Gala Gown: Miscellaneous

After sewing up the side seams and inserting my zipper, it was time to deal with the wonky hem.  So I asked my mom to come over and help me.  Thanks mom! 

While standing on a stool so that the dress could hang down without obstruction, I had her mark where the lining hit the stool with many, many pins.  Once this line of pins was in place, I used a chalk pen to mark the line and then measured a couple of inches higher.  

I used almost 6 yards of 6” wide horsehair and placed the bottom edge along the marked hemline.

I did not bother to trim the excess until I sewed the horsehair to the lining.    

Then the horsehair was flipped to the inside and sewn in place.

For my hoodie, I cut two sets of pattern pieces, one from satin, and one from jacquard.  It still needs a front fastening, but other than that, it is finished!

The corselette needed a waist stay, so I grabbed a spool of grosgrain ribbon and went to work.  This extra feature makes it much easier to zip the side seam closed!

And then there is the single shoulder strap to contend with.  I am adding a significant amount of weight with my beaded flowers, plus I always thought that the single skinny strap looked a bit odd with this dress, so I made three.

I decided that a facing was necessary to make sure that the cream colored corselette does not show at the upper edge.  I pulled the bodice muslin pieces out and created a facing.  The center back was cut on the fold to get rid of the extra bulk.

That facing was basted to the bodice, and then the corselette was sandwiched on top.

After grading the seams, the corselette was flipped inside the dress (where it belongs!) and the facing was understiched by hand to the corselette.  I could have done this with the machine, but I did not want to fight to get my entire dress under the machine foot and then have the satin shift, etc., etc.  Sometimes hand stitching really is necessary and helpful!

There are only four days left to work on this, but I just might make it!