Project Selvedge Challenge 1

The End Result

The Process;

assignment: Make anything you want out of 2 yards of white linen, and 2 yards stretch jersey-type lavender fabric. You can use one, or both, and are allowed to alter your fabric, but all extra embellishments must be bought at Selvedge studio with your 5 dollars for notions. You can also use Betty's Divine(the hip retail store next door) to accessorize.

Fabric

So I ditched the jersey, and decided I'd solely use the linen. I just could not, no matter what I tried, come up with a design I liked that incorporated both fabrics. I think it was the textures that for me just didn't mix. 

I sketched quite a few things and ultimately decided on this design;(painted in coffee and water colors btw)

SKETCHES

This is a total Tiffany dress; something I would without a doubt wear/have in my closet, and I felt like this would be a great garment to show my style/ aesthetics. 

I didn't have much fabric to work with, and basically had to half-hazardly trace the assumed design on the linen before cutting it out, knowing I could waste no fabric and wanting to make sure it was do-able before I start to cut and sew

I started by making a ball-park pattern on newsprint and assembling it. This was just to get a visual and stuff. I then started cutting the skirt, and pinned it, trying to make it as much on the bias as possible(a difficult feat but it's what gives the fabric those curves).            

THE START

Piece by piece is how it goes. And then comes fitting, which really can throw a curveball at you. Fortunately I have a bombshell model; Janyssa Overturf, who doubles as my roommate, and is just plain awesome. However, when you take fabric off a dress form and put it on a body, you see all kinds of problems, and in this case had to re-work parts of my bodice design to make it more flattering for Janyssa's figure.

PINNING AND FITTING

Above is of the first time I fit the fabric to Janyssa and started messing with my idea for the top of the dress

Feeling distraught about the bodice, I woke up the next morning and watched some sewing tutorials on youtube, and found a great one on how to sew a sweetheart top. Then I went and got a zipper at the fabric store and realized I could get ribbon as a notion too. Knowing this I took some burlap looking ribbon scraps I had and played with it to see what it would look like as a shoulder strap/ back cowl. I then decided I really needed to get that ribbon. And went back. And bought all I could afford within my budget; 35 inches.

Oh and did i mention I'm sewing on a machine from the 30s? and that it only does one stitch? and that it repeatedly quits on me? Hey at least it looks cool.

DYE JOB #1

SO. above is my first dye job. I dipped it fully in a dark brown Dylon dye, let it rinse out to leave a light brown, and then dipped the bottom of the garment into it for a few minutes allowing it to get dark, and then hung it, letting the water fade it into an ombre. The end result was a bit light(it always dries way lighter!) and less of a warm brown I wanted. 

So I dyed it again. Below is a few cups worth of wonderfully aromatic coffee, which I dipped the dress into, to get a warmer golden brown hue. The next photo is the color when it was still wet; so rich and warm!

DYE JOB #2 (COFFEE)

BUT it dried light again. So I dipped it one final time in a VERY concentrated dark brown iDye, which eventually ended in the final colors;  

AFTER DYE JOB #3

This turned out pretty good(I got second place!) but I had many mini heart attacks in the process. Starting with my sewing machine suddenly not working(It's the only one i have, what would I DO?!), and then trying it on Janyssa and realizing that not only are my seams completely crooked, but that the top I want doesn't work, and also I had no idea how to attach the bodice to the skirt while keeping it straight.

but nothing beats the moment of the third dye job, when I realized i'd gotten a dark brown splotch on the left cup of the bodice, as well as on the back of the waist, and I completely panicked and tried rinsing/scrubbing/rinsing/ soaping and scrubbing to get it to come out and it wouldn't. MIRACULOUSLY when it dried.....they faded enough to go unnoticed!

so the goal for this coming sewing challenge; don't stress out, just have fun.