Tuesday, December 29, 2015

A Burgundy Trainwreck

Never sew in a rush. That is the lesson here. You will not make anything pretty. Sure, others may say it looks nice, but you'll know. You'll know that you're pinned together in a dozen places, that you have no lining or boning in your bodice, and that you chose to put on that trim because it's hiding hideous sewing tragedies.

That is the kind of dress this thing is.

The DFW Costumer's Guild was visiting the ballet to see Dracula. I had planned to make the blue bustle dress from Interview with the Vampire to wear. I had a wonderful blue taffeta all ready to go and everything. And I put it off. And put it off. And put it off some more. Finally, it was the week before the event, and I had nothing. My only bustle ballgown was ancient and wouldn't fit me anymore, so I was left with only one option, and that was to make an evening bodice to accompany a skirt I already had.

I decided that my burgundy taffeta bustle skirt would be the one to get the makeover. I had a sort of cherry blossom print stretch brocade stuff in the stash that happened to compliment it really well, so I thought, eureka! This will be great!

Stretch brocade. Ugh.

The stuff has no body, so the overskirt I cobbled together was lifeless and tragic. The bodice is a feat of lazy costumer luck. It has no opening whatsoever. It was drafted directly onto the mannequin, and I cut it so wonky that I ended up without shoulder straps. I had a double pleated ruffle trim in the Stash that I used to make straps and add some decoration at the neckline. Because the bloody thing is practically made of rubber, it stretches so I can pull it on like a t-shirt. Horrendous, but there it is.

I have one picture of this dress. Behold, the monstrosity.


It's slated for a total redo. Thankfully, I still have enough fabric left over to make an entirely new bodice, and I'm going to take apart the horrible flaccid overskirt to add a tulle interlining and give it some body. I'm going to do my best to find some more of the burgundy taffeta I used for the underskirt so I can add some trim to the overskirt, but if that fails I may just use black. I haven't decided yet. But, I'm determined to rescue this poor thing and make it beautiful. Wish me luck.

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