Friday, March 22, 2013

Wedding Dress Progress Post #2

Seeing as how I posted my first entry about Elaine's wedding dress a week ago, it sounds like it's going to be Wedding Dress Fridays here on the blog (Wedding Dress Wednesdays sounds like it would make more sense, but then I would have had to show more foresight as to the day I first started posting about this project, and we're not about foresight here at Cation Designs). Since my last post, I tried draping the gold lace overskirt, and even found time for a fitting during the twelve hours that Elaine and I both happened to be in San Francisco. I think it's safe to say that at this point, I'm feeling a lot better about having committed to this undertaking...check out the skirt(s) so far!

I was so incredibly relieved that it all fit! I measured five times and cut/sewed once, but I was still nervous. 
I rearranged the draping to be slightly more pleasing. 
Side view. Please ignore how messy the basement is. 
Side view with the purple layer gathered up quickly, just to see what it looks like. 
Back view. I haven't quite finished with the shape of the back drape tails yet, but you get the general idea. 

I'm still not entirely satisfied with the overskirt; somehow the two sides ended up not quite symmetrical, and the front half is too big at the waist. I'm trying to decide if I want to redo the whole thing, or just leave it for the corset to hold in place. Of course, the perfectionist part of me is insisting that a wedding dress deserves the best, and the lazy part of me is protesting that no one will be looking under the corset to see if everything is perfectly lined up. And then of course I still need to hem it all and add trim. Oh, and let's not forget the corset that still needs to be made!

Still, I'm pretty pleased with myself, considering that this is what the overskirt looked like at the beginning of the draping process:



As Elaine said when she saw these pictures, it looked like I just threw the wad of gold lace at Cecily and just started pinning haphazardly. Which is pretty much what happened, actually.


More or less unrelated: thank you all for your kind words about my Drape Drape dress! Mr. Cation is glad to hear that so many people are interested in Cape Cape and Grape Grape. We will let you know should those ever be published. And if you haven't entered the giveaway yet, you've still got a couple of hours to throw your name into the running for your own copy of the book!

17 comments:

  1. All my beginning to drape pictures look like yours. I always wonder whether other drapers just don't photograph that step or maybe I'm just too excited about my fabric all the time.

    It's looking lovely! though I get the lazy vs perfectionist battle. I usually set a time limit-half an hour to fiddle for perfection and anything after that, whoops, lazy wins out.

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    1. Hahaha oh good, I'm not the only one who drapes like that! I haven't started fiddling yet, but my guess is it'll take more than half an hour...

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  2. I love seeing your progress. It's looking gorgeous!

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    1. Thanks! It's nice to hear from outside eyes, as I've been staring at this so long I feel like I've lost all perspective.

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  3. Coming along, very well. You are a great friend to be doing this, you know!

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  4. Looking good! If nothing else, I hope this project teaches you to trust your instincts about how things go together. I still get nervous about fittings with other people too (especially when I correct a pattern after a fitting because it always looks wrong on the flat pattern since it is no longer "standard"). =)

    ~ Brooke

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    1. When I took my draped pieces off of Cecily and unfolded them, I was pretty taken aback by how weird they looked when flat, but it more or less worked out!

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  5. It looks good Cindy! I made a wedding dress a couple of years ago and I know what You are going through. It's a LOT of work. But a great learning experience..

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    1. Yes, indeed! It's definitely a challenge to be sewing something so important!

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  6. This is looking so good! I can't wait to see the finished dress on Elaine! You never cease to inspire me, Cindy:)

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    1. Aww, thanks Shayna! Let's hope the finished dress lives up to your expectations ;)

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  7. It's looking fab, the lace is beautiful. And thank you your friend Elaine for letting us see her dress before her big day.

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    1. Heh, Elaine is a great friend and blog supporter that way!

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  8. I love how this is turning out, and it's so much fun to get to see the progress. Yay internet for allowing me to follow along from a distance!

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  9. Beautiful and so exciting watching progress!

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  10. Wow! This is amazing! I can't wait for the next Wedding Dress Friday!!

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