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Edwardian Dresses - finishing touches

10/16/2013

8 Comments

 
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Three fabric roses give a beautiful finish to the back of this dress.
Today I'm going to show you some of the finishing work on the Edwardian dinner dresses.
Above is the back of the pink dress.  Both the pink and green dress have pulled crinkly cumberbunds around the high waist line.  And just the pink one has this bias cut roses.

If you read my blog about the dramatic Fantasy Dresses you will see I use same method for the collar for those dresses as I use for this cumberbund.  
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First put in gathering stitching on the front piece, where marked on the pattern. And machine baste stiff interfacing onto the back piece.
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Only pull up the gathers on each end to sew the front and back together.  Trim away the interfacing a close as possible without cutting into stitching ... which I've been know to do!  If that happens, just stitch that section again.
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After turning to the right side, press a crisp edge along the top and bottom of the cumberbund.
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NOW pull up the remaining gathering stitches and machine stitch them in place through all the layers of the belt.
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Arrange the excess fabric into pretty folds and pin in place.
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Hand sew in place with tiny pick stitches through all layers.
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The cumberbunds for both dresses are made the same way.  The pink dress gets three roses in the back.  A pattern for the roses is included with the dresses.  They are your standard gathered, coiled, bias cut fabric rose.

The other thing I want to show, is how I hemmed the silk chiffon skirt with the train.
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But before I do that ... I want to say how I really wanted to go "whole hog" on the fabric (meaning all silk) for these dresses, but had so much trouble finding the subdued colors that I wanted.  So I ended up with more polyester than I would have liked.  The pink embellished net is brighter than I wanted but fortunately gets toned down over the other fabrics.

AND, please note that you can see from this side view that the waistline placement of the skirt IS higher than the front.  This is correct (read comments on yesterday's blog) ... If I were making this dress for myself, I might even exaggerate that feature more.  If you do this, remember to add some height to the top part of the back skirt pieces so the skirt isn't too short in the back.

Now, back to hemming the silk chiffon.  That middle skirt layer, the one with the train, is real, honest to goodness 100% silk and it is a PAIN to hem. I really didn't want machine stitching on it.  And the sample I tried with machine stitching twisted all up anyway.  Actually I did several samples before finding the method with worked best for me with this fabric.  It's a good method and should work with many difficult fabrics.

First, machine stitch on the fold line of the hem.
Second, press the hem right along the stitching line.
Third hand fold the secondary fold to make a rolled hem and hand baste.

(this may seem like an unnecessary step, but it is easier to get an untwisted rolled hem in place when you are just sewing a large basting stitch than it is when you are doing a close together invisible slip stitch.  Plus this basting goes quickly.

Then it is much easier to do the slip stitch hem if the fabric is taut.  So I anchor one end of the hem after I've put in a few stitches under the presser foot of my sewing machine.  
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You can see my basting stitches and how I am pulling it tight.  I just move it up and reset the presser foot from time to time as I sew the hem.
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And this close up shows my first machine stay stitch and the size of the slip stitch.

When the hem is finished and gently pressed, both the basting and stay stitching should be removed.  Then press again to remove any shadow of the bastings.

Next time I will show you how to make the beige dress.
8 Comments
Helen Butt
10/15/2013 10:37:40 pm

How in the world can you remove the stay stitching on the hem? I think I'd be ruining the silk in the process. These dresses are so beautiful. I'm in awe of your skill and your creativity.

Reply
Andrea
10/15/2013 11:07:32 pm

The stay stitching slips out pretty easily. Use a sharp seam ripper to break the lengths of thread in many places so you don't have to pull the fabric up very much as the short pieces of thread are being removed. Remember you just have to take the thread on one side. The other side will fall away.

Reply
Sarah Strong
10/16/2013 01:59:15 am

If you are ever in or near Brattleboro VT you can visit my favorite fabric store in the whole world, and get real silk for these dresses, it's Delectable Mountain right in downtown. I'm always extra-excited about doing projects where the client has gone there for fabric!

Reply
Linda Julien
10/17/2013 07:59:28 pm

Now I want to go there, Sarah!

Reply
Linda Julien
10/17/2013 08:05:04 pm

Thanks for the details on the cummerbund technique. I recently wanted to make a cummerbund like that, only without the rose accents, and I wondered how to keep the gathers artfully in place along the length of it without visible stitching. Part of me wishes I'd seen this post 2 weeks ago, but on the other hand, my daughter's dress was lovely, and I probably didn't need to expand the project any more than I already had!

I'll be excited to try this technique for some future project.

Reply
Linda Julien
10/17/2013 08:05:15 pm

Thanks for the details on the cummerbund technique. I recently wanted to make a cummerbund like that, only without the rose accents, and I wondered how to keep the gathers artfully in place along the length of it without visible stitching. Part of me wishes I'd seen this post 2 weeks ago, but on the other hand, my daughter's dress was lovely, and I probably didn't need to expand the project any more than I already had!

I'll be excited to try this technique for some future project.

Reply
Linda Julien
10/17/2013 08:06:01 pm

Thanks for the details on the cummerbund technique. I recently wanted to make a cummerbund like that, only without the rose accents, and I wondered how to keep the gathers artfully in place along the length of it without visible stitching. Part of me wishes I'd seen this post 2 weeks ago, but on the other hand, my daughter's dress was lovely, and I probably didn't need to expand the project any more than I already had!

I'll be excited to try this technique for some future project.

Reply
Val LaBore link
10/18/2013 01:26:50 am

Love your cumberbund and roses. I'm saving the link to this for future reference.
One of the ladies on our costume pattern review had asked about these gowns recently so your techniques and hints are greatly appreciated.
Val

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    I am a commercial pattern maker who is now "sewing over 50"!
    I love to sew and hope to encourage others to come back to sewing.
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