After attaching the crinoline to the hem of the
Vogue 2962 dress, I still thought it needed extra fullness, so I made a tulle petticoat.
Sugardale makes super cute petticoats and she has a great tutorial, but I wanted something a bit quicker and preferred to use my Ruffler foot than gathering the conventional way. The memories of gathering big bits of tulle remain after making my
wedding dress about 21 years ago! So here she is all pouffed out .......
I did the petticoat in four tiers - each one 20cm wide. I added a soft cotton fabric as a header to the top tier to reduce the amount of harsh tulle at the waist. The top tier was a strip of 5 metres, the 2nd tier was 7.5 m, the third tier was 8.75 metres and the bottom tier was 10metres. Now there is nothing particularly clever about those lengths - really just a stab in the dark. I did a few test pieces of the ruffler foot to work out the gathering ratio - so that I didn't have to pin each piece to it's connecting tier.
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| Ruffler foot in action |
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| Testing the gathering rate - there are a few settings on the foot, plus you can vary the amount of gather with the stitch length - so in this example, the rate was 1.27. |
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| Basic straight interfaced waistband to finish the top. |
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| I added an underskirt of lightweight soft cotton to reduce the itchiness of the tulle. |
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| The back has a placket opening and one hook with several eyes so that it can be adjusted to suit the petite 40's waistline or ...... |
So she's all ready for her big night out at Blacksmiths Primary School's Market night this Friday Night (21st Oct) - where I will have a stall - ... and ..... will I be wearing it? No, she's a pert Size 10 - my daughter may be able to wear it - but alas, she looks so good on the lovely lady mannequin, I'll leave it at that!
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It really is an attention-getting dress. You are bound to wow people and draw them towards your stall. I hope your daughter can wear this when it's all over. It would be a shame for no one but your mannequin to enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteThe skirt is 'out there' in more ways than one. And I mean that in a good way. Went to Greenfields for horsehair stiffening - but it is only available on a 50 mt roll. Still deciding if I need a life time supply!
ReplyDeletecertainly has the WOW factor - I hope you are inundated with customers ...
ReplyDeleteWow! That dress is absolutely stunning! I love the fabric, I haven't seen polkadots that big before! and the shape of the dress is gorgeous, really accentuates the waist.
ReplyDeleteStunning!
ReplyDeleteThankyou for sharing the Ruffle Foot - I've never used one and you make it sound so easy I think I'll have to give it a try.
The dress looks amazing, and I think the petticoat does give it extra Wow factor. I hope someone can wear it afterwards, but it does look like effective advertising for your stall, which can't be wasted effort! I hope it goes well.
ReplyDeleteI bought a 50m roll of the 15mm stiffening, and alas it does not have the gathering thread at the top. I am glad my daughters like big twirly skirts, because at 5 or 6 m per skirt this is not as much overkill as it sounds, but I hope the skinny stuff works (there are 9 nieces too, if I have some left over....)
Looks fabulous. I hope it went well. Love the idea of the ruffler foot - does this replace the standard gathering technique?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely gorgeous - and the petticoat really does give it that extra oomph!
ReplyDeleteGay, you've done it again! Love it.
ReplyDeleteIt looks awesome - worth gathering all that tulle for! Anyone wearing this dress will turn heads!
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous dress! Bravo!
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