Frayed Layer Gown

This week is the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards deadline which means that I have been scrambling around trying to finish everything in time. Every year it's like this, but this year I've had college applications to finish as well so there has been even more frantic running around than usual. Here's a gown that I made this past week for Schoalstics and I just finished it a couple of days ago.

Lately I've been experimenting a lot with the grain line of fabrics. A grain line is the direction of the thread in fabric. When cutting out the pattern pieces of a garment one usually wants the grain lines to be going straight. This is to make sure that the garment doesn't stretch while sewing, which could completely alter the fit of the clothing. As I was experimenting and playing around with the grain line I found that when it’s cut diagonally it creates a fraying effect without the fabric completely unraveling. I loved the look and texture of this technique so I wanted to create a garment that would play off of this effect. I originally also wanted to ombre dye it, but when I did a test try the color of the dye was not what I wanted.

(If you click on the images it will be less blurry. I'm tech-challenged so I still haven't figured out how to make images larger without it blurring on blogger).

I hand drafted the pattern using the measurements of my dress form. I wanted to create different shapes to show the movement of the frayed layers so I designed a slim fitted bodice on top with a flared out, mermaid skirt. The mermaid skirt was created by using the same technique that would normally go into making a circle skirt. Each layer was sewn onto the dress starting at the bottom and then working all the way up until the top. Each layer had to be measured and sewn to the skirt correctly in order for the layers to match up in the back where an invisible zipper is. The zipper was hand sewn to the dress and so was the lining around the zipper. There is boning in the bodice for stability and the gown is fully lined with a crinoline layer in-between the lining and the actual gown. This helps make the skirt appear fuller. Overall the dress took around 50 hours to make, and I used over ten yards of fabric (which as you probably guessed I got from Wal-Mart. I don't know what I'd do without that store).

I have only two more days to finish up the little details for all the deadlines, but then I can't wait to show you guys all the new work that I have made. Hopefully this next coming week I'll have time to put them up once Scholastics is over.

I hope your New Year is going well so far and filled with lots of fun adventures!