Strapless Sheet Dress - Part 1
I do believe that this dress hates me...
I have been sitting on this package of boning for forever so I decided that it was time to use it. It's the kind you get at a fabric store, and I have read about the spiral steel boning (which I think I would prefer) but I really don't need it. Plus, for my first time boning anything, its good to use the cheap stuff so I can get a feel for placement and whatnot. At least that's what I told myself.
Anywho, this dress is from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book and it consisted of 6 pattern pieces. Since the dress pieces in the book are interchangeable, I mainly used the red halter sundress pattern (minus the halter strap) for this dress. I used a beautiful asian flowery bedsheet for the dress itself and some plain white cottony fabric for the lining. The bedsheet feels like a plain cotton and was slightly rougher than the lining, but I didn't think I could feel a difference on my skin. It was mainly when I pinned it that it felt kind of thicker if you will. I don't know if that makes sense, but I digress.
So I kind of fussed offer the placement of the front bodice piece because I loved so many parts of this design that I could not pick what I wanted to be front and center. The rest I left up to chance as far as the design went. It was all going to be a flowery mess anyways, but if the front bodice piece looks good then I'm good. So I began constructing the lining and outer parts separately and all was going well. For the boning, Gertie suggested sewing in the boning channels but holding off on insert the boning until later.
I actually bought some horsehair braid for the bottom hem to give it a real 50's flair. Being broke combined with living nowhere near any sort of fabric store, I went to eBay and found some light pink braid on clearance for $1 for a 2 yard piece. I bought all that they had. No one will see it except me but the light pink actually kind of goes with the design, so yay!
This stuff was pretty easy to use, so my first time with it went just fine. I added pockets (naturally) and used a vintage zipper that I found in my stash. I did the lapped zipper method for this dress which helped with the fit because it came out too big when I was putting it together. I actually basted the zipper in and tried it on and it would have taken more than boning and a zipper to hold that thing up! I took the sides in and also the zipper area was taken in a bit and she started to fit more snugly. Once the bodice was completed, I added the boning and attached the bodice to the skirt and tried it on... and almost cried. I'm guessing it is the cheap ass plastic boning, but it was all kinds of inward curve going on. It did not hug my body and it was still too big. Also, when I was trying it on, I somehow bent my thumb nail back so badly that it began to bleed. WTF?!? I almost gave up, but I decided to change the bodice completely...
To be continued...
I have been sitting on this package of boning for forever so I decided that it was time to use it. It's the kind you get at a fabric store, and I have read about the spiral steel boning (which I think I would prefer) but I really don't need it. Plus, for my first time boning anything, its good to use the cheap stuff so I can get a feel for placement and whatnot. At least that's what I told myself.
Anywho, this dress is from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book and it consisted of 6 pattern pieces. Since the dress pieces in the book are interchangeable, I mainly used the red halter sundress pattern (minus the halter strap) for this dress. I used a beautiful asian flowery bedsheet for the dress itself and some plain white cottony fabric for the lining. The bedsheet feels like a plain cotton and was slightly rougher than the lining, but I didn't think I could feel a difference on my skin. It was mainly when I pinned it that it felt kind of thicker if you will. I don't know if that makes sense, but I digress.
So I kind of fussed offer the placement of the front bodice piece because I loved so many parts of this design that I could not pick what I wanted to be front and center. The rest I left up to chance as far as the design went. It was all going to be a flowery mess anyways, but if the front bodice piece looks good then I'm good. So I began constructing the lining and outer parts separately and all was going well. For the boning, Gertie suggested sewing in the boning channels but holding off on insert the boning until later.
I actually bought some horsehair braid for the bottom hem to give it a real 50's flair. Being broke combined with living nowhere near any sort of fabric store, I went to eBay and found some light pink braid on clearance for $1 for a 2 yard piece. I bought all that they had. No one will see it except me but the light pink actually kind of goes with the design, so yay!
This stuff was pretty easy to use, so my first time with it went just fine. I added pockets (naturally) and used a vintage zipper that I found in my stash. I did the lapped zipper method for this dress which helped with the fit because it came out too big when I was putting it together. I actually basted the zipper in and tried it on and it would have taken more than boning and a zipper to hold that thing up! I took the sides in and also the zipper area was taken in a bit and she started to fit more snugly. Once the bodice was completed, I added the boning and attached the bodice to the skirt and tried it on... and almost cried. I'm guessing it is the cheap ass plastic boning, but it was all kinds of inward curve going on. It did not hug my body and it was still too big. Also, when I was trying it on, I somehow bent my thumb nail back so badly that it began to bleed. WTF?!? I almost gave up, but I decided to change the bodice completely...
To be continued...
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