An Irritating Catch

Something really does not want me to finish Lulu. I went to the fabric store today, and forgot to buy bias tape. So, I ran into another store: and forgot to buy tape. Irked, I went into a third store and very specifically purchased one package of double fold, half-inch bias tape. Finally ready to finish that corset I sat down- only to find out the tape I bought was the wrong shade. Argh!!!!!!!

Silurian is supposed to take this with her tomorrow, but I can't send her off with an incomplete garment! I guess all I get to do now is go back to the store tomorrow and buy the right tape. Then hope I can get the edges stitched and the eyelets installed before I go to work. Bleh.

I have been working on another project this past week while waiting on Lulu:  I will not be naming said project, I'm having people guess what it is and don't want to give it away Arwen Undomiel, of LotR fame! There are photos though, of initial construction, and I'll be posting more as I make more progress.

The pieces were originally cut out to be much to large. The skirt of the dress is full and flowing, and the top fitted, but not tight. Reducing the size of a garment is much easier than attempting to fix something that was made too small, and so I over compensated.

I've been told the color looks "yellow" on some monitors. It's actually a "spring-green" shade, though I'm using panne velvet as a less expensive alternative to velvet, or velveteen. Bonus: it's much easier to take care of.

The bodice of this dress does not have princess seams: the front is one seamless cut of fabric, and cutting it all out, bottom width and all, was a bit difficult. Once it was cut out I stitched the two back pieces together, sewed them to the front, and tried it on. I took it in only twice before I was satisfied, I was expecting to have to adjust it several more times before being able to call it done.

The neckline of the gown is wide and rounded, and I have yet to cut it out. Shown here is the dress waiting for the neckline to be decided upon. It is also sleeveless, with small straps on the shoulders that will eventually be covered in trim.

The dress is elegant, but very simple in design, so it is going together quite quickly. The "lettuce-leaf" style hem adds to that simplicity, and I love that I didn't have to worry about the pinning and adjusting of layers of fabric to finish the bottom.

With the over-dress largely finished, I have moved on to the under-dress, using McCall's #4491. On the sad side, I not only purchased the wrong bias tape, but forgot to buy an invisible zipper foot for my machine. Ugh. I was so wrapped up in my dilemma that I was not focusing on anything else (more on that in a bit). This dress is half sewn already, so I'll finish the rest, then decide if I need to put a zipper in. Maybe, even if I do need to install one, I can put in the side...

All right, so the dilemma: the under-dress has a decent amount of bead work and embroidery on it. I simply cannot use the shortcuts I've seen from others: just stitching lace on, or, worse still, not adding any embellishments! But my sitting there and adding needleworking to this green fabric is not going to happen- way too time consuming. I had to find a solution that would look appropriate yet be both inexpensive and not-so-time-consuming.

There were dozens of options available to me, given appliques, trims, ribbons, laces, sheers, and bridal fabrics. I spent over two hours in Joann's today, focusing on what was available- and that was after spending hours earlier in the week at other stores looking at the my options. I finally, finally decided on a scalloped edged bridal fabric. Thank Heaven I had a coupon though, I could not have afforded $25/yd! It's gorgeous, with seed beads, bugle beads, and sequins along with the embroidery. It solved most of my problems, but not all of them.

Where those diamond shaped gaps are I need some flower-type embellishments, and I simply cannot decide on anything. The nearest I have come to are a set of appliques made of soutache and seed beads. They may still work, if I keep the gaps at the size shown. If I make the gaps wider (a distinct possibility) then those will certainly not work and I'll have to find something else. Or embroider them myself. I'd rather it not come to that though, I haven't embroidered anything in ages, and would fear for the results.

So, we'll see. I figured I would work with what I have, then decide what I'll do when I come to that point. In the meantime, I'll keep my eyes open for other possibilities.

And, that said, any guesses as to what I am making?