the final act - the finished Crepe Dress

I thought about writing the skirt section, but really, nothing interesting happened other then I took out a lot of fabric both on the sides and from the bottom - when I say a lot, I mean about 5 inches of each skirt seam - obviously not near the waist area, but further down - and about 8 inches in length.

I don't think it looks tarty though. Looksie ... I even found some heels to wear even though I have worn heels 3 times in the last 3 years, well 4 times now :-)

Another view from the side and back, please ignore the dying tomato plant, I have a new one.

Now, for the lining. One of the challenges was the opening to feed the tie through. I ended up sewing the seam allowances of the lining and the outer fabric together in order to create a stable non-fraying hole. It can be seen on the top on this picture. I also finished of the seam allowances of the skirt section by wrapping the lining around - a bit like the Hong Kong finish. I think Karen from Did You Make It wrote about it a while back ... obviously hers was neater.

As my final act in making this dress, I hand-stitched the bodice lining to the skirt section with a slip stitch. It's not totally neat, but who cares. I think it look great :-)

Now that it is finished I feel a little lost. I know I should get back to stash busting ...

Crepe Bodice or we're getting somewhere

You know why I don't particularly like muslins? Because by the time I got the fit right - or rightish, let's face it, I have little idea how things are 'supposed' to fit - anyway, by the time the fit is doable I have lost all enthusiasm for the projects. I have in fact got several skirt muslins ready to go, I have even paired them up with all the correct fabric and notions and yet they are sitting nicely in their little bag waiting patiently for the muse to return ... sigh.

I was determined to keep going with this project so here we are.  I cut the lining on the bias, so that the front piece has a bit of stretch like the gridlock fabric. It also stabilised the back piece where it crossed over. Originally the cross over is on the bias and now on the lining it runs with the grain, so hopefully it'll be less likely that it stretches out on that bit.

The original crepe dress is not lined, but due to the poly I really really really needed it lined. I was going to interface the whole neckline, but the bulk was a bit too much, so I just interfaced the tip of the V to ensure stability. Also I pinked the seams within the lining, because both fabrics frayed like mad ... is one supposed to finish seams that are within the lining?

I under-stitched the neckline and changed the darts of the lining into pleats to allow more movement - I think I might have read that on someone's blog, but I can't remember where.

I have made the ties out of the lining material (a ivory cotton sateen from Spotlight) and attached them slightly higher then the pattern asked for. It worked better on the muslin, so hey, who am I to question the muslin. Next up - the skirt :-)