(no subject)

[naath]

So, do we remember the pirate gown of extreme coolness that I was all OMG, I WANT ONE OF THOSE over? (No? shocking have a link)well, the lovely harmanhay is giving the pattern away to subscribers to her magazine (OK, so if you sign up I get referral cookies if you tell them I sent you) for which this post isn't really an *advert* but it is a recommendation (I don't really care about the referral cookies, but maybe you don't believe me) because it's fantastic, but only if you like sewing things...

Anyway, so it a dress of great shiny, and I wanted one.

So I'm making one.

So here are some photos (they are click-through to LJ-gallery for bigger versions) so far

The first thing to do was order fabrics, I haven't actually got everything I need yet but most of the fabric came from some cheap fabric place in the US (which, even with UPS's rip off charge for dealing with paying my duty was still cheaper). It came in a large box...




Inside the box was shiny stuff! Some of this is silk dupion, some of it cotton (for the lining), it's all shiny; have a picture...




or two...



Also I have bought some lace (this is distressingly polyestery, perhaps I shall have to buy some better lace)...




and some ribbon (also polyester, damn John Lewis and their sinful modern-type ways)...




Stage one of making the dress is to make the skirt, which comes in two parts. First, the underskirt - which is, basically a big tube, it's in silk lined with cotton and here's a photo of the back, as you can see the top of it is not finished yet; I need to pleat it (because it's currently about 3* my waist measurement!) and put in a waistband.




But I had this idea, see, which was that the skirts would look so much *nicer* if embroidered. So I bought some embroidery threads (cotton) and a box (or two) to keep them tidy in...




And also some books for reference (no piccy). And began with flowers (have some pictures illustrating my un-l33t embroidery skills)...





The flowers are, right to left, common poppy, honey suckle, bindweed (yes that's a reference), violet, Bluebell (or harebell if you're English), hound's tongue, primrose, hottentot fig and chicory. Suggestion for other pretty flowers to add are welcome.

And that's where I am - not finished embroidering this layer, so not moving on to do the other layers yet. Here's everything back in the box...



So, this is taking a while; it may be some time before the whole thing is finished! Maybe my embroidery will improve along the way.

(And the black velvet backdrop to all of that is my duvet cover btw).

Comments

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

May I strongly advise leaving any more embroidery until you've actually made the dress? I can see a disaster waiting to happen if you make a mistake with cutting out and then find you have to recut it and waste all that lovely embroidery.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Eek, that sounds sensible, but I'm impressed at the tuits to make pirate dresses and very much look forward to admiring it! This is why I have black tie or fancy dress parties, so people can wear things like this! :)

[naath.livejournal.com]

I'm embroidering only the outer layer of a lined skirt - this is next to impossible once the skirt is made up fully (well, for me anyway); the pieces have been cut and sewn into a tube but I haven't finished off the waistband so I can open it up like a big bag and embroider only one layer.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see. The disaster potential is far less than I had been imagining :)

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

I actually think the embroidery is best done first--it's way easier to embroidery a flat piece than a finished garment (and if worst comes to worst, you can always save the embroidery and make it into an appliqued band). But I don't think anything's likely to go horribly wrong with a skirt--the only issue is that if you embroider parallel to the bottom rather than the top, you have to do some weird stuff to gather it to the waistband and have the embroidery even, rather than simply cutting the bottom to the correct length.

But it would be a good idea to do a mockup of the rest of the dress, if you haven't already.

Anyway, if that is a Fabric.com box, they are AWESOME. Very good quality stuff, and good prices. I love them.

Also, your embroidery is very impressive.

For lace, I'd suggest looking for cotton Cluny lace--Cluny lace is Victorian revival lace based on 16th-17th century bobbin lace, and it looks more historical than the really delicate net stuff.

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

P.S. I just signed up, but I couldn't find anywhere to say I got there from you. The link in your posts seems to be a regular link, not a referral link.

[naath.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's fine. I don't know how the referral works, and I don't really mind about it. But I thought I ought mention it.

[naath.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's fabric.com - they were very cheap (less than half the price I would have paid in John Lewis), and very helpful, these things are good.

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

Fabric.com is the best source I've found for natural fiber fabrics. Best prices, best selection (and their cotton velvet is really good quality--nice deep pile). Definitely the cheapest silk dupioni, especially when it's on sale.

I haven't ordered from Fabrics-Store.com (http://fabrics-store.com/), but they have a bigger selection of linen, though, and pretty good prices.

[naath.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the purple was on cheap, which is one reason I didn't go with black (I love this purple, and so often I get black because it's what I always get).

Cotton velvet.... mmmmmmmm must resist. I bought a copy of the Tudor Tailor, and I'm going to want velvet for that. And it'll be cotton because Silk Velvet is impossible to come by and mostly-silk-velvet is hundreds of dollars/yard :-(

[lnr]

Wow, if that's rubbish embroidery I'm seriously unable to think what really excellent embroidery must be like in comparison because it looks lovely!

It sounds like this is going to be quite a project, but I look forward to seeing more of it as you progress.

[naath.livejournal.com]

Excellent embroidery would hold up under the macro lense.

[atreic.livejournal.com]

That embroidery is gorgeous!

Could you explain the reference for us stupid people? I think I would only get it if you were embroidering parsely, sage, rosemary and thyme

Bluebell (or harebell if you're English)

But but but - these are completely different flowers! Bluebells are Hyacinthoides non-scripta and grow in woods, harebells are Campanula rotundifolia and grow on grassy hills! *me googles a bit* Ah, it's a scottish thing. In which case you could embroider some English bluebells on it too!

[naath.livejournal.com]

Oh, er, it's a Flanders and Swan song.

Yes, I have pictures for English bluebells too, but I didn't want them next to each other.

[peacockdress.livejournal.com]

*double take* What a coincidence - I bought a Flanders and Swann CD for my Dad's birthday a couple of days ago and Demi and I have been obsessed ever since - bouncing around the house singing about gnus and hippopotami.

[peacockdress.livejournal.com]

Wow! A purple one! Cool. The embroidery looks great and given the simplicity of the skirt I'd have done it first too. You can always hem it from the top if necessary.

Don't worry too much about the ribbon, mine was polyester too. I've yet to find a good source of a good selection of not-polyester ribbon actually. Silk ribbon tends to come in miniscule widths only for embroidery.

Re referral links - if you go to "My Account" you can click through on the right hand side to get to the affiliate details, including your personal banners and links. They're coded with your details and it's those that prompt the system to pay you the commission.

[naath.livejournal.com]

Mmm, yes, JL didn't even have any silk ribbon. But I might have to do something about the lace - I think I spotted Vena Cava selling lace, and I need to buy the bodice pattern, boning, grommets and coutil from them anyway.

[peacockdress.livejournal.com]

These guys (http://www.clunylace.co.uk/index.htm) might be worth a try, although I've never bought from them myself. And don't rule out Ebay.

[naath.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm looking wrong, but it all looks very narrow to me.

[peacockdress.livejournal.com]

I haven't looked closely to be honest. And I couldn't find prices. But I do think Vena Cava are fab, so they might be worth a try too.

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

You can get 1/2" silk ribbon, but it tends to be really flimsy (fine for decoration, not sure I'd use it for fastening). I know I've seen a few sources for silk ribbon not intended for embroidery, but I can't remember where...it is hard to find.

[dave holland (from livejournal.com)]

The embroidery looks great from where I'm sitting. (Says the man who struggles to make counted cross-stitch look good.)

[hatter.livejournal.com]

Snowdrops, forget-me-nots, daisies and buttercups ? And to join in with the chorus, awesome dress and sufficiently-l33t-to-impress-me embroidery.


the hatter

[kaet.livejournal.com]

Ooh, pretty gown.