Antique Lilac
  • Home
  • for Sale
  • Galleries
  • Favourite Photos
  • Tutorials
  • Blog
  • Links
  • Books

Making a Collar

12/12/2019

3 Comments

 
I had been struggling with the pattern and what fabric to use for my Monica's inner bodice and collar.  This is the inspiration I'm basing her costume on....
Picture
It's clear that her inner bodice is gathered at the neck, but I couldn't figure out how to do that on such a small scale.  The choice of fabrics was also eluding me. I wanted something in cream, that was a bit 'sheer', and possibly with a bit of a pattern in it, so ended up with these three....
Picture
There wasn't enough of the one on the far right, and I couldn't get the striped one to work with the stripes going in the right direction all flaring out from the neck, so ended up choosing the crinkly cream curtain sheers. I ironed as much of the crinkle out of it as I could, then traced my patterns onto it and cut it out, leaving the lining pinned to the 'right' side, since it was impossible to tell which was the right side, and I didn't want to get confused later trying to match the linings to the right sides later.

Then it occurred to me that I could cut up the cream and gold striped fabric, and baste it onto the actual collar and bodice fabric to simulate the gathers of the original. So I spent three hours last night hand-basting the strips onto the collar and bodice sections, then a whole five minutes this morning machine sewing over the basting.  It might seem like a big waste of time to some, doing all that basting,  but with something this small and flimsy it's important to go slowly, one small step at a time. And I'm a perfectionist....
Picture
I couldn't press anything yet at this point, since I'd traced my patterns with a pen whose ink disappears with heat.  I find it so much easier, and so much more accurate to trace my pattern templates onto the wrong sides of fabric and then sew on that line, but with light coloured fabrics one can't use a regular pen or pencil.  I use a Pilot FRIXION.  The first one was a gift from a friend.  It's perfect for tracing templates onto light coloured fabrics, because it will disappear when you iron it after sewing. When that pen ran out, I found more in the Walmart stationary department....
Picture
So I pinned the right sides of the collar together, and very carefully machine stitched it together with a small stitch. Then after clipping the corners, turned them right side out, and pressed them.

​They might not look very 'pointy', but remember the collar is barely an inch wide, so is much smaller than the photo suggests. They will look much better after I bead the edges, but first I have to attach a neck band to the collar, then sew that into the bodice, and that's always one of my least favourite things to do, especially with something so small and flimsy. And there's TWO of them!
Picture
3 Comments
Dorothy
12/12/2019 09:45:45 am

Oh my goodness, there are so many pieces to this outfit. I had no idea.

It is truly amazing that you can envision the finished outfit and then figure out how to create the individual parts.

Reply
earthspirits
12/12/2019 04:17:10 pm

This is going to be spectacular - and in such a tiny scale too! I look forward to seeing the finished creation!

Reply
Donna
12/12/2019 06:10:53 pm

It's going to be amazing! Like Dorothy, I'm so impressed with your ability to envision the finished garment and figure out how to create the look you want.

P.S. I'm so glad you're a perfectionist... it's one of the reasons your work, be it photography or fashions, is as delightful as it is!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Martha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes.
    Read More... 

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.