Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Paradise Dress!!!

(I just edited the title of this post, because someone commented that the name of the dress should be changed... and it was a great idea!!!)

I was so excited to finish this dress so as soon as I had free time on the weekend I was back into it.

First job was to sew down the bias trim on the top skirt layer and put in the zipper - all pretty straight forward really... then the real job started - the underskirt.

The lower half of the underskirt is made up of a 9 metre long piece of fabric that is pleated in one inch pleats and then sewn to the circle skirt that makes up the top half of the underskirt.  I sewed together the four lengths I had cut to make up the 9 metres, and then hemmed it.  Definitely wasn't going to be doing that afterwards!  Then I prepared myself to spend an indeterminate amount of time pleating:


Yes, I moved my ironing board in front of the TV and put on Land Girls.  I really enjoyed it!  The plot was predictable and the acting was mediocre... but the clothing!!!  THE CLOTHING!!!  There were several things I completely fell in love with, its worth watching for that alone.

Anyway, after a while I had no pins left in my pincushion, and this pile of pleated fabric...


...which I then pinned to to the circle that makes up the top half of the underskirt.  This also took some time.  By the time I got that job done I was pretty addicted to having a DVD on while I did what I was doing, so I set up my laptop on my sewing bench and continued to work on the skirt.


Can I say that sewing the underskirt together took a bit of patience.  It wasn't difficult, but it was A LOT of fabric to manipulate through the machine.  First pass I sewed the layers together, second pass I sewed self made bias tape around the raw edge, then the third and final pass I sewed the bias taped seam up to the circle skirt.


By then I was tired of having to deal with that much fabric, so I spread it out on the floor in the lounge room so I didn't have to think about it for a bit...


So much fabric!!!!  Miss Stella came in for a lie down and I felt like joining her!


I didn't get to ignore the underskirt for very long because the next job was sewing the bodice lining to the underskirt.  But I did get to ignore it for a bit longer because first I had to measure the lengths of the boning that I needed and get them cut.  This meant a quick trip up the road to my parents place (thanks Dad!).

I also needed to change DVDs because I'd finished Land Girls.


When I purchased Land Girls, I also purchased seasons 1 and 2 of The Paradise.  I love Victorian England almost as much as I like the 1940s and 1950s!  But anyway, back to the sewing!

I sewed the bodice lining to the underskirt, and then I inserted the spiral steel boning into the casings and sewed both layers together at the top.  I then took great pleasure in turning it all the right way out and putting it on my headless helper.  I do need to do a bit of hand sewing (I need to sew the bodice lining to the zipper tape, and I also want to sew both layers together at the waist seam), but its pretty much finished!

there are two petticoats under there...

On to the bolero!

The pattern I used to make the bolero was a different shape at the front to the original, and I had to cut a fair bit away to make it the shape I wanted.  I did this by putting the lining layer on my headless helper and attacking it with my water soluble texta.  This is how much I cut off:


This bolero is pretty straight forward to put together  I just sew the darts, put the lining and the outer fabric together at the shoulders and the sides, insert one inside the other, sew them together turn them through, and finish the bits I didn't sew together.

Ok, so that sounds complicated.  It really isn't!


Oh, and the best thing about this design is that ITS REVERSIBLE!!!

Here is the finished outfit:


It was such a labour of love, but damn its impressive to look at!!!

Sadly I have nowhere to wear this dress at the moment... anyone want to throw me a party?  But seriously, I'm working on coming up with a scenario for photos, because I know you really want to see what this looks like on!!!

Beccie
xxx

21 comments:

  1. Omg Beccie you are just gahhh amazing! Your talent just is astounding! Btw I have to check out that show now....Paradise was it? hehe xox

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    1. Its called "The Paradise" Bunny, and I guarantee you will LOOOOOOOVE it!!!! Its right up your alley :)

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  2. Glorious and so beautifully made. It's sunshine and blue skies.

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  3. Simply gorgeous! I love the vibrant colors and the fullness of that skirt. I like to watch or listen to something while I'm sewing as well, but I usually use my little iphone, lol. I've seen the Paradise and it was really good, but I haven't seen Land Girls, but have heard a lot about it and will definitely have to look for it now. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. I love the vibrancy too - the fabrics almost fight with each other to see which one is more colourful (even though one of them is just plain blue!)

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  4. That is absolutely lovely! Everything goes together perfectly and the color! Its visually traslated love.

    Amazing work!

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  5. Huzzah to this! And an even bigger Huzzah to sewing while watching Period Drama! In the words of Belinda Carlisle "ooh, heaven is a place on earth". I'm currently on season 3 of Land Girls, and also watching Mr Selfridge, the Musketeers, Larkrise to Candleford and re-watching the House of Eliott (which I highly recommend should you be a fan o' the 20's)...These things are more addictive to me than crack!

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    1. I'm glad they have more seasons of Land Girls... I haven't been able to find any more. I'll keep looking. I also have Mr Selfridge (which I'll be watching with I finish The Paradise) and I'll get House of Eliott too.

      And I agree - much more addictive than crack :)

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  6. Well done love- that dress is simply gorgeous!! You should rename it the Paradise dress!! Xx

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    1. That was such a good idea Ange that I've just changed the name from Labour of Love to The Paradise :D

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  7. What a huge amount of work (and fabric!) I appreciate you taking the time to document and share.

    I also want to note that I have become quite addicted to sewing while watching dvds on my laptop (Mad Men, The Hour.... now you have given me some new ones to look for !). Now when I'm at my monthly sewing retreat it feels like something is missing!

    Happy Sewing!

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    1. It seems like its not just me that loves to watch things while they sew! I was beginning to worry that I would run out of shows to watch, but this post has generated so many suggestions that I'll be buried in them!!!

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  8. I am always amazed by your talent. Your sewing skills are off the charts, can't believe you bind seams rather than overlock! You have great style and I love the fabrics you choose.

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    1. Thank you so much Tippy :)

      And I bind seams because I don't have an overlocker... mind you, I don't bind all seams. Some I pink, some I french...

      Besides, the finality of the overlocker kinda scares me a bit...

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  9. Gah my comment disappeared!
    Anyways - I said, I cant wait to see this dress on you! AND your colour combo is better than the original inspiration dress.

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    1. Oh Esz - it makes me so cranky when that happens! Thank you for taking the time to type your comment again :)

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  10. Beccie, if I was living just around your corner, I definitely WOULD throw a party for you! This dress is gorgeous - as are all your dresses. You're such a speedy sewer, I wish I was as diligent and productive as you. (But I'm currently losing weight, so it's not over all sad that I can't sew as much as I wish.)
    Sometimes I look at fabrics and think, what a vibrant and interesting color combination, but then I'm not sure if it looks OK, from a today point of view (colour combos in the past were much bolder I think). I have fabrics from the same series / designer or at least similar (is it Kaffe Fassett?), but they're so colourful and appealing. I was unsure to use them for dresses, but looking at your marvelous dress helped me overcome any reservations. Paradise dress is the right name! (Besides the fact that summer in my country is so short, I doubt I would be able to wear such a dress very often...)

    Beccie, someone else wrote it already, but thanks again for sharing all your projects with us, your ideas, your work - this is tremendously inspiring and informative, and I know how much work it is to take pictures and write posts. Thank you so very much!

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  11. love the dress it turned out so nice. I think its just as good as the one you used for inspiration. and looks like the perfect twirling dress!

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