects. I have always been somewhat interested in fashion and design, but I did not study it formally. I wanted a normal state college experience and a relevant degree (although I’m not sure that a BA in Geography is more usable than a BFA), and 17 year old Lucy was too lazy to put the work into building a portfolio. Now that I’ve been out of school for a couple of years, I’ve realized that I don’t want to spend my life in a cubicle. I know, very original and mid-twenties of me, but it’s true.

When Chris showed up for my denim themed 22nd birthday party out of dress code, I had to whip up a denim vest before the rest of the guests arrived.

Last May, my dad saw an article in The Oregonian about a sewing school in our neighborhood. He offered to pay for a class as a birthday present, and I took him up on it without hesitation. I immediately enrolled in Sergery and Patternmaking I & II at Portland Sewing. I found that I left class excited and inspired, which was about as different from my college experience as possible. I didn’t want to skate by in these classes. I wanted to learn as much as possible and really see if sewing could be my ticket out of a desk job.

Besides the initial three classes, I’ve now completed Patternmaking III, Difficult Fabrics, and a one night workshop called Conquer Zippers. I spent much of the summer stitching away while Netflix Instant provided a soundtrack of mindless romantic comedies. Most of the garments I worked on were class samples, including pants, tops, and dresses. I did manage to finish the summer with a homemade bikini and a new skirt, though, both of which I designed, flat patterned, and constructed on my own.

That brings us up to date on my sewing history, but there is another very important factor in this story because of the nature of THE Dress. I’m getting married. And I’m not just marrying anyone – I’m marrying the best one. He is truly my perfect match, and I could not be more excited about spending the rest of my life with him.