Project: NashCon Ball Gown

So the main point of the blog is to chronicle my projects, so let's start with the major one that I acutely begin today.  In exactly 8 weeks, I'll be departing for Nashville, TN to join my newest, dear group of friends for a Twilight Convention.  I went to one last year and met up with many of the same gals for that one.  For the ball, hosted on Saturday night, I wore a 2-piece Scott McClintock I'd had in my closet for years.  But I joined the planning for that convention a mere 6 weeks before it even happened.  I've been planning on this year's convention since last year, thus I've had a lot of time for ball gown ideas to ruminate.


Being the princess I like to think myself, I wanted to go pretty, long, formal, and utterly me...IOW custom made.  Left-brain process began months ago, but also told me to wait until after Christmas to purchase my supplies and direct my time toward the gown.  I kept coming back to the same look when I flipped through gowns and saved pictures I liked:

Which easy enough lends itself pretty closely to McCall's pattern 5321:

Pattern-Vision Differences

The back closure of the pattern calls for bridal loops and buttons, a PITA to get into compared to the lace-up style that was on the inspiration dress.  And I feel like lace up would give me a more corsetted, held-in, exact garment feel.  But I have reservations (based upon experience with my bridal gown) about sewing in loops sturdy enough to lace up that would actually bind in my very large chest.  Vogue pattern 2810 has a corset top that is eyelet grommeted though, so even though more expensive ($3.99 on sale) I bought it, hoping it'll give me some inspiration or tips to experiment with the grommets. If not, there's always the internet as a source of advice and trial and error on my inevitable mock up.

I learned from my mother that when altering a pattern, especially for a formal gown (which uses more expensive materials), it's always best to play on a muslin mock up.  My rib/waist measurement and my bust have been in quite the size disparity for some time now, so I know I'm going to need to play with combining the 2 different pattern sizes for the top fit and look that I want.  I'll use that mock up to learn how to use grommets as well.

The skirt is gathered/poofed in more places on the vision dress than on the pattern (3 and 2 spots per line instead of the 2 & 1 spots per line).  That'll be easy to play with and add as long as I allow more length.  Something I usually need to do anyway since I'm taller than most patterns fit.  So I'll need to buy more yardage and more buttons or jewels than the pattern calls for to attach in those places.

The vision dress is also, obviously gathered with a sheer material instead of the solid the pattern calls for.  Pattern dress calls for enough lining fabric to make the inner skirt that the billows are attached to (called a Stay on the pattern, in essence it's a skirt that's more A-line and not as full as the top skirt piece) AND an exact replica cut of the billowed layer.  So 3 layers:

L1-outside billowed skirt layer

L2-lining of billowed skirt layer

L3-Stay (straighter lined skirt that billowed skirt is attached to)

To achieve vision dress, I need L1 in sheer material, L2 in "real" material (the stuff that matches what will show on corset top), and L3 in lining.  This poses a few dilemmas.  Pattern dress has the wrong side of L2 facing the wrong side of L1.  But if my L1 is sheer, you're now going to see the exposed seams of L2, so I've got to reverse the way L2 is facing.  And my L2 now needs to be not as full so that I have something to gather the sheer layer onto.  I really need to cut L2 out of "real" material but to the same shape as the lining material.  So I've got to play with how much to buy of each.

I'm going to add pockets on the side seams (easy enough to do to ANY dress), because who can't use pockets instead of lugging around a purse when you want to be footloose and fancy free?

To encourage fullness, I'm still contemplating sewing increasing layers of bulk tulle into the lining (onto L3 under L2), but I'll need to retain a little more fullness in L2 to allow for it to bulk the gown.  This adjustment to L2 might be more trouble than a "petticoated" dress is worth, but I'll decide later as I play with it.

I'm still optimistic that this hasn't gotten too complicated yet.

Color & Material

I decided to go either gray or lavender, but couldn't decide on color.  I wanted something other that satin because it tends to be heavy and weigh itself down.  So I was looking for something lighter, maybe stiffer, to "sit up" on its own and give me the fullness I wanted. 

And some searching of Joanne's and Hancock's yielded some material possibilities.  Hancock's bff line (which carries matching materials, lace, sheers and lining) had a shade in each color that caught my eye and I liked the feel of the taffeta.  There were also plain sheer organdy or a more glittery organza or a type of sequined organdy to chose from for the overlayer.

While most people told me they liked the gray, the lilac is my favorite color, so I couldn't decide.  I contemplated trying to work in both colors.  Sheer layer in one color while the rest of the dress is in the other.  A bust band in the opposite color.  Layering the bust with a peekaboo of the opposite color.  But it came down to what had enough in stock to be bought.

I waited to buy the fabric until the MLK weekend sale started because the patterns went 5/$5 (compared to $16 a piece!  NEVER EVER buy patterns for more than a few dollars unless it's discontinued and you can't find it anymore.  Sales for $1 or $1.99 a piece are common on major holiday weekend sales.)  Buttons were also 50% off and trims were 40-50% off.  And surprise, surprise, the bff collection was 30% off!

At the cutting table, the pewter was 6 yds shy of what I needed and a call to the other store in town and the one in Cinci (I'd be up there to pick up my parents from the airport next week), still didn't yield big enough pieces that the large skirt requires.  But there was plenty of lilac.  Which honestly doesn't hurt my feelings because I can work the silver in plenty of other ways - the embellishments or buttons that tuck up the skirt billows, a wrap, my shoes (which I already found are silver satin peeptoes), and the corset embellishments.  Which brings up a whole. Nuther. Issue.

Corset Embellishments

It dawned on me late last night that one of the huge attractions to vision gown are the silver scroll embellishments on the corset.  I have a fixation with anything french scroll-looking, so no wonder.  The question is how to duplicate it and if it's worth it.  I spent some time researching appliques, sequin embellishments, beaded embellishments, and embroidery.  There's a lot of white floral and white lace to be found out there, mostly in the field of bridal embellishments, but not a whole lot of silver unless you head into gaudy territory with all the sequining.  I found a piece on ebay that I ordered, but it's very simple and not dynamic.

I also found this, but haven't ordered it because it's white, not silver.  I'd have to find a way to paint or dye it.

I was contemplating hand stitching if I had enough time, but worry about asymmetry errors.  I wouldn't mind hand beading seed beads, but that's not the bulk of the pattern on vision dress. The ideas behind this are appealing to me as well:

Ultimately, the search turned up scroll embroidery patterns online for download to a sewing machine.  Which I do not have at the moment.  BUT, mom will be here next week and SHE has one.  I have an appointment to web chat with her tonight, see if the set of PERFECT french scroll patterns I found online are compatible with her machine and if she'd be willing to take the unfinished top home to embroider and mail it back to me.  This is all contingent upon getting a mock up that works perfectly, done while she's here and cutting the real pieces to send her home with.  If not, I'll probably look for beads and gems at Michael's to form a sort of central brooch like on the gray dress above.

The Shopping List

• McCall's pattern 5321
• Vogue pattern 2810
• Lilac thread

Top

• 1/2 yd 60" lilac bff taffeta
• 1 1/8 yd 45" lilac bff lining
• 2 yds 1/4" covered boning
• 1/2 yd of 1/8" bridal loops (JIC my lessons in grommets don't work out)
• 20 3/8" covered buttons (JIC grommets don't work)
• Eyelet kit containing 25 grommets and tool
• Ribbon (1/2" or wider?) (TBD)
• Any special backing fabric to reinforce the material where the grommets are punched through (TBD)
• Silver thread for mom to embroider with (TBD)
• Other embroidery supplies (need to find out what kind of special backing or layer fabrics are needed) (TBD)
• Embroidery patterns for download (TBD)
• Beads/gems/seed beads to embroider by hand (TBD)

Skirt

• 8 1/4 yds (minimum) 60" lilac bff shiny organdy
• 8 1/4 yds (maximum) 60" lilac bff taffeta
• Need to figure amount needed of 45" lilac bff lining (lay out pattern pieces for Stay and measure, make sure there's enough scraps to make 2 pockets)
• 1 1/8 yds 22" sew-in interfacing
• 7" lilac zipper
• 2 half moon hook and eye closures
• 7 1/4 yds (minimum) 1" horse hair braid
• Decorative buttons/rhinestones (25-30)

Shopping

I got everything that isn't TBD on my list except lining today (because they didn't have enough and I don't have an exact figure calculated).  I hope to pick that up at a Cinci store on Tuesday when I'm up there.  I found 1/4" rhinestone buttons and some 7/16" translucent lilac buttons to mix and scatter at the overskirt pull up locations.  And I purchased 8 yds of silver metallic organdy that was in the clearance bin.  I might use it to accordion fold and gather under the bust line (you can see the effect I'm talking about in the back view of vision dress at the very top) and/or as a wrap.  

To Do List

• Lay out pattern pieces and iron
• Calculate the lining I need
• Talk to mom about embroidery
• How to use grommets research
• Cut muslin corset top mock up pieces
• Browse shop Michael's for beads
• Research built in petticoat techniques