What happens when an unavoidable interruption takes you away from the depths of a sewing project for more than a couple weeks of time? Well, if you are me, you forget exactly where you were in the process. And, when you finally get back to work on it, you assume, incorrectly, certain fitting steps have already happened. Recipe for disaster? Well, not quite that bad, because this dress can be saved. It is just going to take some time.
The dress in question is the one for which I used this colorful floral silk.
Although I was so certain in May I would finish this dress before we departed our home on the East Coast (USA) for our Summer home in Wyoming, it did not happen. So I brought it with me to finish. When I finally picked it up again, I needed to reacquaint myself with all the steps yet to be completed. I had the hand-picked lapped zipper sewn and the sleeves inserted.
I love a hand-picked lapped zipper…
I was working on the narrow ruffle I had decided to add to the V-neck edge. I consider this to be the focal point of the dress (in addition to the fabric).
I used the same vintage pattern for this dress as I did for a blue silk dress late in 2019. This fabric, to me, was begging for a narrow neck ruffle.
As luck would have it, the most recent issue of Threads Magazine included an article by Susan Khalje on Couture Gathering. Now, I have done a lot of gathering of fabric in my life, but this article is illuminating in all the tips it offers for an excellent result. It could not have been more timely. As it turns out, there is lot more to gathering than I ever considered.
Among the concepts covered in the article are: gathering ratio, fabric grain, underlining, stitch length, preparation of the piece to be ruffled, forming the gathers and attaching the gathered fabric to the body of the item. As with so much of couture sewing, each step builds on the one before it.
Three of the tips in the article, so helpful to me in completing this detail, were: 1) cutting the piece to be gathered much wider than I would have thought was necessary. This gives one much more control than with a narrower strip. 2) using three lines of gathering rather than the customary two, and 3) once the gathers are formed, using an iron to set them in place, stopping just short of pressing the ruffle.
I decided on a 5/8″ wide ruffle. I cut my piece to be gathered 5″ wide, folded to 2.5″. I used three rows of gathering stitches.
For those of you with subscriptions to Threads Magazine, I highly recommend this Essential Techniques article. It has forever changed the way I will do gathering/ruffles. And although not all features in Threads are as useful, it is offerings like this which make me a fan of this sewing magazine. (These are my opinions; I have no relationship with Threads.)
Well, back to where I left off. After picking up work on this dress again, I proceeded to go through all the steps necessary to complete it. When I thought this dress was finally finished, I put it on to take pictures, and to my surprise, it did not fit correctly. It pulls across the bust and forms drag lines on the V-neck. Ugh.
The pulling across the bust and at the V-neck is clearly noticeable in this photo.
I can only guess I thought I had tried it on for fit after the zipper was basted, but I must not have done that. Unknowingly, I proceeded with the finishing of the interior – the facing of the V-neck, the hem, and the insertion of a green crepe de chine lining.
Normally with couture sewing, neck facings are eliminated and the lining is brought right up to the neck edge and then understitched to secure it. However, with a V-neck, a facing is necessary. I then cut the lining about 3/4″ below the neck edge and fell-stitched it into place.
I believe removing the zipper and taking some of the center back seam allowance to add to the width of the back will correct this glaring mis-fit. This is not a dress which I will have occasion to wear this summer – so do I dig in and make the corrections now, or do I wait? I have quite a bit in my summer sewing queue, and perhaps a tried and true project like a blouse will put me in a better frame of mind. Regardless, this “unfinished business” will one day be finished, hopefully successfully.
Do You Do Pink?
Apparently, pink is a controversial color. Or maybe “was a controversial color” is a better statement. A recent article by Nancy MacDonnell in the Off Duty section of The Wall Street Journal (“Making Peace with Pink” February 11-12, 2017) makes a case for the appropriateness – and timeliness – of pink even for those who think they don’t like it. While I am one who thinks pink is always in fashion, it turns out that this Spring, it really is in fashion! According to Ms. MacDonnell, “On this season’s runways, pink predominated.” The different fashion houses showed varying interpretations of pink: Michael Kors was “brisk, All-American, [and] cheery.” J. Crew was “equally upbeat,” while Valentino showed pink that was “lush and romantic, with intricate appliqués and historical references…” The list goes on and on. The unifying thread (pardon the pun), as claimed by the designers, was the lack of traditional “sweetness” associated with pink, with emphasis on the feminine power inherent in the color.
Looming large on page 58 from the November 2016 WSJ Magazine is a Valentino coat, quite traditional in design, but made very special by its stunning appliquéd pink wool.
According to Dr. Valerie Steele, the Museum Director at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, who was quoted frequently in Ms. MacDonnell’s article, the idea of pink as a feminine color did not take hold until the 1950s. Back in 1954 when Christian Dior wrote The Little Dictionary of Fashion, his entry on “pink” stated: “The sweetest of all the colors. Every woman should have something pink in her wardrobe. It is the color of happiness and of femininity.” He even used pink throughout his book for illustrations, chapter headings and the title page. He recommended pink “for blouses and scarves; … for a young girl’s frock; it can be charming for suits and coats; and it is wonderful for evening frocks.” Who can argue with that, be it 1954 or 2017?
The title page of Dior’s smart little dictionary. (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., NY, NY, copyright 2007)
This page from the June/July 2013 issue of Town and Country Magazine gives an interesting timeline of the color pink, “how the color of little girls and baby dolls came of age”:
Click on the image to read it.
I particularly like this statement from Laura Vinroot Poole, the founder of boutique Capitol in Charlotte, N. C., quoted in The Wall Street Journal article: “To wear pink, you have to be an interesting and smart person… You have to have things to say. In pink, you can’t hide.” Nor would you want to.
Personally, pink is my favorite color. I am always drawn to it, regardless of its hue. And its hue covers a huge range from palest pink to deepest fuchsia, from bubblegum pink to raspberry red. In thinking about pink for this post, I gathered this stack of pink fabrics from my collection. Just looking at it makes me happy!
From top to bottom:
1) vintage Moygashel linen, purchased on eBay
2) silk charmeuse, purchased from Britex Fabrics
3) vintage Moygashel linen, purchased by me in the 1970s
4) linen, possibly Moygashel, purchased on etsy
5) silk jacquard purchased from Britex Fabrics
6) silk charmeuse, purchased from Mendel Goldberg Fabrics
7 & 8) coordinating silks, purchased from Mendel Goldberg Fabrics
The only controversy I have with pink is deciding which hue of it I like best.
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Filed under Fashion commentary, Moygashel linen, silk, Uncategorized, Vintage fabric
Tagged as Britex Fabrics, Mendel Goldberg Fabrics, Moygashel linen, silk, vintage fashion, Wall Street Journal Fashion coverage