Gainsborough dress: cutting out
Jan. 8th, 2015 09:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mandie_rwI was very industrious today and mocked up and fitted the gown, which seemed fairly intimidating before I started. It did take ages to just cut the pieces for the mockup, but the actual fitting wasn't too painful. (Except for getting poked in the neck with pins, which was.) A good part of the fit is down to the darts, which are useless to try to fine-tune til I get to the real dress. I did end up taking a fair chunk out of the side-back piece at the waist, but it was pretty straightforward fitting. Which surprised me, because natural form's always seemed like a LOT of crazy fitting! Maybe on a back-fastening dress...which, no.
Also, I have decided that if you were going to draft a pattern to achieve the most fabric wastage, you'd come up with a natural form princess dress. (Or a Simplicity pattern layout...HA.) It's ridiculous. My 18thc/early 19thc sewing sensibilities are so offended by this waste of fabric! I didn't have a problem fitting it onto the wool, thankfully, since it's 60"...though I did manage to cut the very top of one of the back pieces into a void instead of into actual fabric. Whooooops. That is getting pieced.
And the waistcoat pieces fit on my 17" remnant of pink silk about as well as expected:
...that is to say, not very well at all! That's getting pieced, too, by hand as I can make those stitches less visible with a smaller seam allowance. The join probably won't even show, but just in case it does!
Also cut the facing for the train - out of nasty polyester taffeta because I don't care about dragging that on the ground! It's not that nasty, really...but it's something I won't use for outerwear any more, so I may as well try and get it out of the stash. (It's probably been in there for eight years or so...) Still have to cut the front facings and make the collar, but I think I'm done for the day. Oh and sleeves...but I'm waiting til I've put the gown together for those.
Also, I have decided that if you were going to draft a pattern to achieve the most fabric wastage, you'd come up with a natural form princess dress. (Or a Simplicity pattern layout...HA.) It's ridiculous. My 18thc/early 19thc sewing sensibilities are so offended by this waste of fabric! I didn't have a problem fitting it onto the wool, thankfully, since it's 60"...though I did manage to cut the very top of one of the back pieces into a void instead of into actual fabric. Whooooops. That is getting pieced.
And the waistcoat pieces fit on my 17" remnant of pink silk about as well as expected:
...that is to say, not very well at all! That's getting pieced, too, by hand as I can make those stitches less visible with a smaller seam allowance. The join probably won't even show, but just in case it does!
Also cut the facing for the train - out of nasty polyester taffeta because I don't care about dragging that on the ground! It's not that nasty, really...but it's something I won't use for outerwear any more, so I may as well try and get it out of the stash. (It's probably been in there for eight years or so...) Still have to cut the front facings and make the collar, but I think I'm done for the day. Oh and sleeves...but I'm waiting til I've put the gown together for those.
