Teal Elegance

This gown was custom designed for a client with a beautiful, dramatic hourglass figure for a formal event this autumn. She has a very difficult time finding clothing that flatters her figures, as most gowns that fit her bust and hips are far too loose for her narrow waist, making her look shapeless and larger than she is. She wanted a design that accentuated her waistline, and expressed an interest in a one-shoulder strap. I sent her sketches of several ideas, and the gown below was her favorite.

Birth of a Muslin

I spent a couple days this past week drafting the pattern and sewing up the muslin for a bridal gown I’ll be making in the near future. I thought I’d share the experience with my readers!

I pretty much always begin by sizing my dressform to my client’s measurements. This particular gown will be made for a plus sized gal with an hourglass figure, whose measurements were a bit larger than my adjustable dressform adjusts. I needed a good representation of her figure to be able to drape the bodice, and I didn’t want to swing for one of those deluxe uber adjustable dressforms just for the muslin. So, I cut 4″ wide strips of quilt batting and wrapped them around the form to pad it.  I had lots of control over *where* the extra padding went, and the batting is just fuzzy enough to sort of stick to itself which made it easy to put it on. Right after taking this snapshot, I took a roll of masking tape to it so I wouldn’t have to deal with the batting shifting each time I put the muslin onto and off of the dress form.

Once I was sure I had a good size and shape, I drew up the pattern for the bodice lining. For the lining I used a simple princess seamed strapless pattern, converted it to a sweetheart neckline, shortened and tapered the skirt. I left it a little longer than the final bodice would be, so I could draw out the asymmetrical line where the bodice attaches to the skirt in 3D, right up on my dress form. (It doesn’t show terribly well in the picture, but I drew my line straight on the muslin with a ballpoint pen). I also adjusted the back of the bodice, to allow for corset style lacing in the back. I drafted the skirt pieces and matched them up to the bodice to mark out the same angled lines for that seam.

Having removed the skirt pattern from the bodice lining, I moved on to draping the bodice itself. This was by far the most time consuming part of the process. I pinned muslin fabric straight onto the bodice lining, taking up small, irregular pintucks. I didn’t want the dress to look pleated, but rather to have a slightly random, organic look to the ruching, so I spent a lot of time undoing and redoing the pinning, twisting and stretching the fabric, until I had everything in place. Then after a strong blast of steam from my iron to set the wrinkles (and make them a tad less poofy), I had to carefully remove the pins from the lining, and replace them in the outer fabric, so I could take it over to my machine and stitch it down. Had to do this four times for the different sections of ruched fabric, then sew them together.

Once the bodice fabric was sewn together I attached it to the lining, and then sewed the skirt onto the bodice. Added the laces in the back, and there you have it, a muslin that gives a really good feel for what the final product will be!

Something Blue

Recently, I created a beautiful custom skirt for a lovely plus sized bride to wear to her wedding. She already owned a stunning tight lacing corset that had been custom made for her in a beautiful silvery blue silk dupioni fabric. She wanted to wear this corset on her wedding day, and I could easily see why! It had been beautifully made; the workmanship was just lovely. The corset brought in her waist by several inches and gave her a dramatic hourglass figure, and it had a romantic, almost fairy tale feel to it.

The bride presented this photo to me as an inspiration picture. She loved the lower portion of this bridal gown, and wanted a skirt made to look like that, from the piece of silk dupioni she had remaining after her corset had been made and chiffon fabric purchased to match. I could see that we needed to take great care for this; there was exactly 44″ by 100″ of the fabric remaining and it would take all of it to be able to make a skirt with the trumpet shape and train in the inspiration picture. I drafted the pattern carefully, and double and triple checked my pattern pieces to be sure they would fit within the available fabric piece. When she let me know her muslin needed a few adjustments to fit, I offered to create a second muslin before working with the silk – an extra step I don’t often take – because we wouldn’t have a second chance once I cut the silk. And I’m glad we did this – the final version of the pattern left less than a 1/4″ of allowance from the edge of the silk fabric. Absolutely all of it was needed!

Once the silk skirt was sewn up, I was able to drape the layered ruffles of chiffon fabric that sort of cascade down the skirt. I studied the inspiration picture at this point, to try to create a very similar shape and feel to the original, but proportioned for the skirt. This both required that the chiffon begin lower on the skirt than where her corset would sit, and that it be of a length to drape beautifully on a shorter and wider figure than the model in the inspiration picture.

I’m really proud of the end result on this item, and I think my client will look simply breathtaking on her wedding day!

Green Goddess

I’m so pleased with how this dress turned out! It’s so simple and elegant. The body is made of a hand dyed nylon lycra 4 way stretch fabric, and the two layer full circle skirt is made from a beautiful georgette fabric. The dress features off the shoulder sleeves, a wired hemline, and of course a built in body suit. Perfect for a standard or smooth ballroom dance!

Valerie Bridal Gown

Previously, I posted pictures from our bridal photo shoot showing off the two bridal veils I listed in my etsy shop (the beaded one sold already!), but I wanted to give a few details today about the gown itself, which is also available now.

Simple elegance and feminine beauty grace the bride wearing this beautiful gown. This dress is made from a splendid white Lamour Satin with a sweetheart neckline that sparkles with Swarovski rhinestones in Crystal AB and hand sewn glass beads. The strapless bodice has a self fabric facing with boning and sewn in bra cups for a secure fit and a beautiful feminine shape. The bodice flows smoothly into an A line skirt that ends in a chapel train. The entire gown is self lined with a second layer of satin, and it closes with an invisible zipper in the back.

The dress shown here is available in my etsy shop for immediate purchase! I am also taking orders for custom bridal and formal gowns at this time.

A more colorful post!

After all the plain white fabric in my recent post, it seems worthwhile to show you a bit of color today:

Granted, the photo above is fairly stark. This is our “Before” picture. Yesterday, I dyed. Dying is always a little exciting for me. Plain white turns to brilliant colors, and sooo many details can impact how well the end product turns out. I’ve been playing with dyes for quite a while now and I’m still learning new things I can do.

Stove top dying is my usual MO. It’s relatively convenient to set up and clean up, and you can get a nice hot heat on the stove which helps the dye set brilliantly. I’ve learned though that it’s a poor choice for larger projects because even in a 2 gallon stock pot, a couple yards of fabric get crowded quickly – and then you end up with an uneven dye job (not good). Yesterday I wanted to avoid the hassle of dying in the washing machine, but I didn’t want to risk blotchy fabric. So in a moment of inspiration I decided to cut my fabric pieces out first and dye them pre-cut, just a few at a time! (Since the nylon Lycra blend I was working with was a knit fabric, I didn’t have to worry about it fraying after I cut it). It worked superbly.

First a shot of my practice swatches as I perfected the color mix in my pot. Attempts 1 through 3 are laid out from left to right, with the farthest right swatch being the purple chiffon fabric I wanted to match. (Actually, I wanted the Lycra to be just slightly darker than the chiffon).

Once the dye mix met my satisfaction, I took the plunge and dyed the pre-cut pieces of fabric for my project, separated into two halves so I wouldn’t overcrowd the pot, and pre-soaked in water so the fabric would drink up the dye nice and evenly. Beautiful. I cleaned up my workspace and then I hand washed the dyed fabric bits with just a bit of detergent and rinsed them thoroughly several times so that any bleeding they were going to do happened before they were sewn to other fabrics. I hung them to drip dry, and waited. Here’s the “After” pic:

With the fabric dyed, washed, and dried I was ready to get started on a new Latin style ballroom dance costume! Now two days ago I had taken the time before hand to cut, serge, and iron a small mountain of little purple chiffon triangles, which were to be used in the Latin dress’ skirt. Here they are, waiting patiently while I dyed:

And with those components – the hand dyed Lycra and ready chiffon triangles, I was ready to put together a beautiful dress. The built-in body suit went together with no problems whatsoever: front to back, elastic through the legs, bra cups sewn in place. Then the outer dress – front to back, serge the raw edges, leaving a slit up each side which had to be hemmed. I was making great time! Thought I might even finish the dress before bedtime. On to the hem at the bottom. Fold, press, stitch, right?

Wrong.

*Shakes head.* If I had taken the time to set up my professional quality iron this wouldn’t have happened. I have a beautiful gravity feed iron with a Teflon shoe that doesn’t melt fabrics. But, setting this up requires me to drill a hook in the wall from which to hand the bottle of water that feeds the iron. Putting the hook in the wall with any ease requires knowing where our power screwdriver is. I think it’s in one of the boxes in the garage. Probably. And in the meantime I’m using the regular, run of the mill, daily use iron that we’ve had for years. And it MELTED a tiny little spot on the skirt.

If you sew, you’ll sympathize. Heck if you do any long, time consuming type of project that can be ruined in an instant, you’ll sympathize. At this point I’d been working on the dress all day. Pattern drafting, cutting, soaking, dying, washing, drying, sewing, serging… melting. I called my husband and asked for his painfully honest opinion. No, I couldn’t cut the hem even shorter (it was super short already). No I couldn’t leave the melted spot there and just pretend it hadn’t happened (not that I really would have considered that option). Yes, I really did need to redo the outer dress. Yes, that really did mean cutting, soaking, dying, washing, drying, sewing, and serging all over again.

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!

It was one of those gut wrenching, tear jerking, frustrating moments that are just kind of sickening. Acknowledging that a two second error, just that tiniest moment of leaving the iron in one spot too long, was going to cost me HOURS to repair. I balked. I whined. I contemplated crying. And then I took a deep breath and put the stock pot back on the stove. More water. More salt. More dye. More heat. More test swatches. More precut fabric. More rinses. More washing. More drying. More sewing. More serging. And somehow a few hours later I’d caught back up. I was tired but optomistic once again. I could look at the *new* outer dress, smile at my success, and even admit to myself that the dye turned out better the second time. And I got to move forward.

The dozens and dozens of chiffon triangles made their way, one at a time, to the skirt before I went to bed. This morning the outer dress and bodysuit went together, I finished the raw edges all around, and took the very important step off sewing in my beautiful “Goff Couture” label.

Here she is, all finished and just waiting for some bling. (I’ll be gluing around 15 gross of Swarovski rhinestones all over the place once the stones arrive).

Fairy Tale Bride

Once upon a time, in a land not so very far away, a beautiful young maiden was preparing for her upcoming wedding day. The maiden had sent word to a tailor requesting a stunning non traditional gown, and paid her gold to him for the gown. When a time came only a fortnight before her wedding day and the tailor had neither sent her gown nor responded to the many messangers she’d sent to him, the maiden grew worried. With so little time remaining, what should she do? Would some hero come to her rescue?

The maiden posted a notice throughout the land of Etsy, beseeching any talented dressmakers to come to her aide! Fortune was with her indeed, for the brave knight Sarah of the Goff clan saw the notice. It was said that Sarah could thread her needle in the dark, could balance a thimble on the tip of her finger, and could, with a stitch in time, save ten! Sarah sent word to the sent word to the maiden offering her aide, and rushed thenceforth to the marketplace to purchase fine cloth from the weavers.Through the days and nights Sarah worked, cutting, shaping, stitching, draping. The maiden traveled many hours, and Sarah did as well, so the two could meet at an inn and test the gown to the maiden’s form, to be sure that Sarah’s pattern was good and true.

Assured of the task at hand, Sarah resumed her sewing, pinning and repinning the drapes of fabric in the layered skirts, carefully placing adornments and gemstones over the bodice of the gown until at last the fairy tale bridal gown was complete! Then she rushed the gown to the maiden with a trusted messenger on his fastest horse, so that it might arrive well in advance of the wedding day. What happy news indeed and a happy ending for our bride who, I sincerely hope, lived happily every after!

Bridal to be

Here’s another bridal gown in progress. It’s not finished and I promise there will be more and BETTER pictures when it’s hemmed, pressed, and on a person, but I couldn’t resist sharing a little sneak peek:

Sapphire Mist

This turqoise and blue standard gown makes a stunning impression on the dance floor! The princess seamed bodice is made of teal stretch lace over turqoise Lycra. The double full circle skirt is formed by royal blue chiffon godets. the dress includes two royal blue chiffon floats that attach at the upper back and at the wrist end of the full length matching lace gauntlets.

The entire gown and the gauntlets are completely covered with over 25 gross of Swarovski 20ss rhinestones in Capris Blue and 16ss Ruby rhinestones. A matching lace and Lycra choker, adorned with rhinestones and strung with Swaroski Capris Blue cyrstal beads, makes the perfect accessory!

Worn only once, this gown is now on consignment and available for purchase! Fits size 12-14 petite to regular. Visit www.goffcouture.com for more details, leave me a comment, or send me an email if you are interested in purchasing this gown!

  

Night Fire

Once upon a time, I promised that I would share more details about the creation of my mother in law’s ballroom dance costumes. Recently, my husband and I shot several photos of both dresses to include in my portfolio (the photos I previously had taken were on the dress form only and failed to show several of the details I wanted to display), and also to list on my website, as my mother in law has asked me to resell both dresses for her.

This is the dress we custom designed for her to wear for a Latin style ballroom dance performance. The body of the dress is made from red Slinky, and the skirt is several layers of red and purple chiffon fabric. To accomodate her full figure, my mother in law and I designed the dress with a flattering ruched bodice, plus sized sewn-in bra cups, and a faux dropped backline with a flesh toned fabric panel so she was free to wear a bra with this dress as needed. The built in body suit has a modest ”boy short” cut rather than the typical brief or bikini cut. The dress is decorated with roughly 15 gross of Swarovski rhinestones in size 20ss Jet, Garnet, Siam and Crystal AB. Strings of rhinestones (which are detachable) adorn the faux bare back. The overall effect was very flattering on her, and sexy while still more modest than many Latin style ballroom dance costumes.

The dress was designed for a specific event that my mother in law and her husband planned to perform in. Unfortunately, they had to cancel their participation as he was called away to work unexpectedly. And, since my mother in law has done an incredible job getting into shape (way to go!) the gown no longer fits her. So, custom designed though it is, the dress is going to be listed for sale never having been danced in. If you have any interest in purchasing this dress, check my website at www.goffcouture.com soon when additional details will be posted, or send me an email.