New Gowns

Just wanted to share what I've been working on since we got home from our trip. I always need to be working on something, and while putting things away in the front closet I noticed the short green lace sari dress that had been hanging there for years. I thought it was finally time to make something out of it. So I took it down and started picking it apart. The embellishment around the bottom went all the way around the front and back, so it would make two gowns.

After picking the dress apart, the next step was to make the bodices. I wanted to use the same new elf bodice pattern, but didn't have the right colour green fabric for the lining and petticoat, so it required a trip to the fabric store. After making the bodice, I beaded the neckline, and chose some flower petals the same colour as the appliqués on the bottom of the skirt....

Trying on the bodice, with the skirt pinned on.  The fabric from the front of the dress had five appliqués further up, and one ended up right in front of her crotch - which was totally unacceptable - so I spent hours carefully picking it off. If it had been any other fabric than lace the holes from the satin stitching would have shown, but on the lace it didn't show at all. Thankfully.

Then the bodice was further embellished to match the bottom of the skirt more...

And the back of the skirt also needed some work.  The original dress had HUGE wide seam allowances where there was no beading, so after unpicking the side seams - which would be the back edges of the new dress skirts - there was a wide unembellished space at the centre back seam of the new skirt.

It needed embellishing. There was nothing I could do about the actual flowers themselves, but I did my best to fill in the area and make it look as much like the rest of the skirt bottom as I could...

Then it was time to try on the gown. To me it suggested an Edwardian style evening gown, so I made a pearl necklace and some long white gloves.

I started by making a nice slender glove, which fit perfectly on Sarah's left arm, but her right hand refused to go through the wrist because of her wider right hand. So I had to design a wider glove for that arm.  Which is why it looks 'baggy'. But there was nothing to be done about it.

Then I made some matching hair clips...

Then it was on to finish the second gown....