Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Finished Qipao Pictures, In the Mood for Love Style!



I think anyone who has ever made their own qipao/cheongsam has drawn some inspiration from the movie In the Mood for Love, which has Maggie Cheung wearing several beautiful, non-traditional pieces. Adey of the Sew Convert and Juebejue of Petite Republic both spotlighted several of the costumes from the movie, and they are indeed fantastic. Unfortunately, I have never seen that movie, nor, I must confess, do I have any particular desire to. But I can still channel the look in my pictures, right? My husband and I waited until sunset to do our shoot on the top of the parking structure, and I think he captured the golden glow quite nicely!


It's almost like a heart on my back! And on my butt, but let's ignore that part.
After the powder-blue brocade qipao I had in high school, and then the classic bridal red and gold brocade for my wedding banquet, I knew I wanted to make a more utilitarian, but still pretty, non-brocade version. Hence the Bangladeshi cotton from England. It's a bit hard to see the true colors in this shoot, but if you look back at my blog posts about the making of this dress, you can get a better idea of the lovely cream and indigo flowers. I was really pleased with how I placed the pattern in the front and back, so that the ups and downs of the flowers matched up nicely with the darts. I didn't have enough fabric to match it on the side seams, but oh well.

I'm not going to say too much more about the construction, since I've already blathered on about it at length, but I'll add a bit about the fit that I didn't notice before. The side zipper tends to produce an awkward bubble unless I keep tugging the dress down, but it's not too big of a deal, since, as my husband thankfully reminds me when I'm ready to relegate a less-than-perfect dress to the back of the closet, no one will notice except me. And other seamstresses, but that's beside the point. I am happy to report that I can sit down in the dress, although since it's thin cotton it does wrinkly something fierce. I tried to strike a balance between being able to walk, and being able to wear this to church, in determining the length of the side slits. None of that scary up to the underwear slittage for me, thank you.

You can see the awkward bubble under my arm. You can see the awkward face I'm making, too.

That slit's not scandalous at all, right? Although the non-matching side seams might be.

Summary:
Fabric: 2 yards of 40" 100% cotton for the shell (barely enough, with my mistakes!), pre-washed muslin for the lining
Notions: 1 package purple bias tape, several tiny snaps, a 14" cream polyester zipper
Hours: Hoo boy. I'm going to say...at least 15.
Techniques used: Making frog closures! Which was the whole point of the original Sew Weekly challenge that inspired this dress -- the challenge of buttonholes. Do azn buttonholes count? Also, I don't know that this is a technique per se, but I've never done so much darting/fitting as I sew. This dress also marks the first time I've sewn/used snaps. Ever. I love them so much; I think I'm going to try replacing the side zipper with snaps next time I come across a vintage pattern with a side closure.
Will you make this again? Not for a long time. By which point all the pattern modifications I made probably won't be relevant anymore. But really, I don't see needing a whole lot of qipao, even if they are made of non-brocade.
Total cost: $20 or so, since I don't remember the exact price of the cotton. But all the materials for this came from my stash, so I still feel pretty good about it.
Final thoughts: My husband says I look like a less scandalous version of Chun Li. Um. I guess I'll take that? Anyway, while it's still not perfect, I'm really pleased with the level of fit I was able to achieve for a self-drafted sheath dress. Also, it felt so great to be able to figure out the top/side portion by myself! After a week of wibbling, I now have a pretty decently fitting new qipao!

In the mood for...pushing down this wall.

31 comments:

  1. It turned out great! I really do love that fabric, and I'm very impressed with how you just went for it :D.

    I'm not the one to ask about the scandalous side-slits, though, my criterion is usually "the higher the better"... ;)

    I think Chun Li is my husband's dream girl. We're still not quite sure how he ended up with me...

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    1. Thanks for all your help and affirmation along the way!

      I think every guy who's ever played Street Fighter thinks Chun Li is his dream girl...

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  2. Absolutely gorgeous! You did such a wonderful job drafting the pattern and fitting it!! The fabric looks wonderful!

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  3. I think it turned out great and the curves of the design on the fabric look very nice on you.

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  4. I love these dresses and would make one if I wasn't top heavy, and I mean to the nth degree lol. However being in my forties my inspiration to make one would be the film The World of Suzie Wong starring the beautiful Nancy Khan.Keep up the good work you look as usual fabulous.

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  5. This is fantastic! The fabric is gorgeous and you did an amazing job at drafting the pattern.

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  6. Love this dress. It turned out so well, and you look great in it!

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  7. Damn girl! Or, in a more polite way, Damnation, gentlewoman! This is lovely. I love the way you've cut the fabric, the "hearts" are very sensual but also subtle. I've been following along your whole process, it's amazing! And so quick!

    The fit is fantastic, and I like how wearable and modern this is. The slit is great, perfect length. And as for the side bubble, in my opinion that is totally one of those things that is going to drive you nuts and yet be noticed by literally no one else. You look amazing. Bask in your genius.

    strugglesewsastraightseam.wordpress.com

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    1. Hahaha I don't think I've ever heard the polite version before! Thanks for affirming the non-noticeability of the bubble!

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  8. Your dress is really beautiful. It is so feminine and the way you arranged the curves in the pattern to the curves in the dress is just lovely!

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  9. This dress is stunning! Excellent frog closure.

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  10. Gorgeous! It turned out very pretty, just like everything else you make! It fits very nicely on you, you have a lovely figure. I love reading your blog, I love that you DIY a lot of your patterns. So inspiring.

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  11. Very beautiful fabric and, well, the qipao is my favorite silhouette. Overall gorgeous!

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  12. This is really, really beautiful design work. I love it. You look really great. (And seriously, I'm probably going to have to make one, too. Can I do that even if I'm Caucasian?)

    Bubble...? Is it the end of the zipper or the "top" of the zipper that gives you trouble?

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    1. Thank you! That means so much to me, coming from you! You can totally make one too...in fact, I'd love to see your spin on it.

      My bubble is in the middle of the zipper, so I think there's just too much fabric there? Or possibly I didn't pin it exactly straight?

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  13. It's lovely. And I really like effect of the shadows in the photographs.

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  14. I found your blog via Sew Country Chick. I love this design. I buy a new Chinese New Year dress for my daughters each year, but I would love to sew one for them in the future. You have a lovely blog!

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  15. Really really stylish and flattering. It's nice to see a Cheong Sam in non brocade - it works, doesn't it?! I also really like the light in your pictures, that was worth waiting for.

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  16. This fabric looks lovely with this dress! The "bubble" as you put it, is not awkward and I wouldn't have noticed it at all if you hadn't pointed it out. Even then it doesn't look like a mistake.

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  17. You do such a wonderful job, it looks fabulous!

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  18. amazing and gorgeous!
    www.lilbitandnan.blogspot.com

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  19. This qipao, and you, are stunning! I absolutely love it! Nice work and great pictures!

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  20. You look so beautiful in this qipao and could ass for an Asian actress!nice job. I love the pattern placement. Looks like silverlake in the backgound? I went to the Chinese Dragon parade in LA on Saturday and saw lots of qipao dresses. Now I know the name.

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    1. Aww that's sweet of you! And good job ID-ing the background!

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  21. I <3 this qipao! Thanx for the pattern, I think I know now how to work out the top part on a jacket...

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  22. i came upon your blog by accident .. doing a search on qipao on pinterest. Good job! keep up the good work!

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  23. I love it! it's so beautifully made.

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