* I love making/redesigning/altering things, and while I enjoy reading blogs that explore the making process in excruciating detail, here I'll simply share results/photos for inspiration, and guidance regarding where to buy the materials/instructions/supplies, when relevant. If you have any specific questions regarding the HOW aspect of anything I show here, feel free to ask, and I'll answer!
After putting on her newly altered dress, she admired herself in the mirror... "Why don't they make dresses like this anymore?" she sighed.
Pictured above, is the back of a beautiful dress, owned by a vintage-loving client of mine, made of a dreamy metallic brocade. Since it was made for a broader figure than hers, it needed to be altered it significantly to fit her figure, which I achieved by changing the seaming (adding a princess seams where there were none on the original dress), reshaping the bust and armholes, and added some side boning to give it a smoother look. My client will use it for a choral performance on Easter Sunday.
The dress itself, looks similar to the center view of the dress below, with a natural neckline, rather than the square neckline pictured.
The original dress was handmade, using two layers of fabric together as one. There was no separate lining layer, and large seam allowances and perfectly pinked raw edges made this dress a dream to alter. The precisely cut organza layer had the perfect resilience and crispness to smoothly fortify the shape.
"Well, THEY don't... but someone can!" I thought. Fabrics & Fabrics has a particularly spectacular selection of brocades, and there, you can find a beautiful gold metallic brocade like this one, as well as wonderful organza to use as lining.
Now... let's say I were to make a similar dress for myself... all I need is a place to wear something that fabulous... Well, a girl can dream, can't she?
After putting on her newly altered dress, she admired herself in the mirror... "Why don't they make dresses like this anymore?" she sighed.
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| The back of the pretty vintage dress. |
Pictured above, is the back of a beautiful dress, owned by a vintage-loving client of mine, made of a dreamy metallic brocade. Since it was made for a broader figure than hers, it needed to be altered it significantly to fit her figure, which I achieved by changing the seaming (adding a princess seams where there were none on the original dress), reshaping the bust and armholes, and added some side boning to give it a smoother look. My client will use it for a choral performance on Easter Sunday.
The dress itself, looks similar to the center view of the dress below, with a natural neckline, rather than the square neckline pictured.
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| This dress pattern, for sale on Patterns of the Past |
The original dress was handmade, using two layers of fabric together as one. There was no separate lining layer, and large seam allowances and perfectly pinked raw edges made this dress a dream to alter. The precisely cut organza layer had the perfect resilience and crispness to smoothly fortify the shape.
"Well, THEY don't... but someone can!" I thought. Fabrics & Fabrics has a particularly spectacular selection of brocades, and there, you can find a beautiful gold metallic brocade like this one, as well as wonderful organza to use as lining.
Now... let's say I were to make a similar dress for myself... all I need is a place to wear something that fabulous... Well, a girl can dream, can't she?
You gotta go on a cruise! Lots of excuses to to wear fancy dresses. Love the brocade.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea, Baye!
ReplyDelete