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.