You must be lost

Well, I only got a couple of hours to work on it Friday night. I've got the under layer pinned together and independent of the dress form, but was working on basting it and either pinning or basting in the zipper so that I could try it on and make sure it's fitting ok (especially since the under layer is fit a little more snuggly). I started pinning in the zipper and my fitting quickly went to hell, so I just fit it again and pinned it for now and left it alone for the rest of the weekend to do much needed cleaning and working on the dog door. I finished the dog door (and there was much rejoicing) and we're closer than ever on the cleaning, so I should get to work on the gown more this week. We're also not going out of town this weekend, so that means I've got a 3 day weekend to work on it (aiming to have cleaning done so I can enjoy a holiday weekend for once).

Pics of my progress, such as it is.

I left work a little early (got my 8 hours and some change in). By 5:15, I was already on the downslope of the dye process, round 2. I wound up having to add some dye halfway through and nearly gave myself a heart attack when I noticed there were some splotches from the addition, but after a couple of minutes of agitation in the washing machine, it seemed to even out.

I'm putting it through the wash right now, but after the rinse, I took a towel and blotted a part of it dry to see about where it would be, color wise. I dare say, nearly perfect, at least for what I was going for. It's still that periwinkle blue, but now has a hint of lavender.

I also got the ribbon from M&J today. At least they know what "light orchid" is supposed to look like. Denver Fabrics thinks it's cotton candy pink (judging from my invisible zipper). But no matter, neither piece is really going to show at all.

I'm excited to get started. Guess I better pick up the house a little while the wash is going and before I get sidetracked.

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Edit: It's out of the dryer and perfect! Exactly what I was going for. Super excited, I started on the back panel. Got the under layer done and started on the outer layer, but then Chris came home so I stopped working on it.

Pics of the dye process, round 2. I think this one is probably closest to the actual color (even though the pic is dark).

So, I stayed home sick yesterday but wound up being able to do something productive. The chiffon and dyes came in so I was able to get the fabric dyed. The only thing is, I think it came out more blue than I was hoping. It looks accurate to the printed photo I was working from, but I still wanted a touch more lavender to it. So, this evening (since my ribbon still isn't here from M&J), I'll go ahead and dip it in a really diluted lavender dye bath.

This time though, I'm doing it in the washing machine! Last night, I used a plastic tub in the bathtub, using the bathtub as a rinse tub. Made a little more of a mess and was a little more of a pain than I had hoped. Still, it was an easy clean up. Thank you ReDuRan hand cleaner or I'd have much more than blue cuticles and nails today!

As far as the dye job itself, I'm pretty happy with it. This was my first vat dyeing experience and it came out evenly with no splotches or streaks. It's fun too. I feel like I get something closer to what I want, color wise, the supplies are slightly cheaper in most cases than buying pre-dyed silks, I know exactly what the fiber content of my fabrics are, seems like it's just good all around. This probably doesn't mean I'm going to dye all my own fabrics every time I start a project. But it does mean it's a wide open door of possibilities now.

Pics of the dye process.

What I'm shooting for is something more along these lines, color wise.

Last night I got the front panel attached at the shoulders. Cowl necklines are a bit tricky (I've never done one). I finally had to step back and start over. I attached the panel at the shoulders first with it flush across the chest, then measured out from where it was pinned, 4" on each side and made a mark there with a fabric pen. Then I detached it and reattached it where the marks were, gathering it there so that the fabric draped from that point. I still had to trim the neckline some to keep it from standing up too much. I don't think that's going to be an issue with the chiffon.

I'm thinking of at least mocking up the front panel with some polyester chiffon I have left over from a gypsy costume last year (the shirt that I never put together). The muslin fabric is just not draping accurately enough for me to really get an idea of how this thing will be to shape. But I'm making do with what I've got so far. Still, it looks pretty decent I think. I got some pics of it with just the back panel on. Tonight I'll probably take pics of where I am now before proceeding.

I went ahead and started pinning where there was some shaping. So far, I've gotten the shaping around the bust and upper waist on the front and the lower back. Seems most of the back of this gown just hangs freely, with a tiny bit of definition at the waist, so that was about all the shaping I wanted to do there. I'll pin the panels together tonight and maybe baste it all together to try it on and see if it'll fit ok. I'm doing the fitting on an unaltered dress form, so it will be a bit too big (probably). Once I get this project done, I'll go ahead and finish the alterations to my form's cover. I didn't really care for this project since it's supposed to be sort of a loosely fitted gown anyway.

I ordered the chiffon and dyes from Dharma first thing this morning. They're shipping priority mail, so they'll likely get here Monday or Tuesday. With shipping and everything, it's about $60. I also ordered some invisible thread, an invisible lightweight zipper (from Denver Fabrics) and some matching grossgrain ribbon (from M&J, since I knew off hand they sell it by the yard).

What I'm going to try there is to attach the panels to a short piece of the ribbon and gather them onto it so that I've got something other than just chiffon to sew together (and hold it up later). I'll put the zipper under the arm in the side seam so that there's no back seam. Overall, I'd say it's going swimmingly so far (I might not be singing the same tune as I wrestle chiffon into my sewing machine, I'll get to exercise my walking foot for the first time).

Mogwai kitty is enjoying curling up on the 12" train I've put on the back. The dress form is positioned in such a way that he can lay on that and hover his head over the A/C vent (another thing he loves to do). This could be a problem when I get around to using the chiffon and I get pissy about what it touches.