The Midnight Dress

While it's still labeled as the Midnight Dress, it'll be called Pamina in my head from now on.

Quick Overview

Mid-Polka. "Hop on pop, hop on pop, one fish,
two fish, red fish, blue fish."

Materials:

• Dark blue poly blend satin
• dark blue canvas
• dark blue grosgrain ribbon
• silver plastic medallion trim
• white/silver rhinestone bead trim

Total Time:

About a week.

Drinks:

Not much, actually, I tend to not drink on school nights... and this was executed during a school week. So... strawberries and cream tea from adagio teas

Noise:

Dexter.  So much. Dexter. I'm on season 6 now... I was not when I started. Also Thrilling Adventure Hour because yesssssss

Final notes:

The dress went by relatively quickly, between having a simple gathered skirt and not having to fit the bodice for my weirdly short torso this was a faster process. I think this is really my first personal design that's become a dress. (The Gold Belle Gown doesn't really count because someone had designed it for me, my job was translating animation into design and billions of people had already done that.) 

I forgot to get a full body picture close enough to see
the shoulder treatment

I wonder if this is how designers feel when they see their shit finished. The satin was tricky to work with for a couple of reasons, mainly it was somewhat easy to manipulate until it wasn't and deceptively thick. The dress ultimately ended up being a little too big with a wee bit of puckering at the chest where I cut the center front just  a bit too curved (chests don't apparently work that way when corseted-ish.) I'm not sure if the dress being too big was a result of me fitting it incorrectly or me losing weight after the belle dress. I'm hoping it was the latter but I'll still have to take the damn thing in. I was afraid that the trim would be far too costumey and in the end, they sort of did, but that aside, it went over well. Even with a farthingale (a kind of narrow renaissance hoop-skirt-ey thing) underneath the dress, the dress was still a bit too long. I tripped a bit on my hem trying to dance and look down and I managed to slip in my heels once but nothing too heartbreaking. Also why do I keep doing outfits with satin gloves? I can't text in them, I can't hold cold things because the perspiration gets on them and then they're wet and satiney and weird.  But DAMN do they feel cool.

I did solve the high friction problem on my shoes by sticking
duct tape to the soles... I also forgot a nice shawl/coat so nautical utility bag
and Power Plant hoodie it is. I didn't realize how high up my leg was at the time.

Fairy God-Sister and I took a bunch of prom photos

 

and twirly photos. I love twirly photos.

The satin was great and floaty. When we were headed out to the car we had to head down a few steep sets of stairs but the dress supposedly floated nicely behind me. I never got to really see the dress in action except for the twirly photos which is a bit of a shame considering it's very short lifespan (more on this later.) My original plan for my hair didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but that was easily solved with a quick braided bun. 

And that quickly brings me to my next topic:

An almost foolproof way to get accessories that match your outfit

When it comes to spangly dresses like this one, jewelry can be an issue. Thankfully, I was able to come up with remarkably clever solution. 

I had a lot of the trim left over after the dress was done and I noticed after cutting it up, I got some pretty nice pieces. So naturally I did what anyone would do... I stuck them all over my face pretending they were dermals. (I don't have picture of this. I should have.)

I did apply a seashell to my face...

Anyway, it occurred to me, I could also just turn them into earrings which was smart considering it was looking a little naked without some jewelry. With the application of some eyelash glue (clear preferably) even you can have perfectly matching accessories.

to be fair, this really only works if you have trim that can be cut up like this.

The stick-ons stayed all night and were actually somewhat uncomfortable to remove, the glue I used was REALLY STICKY. They held up through dancing, sweating, hair-styling and I'm sure, a few satin-gloved swipes to the face and head because I'm a nervous hair-fiddler. The other spare trim got turned into a headband.

I really can't be held responsible for these faces. Although this one
is remarkably similar to that of a friend's trademark adorable/crazyface

Anywhoozle, fun night, pretty simple project. I definitely paid for the simplicity with a somewhat ill-fitting dress but I still feel like a pretty proud mama with my first personal design becoming a real thing... Even if I didn't drape anything. Maybe next time. there are still some designs in a sketchbook, waiting to be done.

there really isn't much better of a feeling than taking a super structured dress
off at the end of the night. 

Next time: the untimely death of the Midnight Dress and a study in alterations.

Home Stretch (The Midnight Dress part III)

I can't tell how long it took but all the machine work is done.

When I last checked in, I had finished both sides of the bodice. Since then, the dress took a trip to school with me for some skirt gathering and surging (with the help of a fairy god-sister.)

 Pretty nice setup for school. The worktables in the Animation Lab are just the right height.

Gathering was simple work. It's very zen to me. I ran two gathering lines about and inch and a half across the top of the skirt and the result was something like a cartridge pleat but with a less uniform drape... which I guess is exactly what it is.

Since one of the fairy god-sisters has a surger, the dress and I took a field trip.

Helloooo sexy

Fairy God-sister working diligently on her own project

I fucking love surging. Everything comes out so neat and clean when you're done and it cuts up the excess and it looks far less likely that I'll run over my own fingers!

I had to run out to get dark blue ribbon for the grosgrain channels. It was such a nice feeling to look at the bodice with matching blue channels sewn with matching blue thread. It was beautiful and comforts my anal-retentiveness like nobody's business

LOOK AT THAT. SO UNIFORM!

While there are no pictures of it, I stitched the front to the lining in a pretty straightforward manner (across the top and bottom and one side) and then flipped it inside out.

Of course after the bodice was finished I had to grommet.

Handwork

I seriously fucking have to think of a better way to close my dresses because I. FUCKING. HATE. GROMMETING.

So I marked the spot and searched for something to poke holes in my dress.

For my friends who want to know what I do with my knives.

So I located my dive knife... which I bought for the thigh-sheath more than anything else... and started stabbing.

Ultimately once the holes were poked, I gave up on the knife and cut X's out with my snips.

Seriously. Fuck this shit.

Forgive my greasy hair. And weird face.

I bashed my thumb a few times. Eugh.


To keep from the dress from getting too poofy I stitched the bodice directly onto the skirt rather than right-sides to right-sides and flipping them around as you would a cartridge pleated skirt. Thank goodness I don't absolutely hate hand sewing.

It's actually quite pretty here.

For now, it's technically done... I mean, it's wearable.

It's a little too large. Damn rat-bones. It'll have to be ladder laced in back.

Next time, SPARKLES!

These cost way too much.

Productive in a Way (The Midnight Dress Part II)

I'm considering calling the dress the Queen of the Night dress. Only because I like the idea of naming the dresses after characters from operas.

So with the bodice cut it was very simple to sew the thing together. I'd done it before. There's something very comforting about seeing all that stuff come together nicely.

As usual, I'm somewhat lacking in supplies

I have to run to my car tomorrow to get the rest of the ribbon for the channels but otherwise it's going all according to plan. I'll be trimming the point at the base as I stitch the lining to the satin. I've decided grosgrain ribbons are the best pre-made channels EVER because it just takes, so much more effort out of sewing channels. Simply topstitch. (Yaaaaay fairy god-sister advice!)

Dealing with satin

This doesn't even convey how much fabric

the bodice's pleasant simplicity was frustratingly contrasted by some skirt woes. The satin I picked was frustrating to deal with, if you stuck a pin in the wrong way, the pointy bit would grab the ONE thread in the way of it and just try to pull it out. The whole thing was a bit of a mess. I'm only slightly regretting opting for 8 yards of skirt because I have to hem that shit. Unfortunately, my sewing machine has some problems that I can't quite diagnose because I just don't have the experience to know what the hell is going on down there... So the hour of hemming looked like this (take four shots):

Shit, balls

Crap monkeys

cum dumpster

EXPLETIVE 

It's something about the bobbin. Either way, it was 8 fucking yards and I started running out of curse words.

UUUUUGH

 I'm having concerns over whether I'm going to be able to gather the skirt... unfortunately the only other option I can think of is cartridge pleating and I can't prove it's going to work. I guess we'll find out.

Next time, HOPEFULLY everything but the finishing.

Ballin' (The Midnight Dress Part 1)

That dress name is subject to change I just don't like it as much.

The nice thing about being back up here in NorCal is that there's a plethora of places for a girl like me to entertain herself on the weekends. Even if she's not into goddamn clubbing and drinking... (Well maybe the second one a bit... but seriously. Fuck clubbing.)

This month, I've found myself doing a lot more ballroom dancing than usual and conveniently, the bay presented some opportunities for some dancing and sewing.

Soooo the dress?

The dress is pretty simple on it's own, it's the same bodice as the Gold Belle dress but with straight front rather than a pointed once. I'm planning on sewing the gathered skirt to the bodice and basically making the whole thing more "commercial" rather than a super elaborate period piece.

simple, yet elegant. Ish...

Ideally I'd like silver and clear rhinestone trim, practically dripping off the shoulders but that shit's expensive and I'm sort of on a college student budget and timeframe. So it's a little costume-ey still. But what ballgown isn't?

Since this is the first time I'm working from my own design, there's gonna be more winging it than I'd like for a dress that I need in 6 days. Thankfully I had a pattern pretty much already made so really the question was, could I get away with my swing dancing saddle shoes under the dress?

Thankfully Ross pulled through in that department and I found some wide, low-heeled shoes that will hopefully suit my purposes.

To line or not to line?

So with the Belle dress, I double lined the bodice and was able to slip the boning in there and avoid the unpleasantness of either making a corset or figuring out how to hide a bra under the gown. This time, due to limited time and materials... I'm trying for only one layer of lining. Fingers crossed

One of the Fairy God-Sisters said it'd work

 And if that doesn't work, I have a bra that's at least the same color. I'm a big believer in undergarments that match your dress.

For now, I have the bodice cut... the satin's just tempting me now. I'm terrified to cut it yet.

here it is... being used as a cover for my dirty laundry. Hey, I had guests over and I was trying to clean.

next time, hopefully, the end of the bodice and the beginning of the skirt.

Excuses, Excuses

Another placeholder post:

I am so sorry I haven't been able to update this. School is back with a vengeance. That does not mean I'm not sewing. It means that... well I want to graduate.

So some upcoming things you can all look forward to once I get back on my feet:

• A midnight blue ballgown
• An alteration of said blue ballgown to a 50's style swing-dress
• A Selkie Coat
• A slip dress made from a bedsheet
• Some starting research on a pre-muslim Iran (Persian) gown

It may also be time to start setting up a more professional looking costume portfolio. Y'know?