Wearables Sewing Project Evening wear/ Haute courte [ Round 39 ]

Well, I have to watch this one and not participate (unless my travel plans change very soon). I look forward to lurking and commenting on this one.

 

I've been waiting for this one! My steampunk girl, Murphy, needs a new outfit (since to this point she only has one.) Murphy is a Flower and Junior Mizi W (3-eyed sculpt) on an AoD male-modded-to-female body. She's my automaton Chronicler and she wants to attend a fancy upcoming cotillion.

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And I'm not exactly sure what final form this cotillion gown will wind up taking, but here's the basic inspiration for my design:

 

Murphy is so cute PoeticSoul - I love her steampunk ensemble! Love the concept art - I'm intrigued by the birdcage ^_^

For this round I'll just be making a regular, boring evening dress type dress for my impldoll idol girl hybrid Danielle (idol body + Akagi Ban head) She's a bit of a tomboy so far (mainly because she only fits 70cm boy clothes LOL) so we're both looking forward to seeing her in a dress - which with her gigantic chest will be a challenge to make I think! Oh and she will definitely be getting a faceup too - at long last - when I've got the strength to take off her head that is, bearing in mind I'm a bit of a weakling at the moment ^_^

yaaay clothes by elve, on Flickr

 

@PoeticSoul, what a lovely young lady, and beautiful design. Amazing idea for a cage crinoline! I look forward to seeing your progress.

@elve I look forward to seeing how you transform your tomboy into an elegant lady. It sounds like you are improving, healthwise, yay!

I am thinking of joining this month's round. I've been following for a while and have an idea for 1920s evening wear. Will need to see if my work schedule will allow it.

 

Wish I could enter this round, my my girl needs her other clothes

@PoeticSoul Cool, it really reminds me of this Original Character - Melty Snow - 1/8 (Shokubutsu Shoujoen) along with what your girl is already wearing.

 

Still working on last round's stuff (which will probably be carried over into next month's Unfinished Business), but I'm in - Carlos (Granado Uranus) still needs his dress shirt, which isn't exactly Haute Couture but probably counts as Evening Wear.

 

Mew-Lidia9. thank you for that link! She looks so awesome and I love the way she's dressed...and I adore that name...Melty Snow...now why couldn't I ever come up with something that cool?

SteamWitch, we will certainly miss your creativity this round, but we can take comfort in the fact that you'll still be hanging out here with us none-the-less. I hope your travels are safe and enjoyable.

elve, your girl's sculpt is gorgeous! I'm certainly looking forward to seeing her blossom in this thread with a lovely gown and a brand new face-up too...that's very exciting!

sakuraharu, ohhhh...I hope your work schedule allows you to join in. I would dearly love to see a formal gown based on the 1920s!

Hooray for joining in again, Jany! A dress shirt is not an easy task by any means, but it's a staple in any gentleman's wardrobe...I'm looking forward to seeing what style you choose.

 

@Jany, I am glad you will be joining in. I look forward to seeing what you design.

@Mew-Lidia9, I wish you could join in!

@PoeticSoul, I'm in, and will squeeze it in, even if work decides not to cooperate.

I am glad to finally have the opportunity to sew alongside such a talented and supportive group. I am not an artist, unlike most of you, so I won't be sharing a drawing, or even an original design. I hope it is okay if I do something historical, instead. I've chosen something simple, so I can fit it in around work, and still make some progress on my rococo project.

The girl I am sewing for is Coco, my Limhwa half elf.



She is pretty curvy, so it's possible a 1920s design may not work so well on her. We shall see! All of my girls have curves, which conflicts with my love of 1920s design. I probably should keep this in mind before falling in love with the next doll.

I'm using an existing pattern, which will possibly (!) save time. It is for a Madeline Vionnet cocktail dress, and was featured in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 2. Here is modern photo and a 1920s photo of the dress.



This black version recently sold for £70,000 at auction!


Unfortunately, I recently returned "my" copy of Patterns of Fashion 2 to my local public library, and there is a hold list for it, so I am making do with a different version of the pattern I found online. The pattern is simple enough that the language barrier won't be an issue.


My plan is to draw out the teardrops to check scale against Coco, then enlarge the pattern by that percentage as a starting point for fitting. As the top is loose across the bust, but I'm not sure how loose, I can't really scale up based on that measurement. And as doll height versus width may not be a good match to the 1920s silhouette used to create the original, I can't just divide the existing measurements by 1/3. I think there will be a lot of trial and error involved.

I'll start in muslin, and graduate to either very thin silk charmeuse or another draped fabric that can support the beaded appliques. I don't think the transparent fabric used in the original (voile? really thin crepe?) Will be strong enough to support the added weight of the beads in doll scale.

I have a one week business trip starting tomorrow but should have time to sew at night. So I will sketch out the embroidery today, and take it along. I will be stitching the beads, sequins and metallic thread on three layers of sheer silk /cotton, which will hopefully be strong enough to support their weight. I think I will be using mostly metallic thread to keep things in scale.

Here are the materials I am planning to use, apart from seed beads that I need to dig out of my stash. As Coco has a glorious tan, her dress will be white, with gold and silver details.

 

Wow @sakuraharu that is some dress. It should be lovely. I'm going to enjoy lurking , even @Jany's dress shirt will be interesting. @elve your tomboy needs an evening dress, so I hope your road to recovery is short; and happy sewing everyone.

 

Thanks, everyone!
SteamWitch, what, no awesome evening wear for the redshirts?

The hunt for patterns is in progress, but the fabric is picked out:

The dark red at the top. He has pants and a vest from the pinstriped dark grey (does that colour have a proper name? I'm terrible with colours' names even in my native language ) and the dark red should complement that nicely.

 

@SteamWitch, I hope I can do it justice. I just finished tracing out the embroidery, and simplified it slightly.

@Jany, that is a lovely color combination. I don't think there is a proper name for the color in English-- maybe charcoal gray? The deep red shirt will look so elegant against it!

 

No @Jany I can't commit this month, Hubby and I are on standby for a family trip but complications (on their end) keep delaying it so I'm just hanging. Besides with Sherlock's outfit I think I've done enough suit, vest and shirt buttonholes for a month or more, so no dress shirts for the red shirts.
If I do wind up making something (because of defined trip delay) it will be Haute Couture for Thaddeus - something wild and probably skimpy.

 

I'm in. My newest girl, Yui (LTF PongPong), is in dire need of clothing. I'll be making her several formal, "Easter" style dresses.

 

Looking forward to seeing your dresses, Aarilyn. Are those Amy Butler fabrics? They will look so cute in a party frock!

 

Okay - seeing as I've already been planning on doing this for my IH Zera, this will undoubtedly spur me on to finish. I'll be doing a formal Hanbok for her She's Korean and would wear one for certain formal occasions (weddings especially) so fits!

Adding PIC! Here's a formal Hanbok, similar to what I will make:

 

Oooooooooooh!

I can't wait to see.

 

Teleri, wow! Can't wait to see that

Aarilyn, she'll look adorable! Those fabrics look cute and perfect for a child's dress.

SteamWitch, good points. Good luck with the trip! (Even though I'd love to see what Thaddeus considers Evening Wear )

sakuraharu, thanks! I love the red, it has a wonderful drape ... if I don't mess it up


I dug up some tutorials, maybe I can tweak those patterns to fit a Granado Nuevo guy:
Delf pattern and unspecified SD size. The latter is a bit more detailed, but I'm scared of the cuff slit Yeah, I'm a scaredy cat. Maybe there's something in the stash that could work as a test run, my usual go-to cotton muslin won't work for this.

 

To be honest... I don't really know. I didn't bother to check the tag before I threw it away, but I saw them in a bundle at Hobby Lobby and thought they'd be perfect for her.

Thanks!

 

I'd like to join in! I haven't been active on the forum for ages, but I've been following these sewing projects and have really wanted to get involved. So hello to everyone here ^^

I'll be sewing for my girl Millie, she's a Hypermaniac Skadi on an SD10 body. I'm wanting to make her something 18th century inspired, but perhaps with a modern twist (she wears 18th century inspired stuff most of the time anyway, so I have some patterns ready to go, which will be useful in terms of getting things finished on time along with my other deadlines for work).

Here's Millie, and also a few of the fabrics I'm thinking of using, I will have a dig through my stash to see what trims and beads and things I have in there, but nothing springs to mind immediately for a picture for now. I'm terrible at embellishments, I always end up making things very plain because I just like the fabric so much, so this time I'm going to really try to get some embellishment or embroidery or just anything other than just plain silk.

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I would like to join! I'm getting a new doll this month but she won't be here until late next week I think. I've already been planning some pretty dresses for her to wear, so this fits perfectly. ^^ Here is my inspiration pic! (one of them at least)


Edit: I'll post her pic as soon as she gets here!

 

@Haruhi Oh I love that collection by Dior, great choice I can't wait to see something like that in doll size.

I've been having a look at couture collections inspired by the 18th century, so here's two of my inspiration images:
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I think for Millie I'll be making something long though, but perhaps a short under-dress wouldn't hurt. I'm not great at sketching, so I'm going to just jump right into it I think. As I know next week is going to be very busy in my schedule, I might make a start on a bodice now, especially as I want to get embroidery and things done. Is anyone else going to make an start on cutting out or prep for embellishment?​

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@flowergirl I made the mistake of not closing google once I found something cute, and now I'm considering this one too! I'm sewing for a Lillycat Ellana, and this would make her hips looks so bangin'. Guess I'll let prices at the fabric store decide~

 

@Haruhi Oh yes, that would be great for Ellana (I love the hips on Lillycat's dolls). I've deliberately closed google, it's dangerous, and especially once you start getting onto Pinterest, there's so much out there!

 

I started the sewing this week, because I'm writing my dissertation at the moment that has to be handed in on February 2nd, so I'm trying to get ahead a little bit just in case I get too busy next week!

So first I cut out the pattern pieces in a stiff interfacing, and ironed this onto the pale pink silk. I then laid these pieces on top of some calico, and with the sewing machine stitched decorative lines onto the bodice/corset in a warm yellow thread.



I then stitched the pieces together using a very small seam allowance, giving me the finished outer layer of the corset. I prefer to embellish once I have done this because I worry about getting things caught in the machine once they're hand worked with raised details, and also I like to embroider over the seams so it sits on top of the construction, not inside it (if that makes sense?).



I then traced out a design in air dissolvable pen, stitched this with the same yellow thread in a neat back stitch, then whipstitched into these stitches with a light green, using long french knots for adding leaves, and then little flowers to the design.



And that's where I'm up to so far! I need to finish the embroidery, then I am going to make a lining (using the same interfaced silk), bind them at the top edge using a strip of bias cut silk, and add a skirt to the bottom edge. I am thinking that the skirt will be split at the front and back, so just forming little ruffles over the hips. Not 100% sure yet, I think I'll play around with materials when I get to that point and work it out on the fly, which is what I usually do anyway!

 

Flowergirl, your embroidery is superb! I'm happy you've joined the project as I've loved your kimono for years.

 

@sakuraharu Thank you I've been watching your rococo project, your work is beautiful! I'm really looking forward to seeing your 20s dress for this sewing round ^^

 

Wow @flowergirl that is just beautiful. I'm excited for the finished project.

 

Flowergirl your embroidery is awesome!

I've been struggling to fall asleep at night cuz I keep going over in my head how I'd like to do the hips of this dress T_T

Make it a two piece outfit with the hips attached to a corset, or do a one piece dress with hip embellishments as a kind of wire cage as a belt? Ahhhhhhh

I am nowhere near talented enough to replicate the design as-is.

 

@flowergirl, thanks! I am hoping to get some of the beading done today.

@Haruhi, I was looking at Gaultier's collection for Fall 2012, and was wondering if the gold corset contraption shown in this article might give you some construction ideas, as it seems to anticipate the dress in your inspiration photo. In the gold outfit, it looks like the straps attach to a busk that extends below the waist. But i would guess from the angle of the straps in your dress that they start at a single location on either side of the base of a hip length corset.

I agree that a Lillycat Ellana would look amazing in the black dress. Have you decided on the material for the straps?

 

I'm heading to Michael's and Hancock tomorrow for materials but I'm hoping to find some glossy plastic black boning so I can use it as a base, otherwise I'll starch some ribbon and split it and sew feathers on.
I'll take a look at that article and do some sketching to get a visual when I get home. Thanks for your help!

 

@Haruhi, you might want to consider nylon cable ties from the hardware store. They are pretty glossy, you can buy them in black, and they come in many widths, lengths and thicknesses. Some of us on doa have used them successfully to make panniers for 18th century gowns, and some full-size costumers use them when making 18th century stays.

 

While I hash out these sketches, please join me in dying a little inside at this exquisite example of couture ( http://double-barrelledtravel.com/w...ul-Gaultier-National-Gallery-of-Victoria.jpeg )


...........that's beadwork. .__.

 

Holy guacamole, he had me going there!

 

Wow! That's so amazing Haruhi! Thanks so much for sharing that link.

In fact everyone's plans and designs are purely awesome this round. What creativity! I'm so excited to see these amazing outfits come to life over this month. Ooh-la-la, Haute Couture indeed!

As for me, I've managed to pull together my supplies for this round. All of this is repurposed stuff, and in fact the skirt is the third remake of a doll outfit I've been trying to pull together over the past few years! It never quite suits the doll I want it to, but I'm just not giving up on that antique silk. I'm determined that with a few alterations, I'll finally get it to completely work this time.

 

Here's my Zera in her under-hanbok, with pattern materials spread about. I've cut out the gown

 

Looking good, PoeticSoul and Teleri!

... sorry to be so nitpicky, but could someone please fix the typo in the title? It's couture (tailoring), not courte (short)

 

Woops! I'm apparently joining late but I'm pretty excited for this.

I'm going to make a ball gown for my girl Moya.


This is my inspiration:



I love the color green and I have the perfect fabric for the skirt. I'm also thinking of using ribbon to make leaves instead of petals. Maybe I'll use a brown or beige for the top. I'll have to search through my fabrics to see what I've got.

 

I plan on participating in this round with Himeko:


inspiration pic to follow...

 

Gahhhh I keep changing my mind! Will be posting fabric options tomorrow cuz I decided to use up my stash! :3

 

@PoeticSoul Love the look of your materials, looking forward to seeing it all come together in an outfit ^^

@Teleri The under-hanbok is looking great!

@MayBee25 Your reference image is such a cute design, I think it will look lovely on your girl

@greg_kagawa Oooh, looking forward to inspiration pics!

I have a little update, I decided to keep the corset part separate to the skirt, so I could have more options to use it with other skirts. I've taken some quick pics of it over a skirt from another outfit (I apologise for the 'noise' in my photos, it is so dark here today and my camera doesn't like taking pictures at the best of times!)

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And a picture of the inside for good measure. It's the first one I've finished this way, with self cut bias strips to bind the top and the bottom. I think it's got mileage, but needs a few tweaks, I think for the dipped front it's causing it to 'puff' slightly in the front, so I need to work on this some more for future versions. On to the skirt next!

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Love the bodice, and that kind of fabric is not easy to work with! Congratulations on your successes and many more to come. ♥

 

Wow! I'm so excited for everyone's creations!

I've gathered my materials together! When I was looking through my supplies I saw these beautiful pink flowers and decided to add them to my dress. I also got some green ribbon with wire in it today so now I can try making some ribbon leaves. I have never made ribbon leaves before so it'll be an experiment .... just like almost everything else with this project. The floral wire will be used in making a hoop skirt and the pink ribbon may be used to lace up the back of her dress. I don't have everything planned out yet but I'm rather excited for how its coming together.



I put a variety of beads on a wire so I can see how they look with the rest of the materials.

 

Here are my fabric options! I would really like to use the fur in place of the leopard print in the design, but I'm not sure what to pair it with. I have a textured turquoise, or polka dots, or just an ivory white! Help me!

I have enough of the fur to FULLY line the whole dress, and I've been trying to get rid of it for years now since I cancelled the project I was going to use it for. (Two human sized cat suits...)



Depending on the estimated delivery date on the Ellana, I may just sew this for my Delf instead.

 

Inspiration photo:

 

I found this great tie-dyed skirt panel and think it might make a great piece of Haute Couture for Thaddeus, sarong style of course. Seems our trip keeps getting delayed so I am going to start on this. Seriously thinking of dyeing it to even out the color, and possibly adding some beadwork.
DSCF0083 by SteamWitch BJDmama, on Flickr

 

All these photos are so inspiring...so many wonderful ideas and gorgeous fabrics! Just wow! I'm so pumped for the progress reports along the way for this one. And as for me, I needed something special in the way of bloomers since they'll show beneath the cage crinoline. I found these for inspiration.

 

I have been debating with myself if I should join in or not, but I recon I need some form of creative outlet even if I am packing all my stuff in preparation for selling the house and moving. I promised to myself I would not take the sewing machine out after packing it away, I guess I will break that rule. Rules are for breaking, right? And I have this horrific piece of gold lame I used as a tablecloth at an exhibition. And now it just lies there, and I have no idea what to do with it. Thus, the gold lame dress! Evening wear is supposed to be fancy. Either it will turn out completley plasticy and gross, or it will look stunning. I have no clue.

Anyway, this is my inspiration.
Gold lame dress inspiration by Skumring, on Flickr
And this is my pattern creation so far.
Gold lame dress pattern by Skumring, on Flickr
My model will be a twigling Pieta in creme with a small bust

 

@AshGUTZ Thank you ^^

@SteamWitch I'm glad you're joining in, I've enjoyed seeing what you've made in the other threads

@PoeticSoul Love those snazzy bloomers, they'll look super under a cage crinoline.

@skumring Oh wow, love the design you've gone for, that's gorgeous! Can't wait to see it made up in gold lame!

 

I am dying the panel right now. Yesterday we heard our trip will be delayed by two months at least, so I'm in all the way.

Edit: I twisted and tied it up and dyed it in a thick solution of kelly green. It is washed, rinsed and dried. I love how it turned out. The next photo is of Thaddeus in the beginning of his headdress.
Thaddeus Haute Couture a jan 16 by SteamWitch BJDmama, on Flickr
Thaddeus Haute Couture jan 16 by SteamWitch BJDmama, on Flickr

 

I'm joining this round! I'm sewing for Firenze, my Lume Koit Elf.
I can't post any pictures. I used to be able to, but now they don't work.
Firenze[/url] by Zoe Gold, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

@Leo Pheonix Use the BBcode in Flickr.

 

I'm late diving into the thread, but I've been working on this! I have a big assortment of fabrics saved from old garments that I need to use up, so it's a perfect time for this sort of project.

I'll be sewing for Firal, my F65 Chloe:


I didn't do any sketches or look for inspiration, since I already knew I wanted to make her a red satin A-line strapless dress with a long train and pretty beading. I drew the pattern and put the dress together last week... Over the weekend, I started working on adding beads to the bodice.



It's a simple dress, but it's been fun to work on. ^_^ Once I finish the beading, I'm going to make her a stole of matching red satin, then see what I can do for jewelry.

 

I've debated joining this for a while, and finally decided I should just jump in and do it. XD

I'll be sewing for Shia, a BlueBloodDoll Waltz. As a prince, he really needs an outfit he can wear to court and other official occasions...


I'll come back later today to add the fabrics I've chosen. I don't really have a reference picture, just a vague idea in my head-- and I can't draw, lol. But I'm thinking a fancy tunic and trousers, and possibly some kind of robe... Maybe even some kind of embroidery, if I have time and get really ambitious, lol!

ETA: Some of the fabrics I'm gonna play with: a grey linen-like fabric, green faux suede, pale blue cotton, and dark blue satin. The satin is one I want to use for sure, the others are definite possibilities (as well as a piece of purple velveteen that I didn't get a picture of, but that might be too thick...)

 

Wish I'd stumbled on this earlier! Will just have to lurk right now and drool over everyone's projects.

 

@Realmling, you can join at any time! Go ahead and jump in now, if you've got an idea. (For me, right now none of my dolls are speaking to me that they need evening wear or haute couture, so I'm sitting this round out and hoping I'll have time for the next.)

 

@Myuuchan I love the bead work you're doing! Its so very elegant!

@PoeticSoul I am going crazy for your steampunk outfit. I have been raving about it to whoever will listen to me and I can't wait to see more pics of how its coming along!

@sakuraharu there's soooo many glamorous and sparkly things in your materials. I'm excited to see what you do with them!

@Teleri I'm so very excited to see how your Hanbok is going to look on your doll! I think its going to be great!

Here's a little update on my progress. I made the hoop skirt green and pink. I made a rectangle of fabric and sewed ribbon folded in half across the length of the rectangle then when I put the decorative floral wire through the ribbon it pulled it into the hoop skirt. I also sewed a pocket for some ribbon to go through so I can tie it around Moya. I also made her a top which will be decorated next weekend but it'll be the final product.




I did have to make a little bit of an adjustment to the top because I wanted to have the lace up part be seen and so I tightened it up under her arms and now I'm happy with it.

The skirt isn't actually done I need to hem the bottom and put some elastic in the waste.



Of course I had to try it with her hair on and pose her!!





I've been organizing and collecting details to be added.

To Do:
I need to hem the dress
Put elastic in the waist
Figure out a way to keep glitter from falling off the fabric or how to keep it from contaminating the entire house
Make the over skirts
Make ribbon leaves




I'm not sure about using the darker fabric in (on the left) but I'm for sure using the glittery light green. I also found 4 white butterflies which I colored to make them pink. I've got a bunch of beads and ribbons that could work with this ensemble.

 

I would if I didn't have a few non doll crafty things to hopefully finish up this month...though I did just have an idea for something...hmmm...

 

Okay, I talked myself into it over lunch since the fabrics were all right within finding range of the disaster area I currently call a craft room.

I'm going to go all crazy couture on Tilly Campari (KDF Darae) here, my little tomato girl (and hopefully the weather will stay nice tomorrow so I can give her a quick faceup). Someday she might get tired of all the tomato stuff, but I'm having fun with it so yeah... going to be a big poofy bubble skirt with plant vine bodice, shoes and random extras. I should be able to do the clingy vine shoes with the millinery wire I have.



And the stash raid. I haven't sold myself on the print fabric yet ... and the pink tulle is because I couldn't find the red one I have, but it's for inside the skirt anyway so I wasn't too worried about it. White, yellow, and light green tulle will make little tomato vine flower extras.

 

I know I'm a little late, but I'm going to be brave and join in.

I'm going to make an outfit for my Dharma (Iplehouse JID).

So glad this is a three day weekend for me!



I gathered up my materials (ALL from my fabric/trim stash). Aqua brocade for the lehenga/skirt and a pink brocade for the choli top. I'm not 100% settled on the dupatta/scarf fabric so I have a few options pictured (a solid pink, solid mint & a pink flocked net):


And a couple of my inspiration pictures: