This is an illustration of what I'm going for with my dress. It consists of "I will make you crazy" knife pleats, some "you can't just iron me" velvet straps, and "I don't stay in place" chiffon and satin...am I crazy? The dress will be a challenge, that's for sure.
These are the pattern pieces for the velvet straps before they're sewn together. I made myself little arrows to make sure I have the nap going the same direction when I do sew them together.
I ordered a perfect pleater to make pleating the chiffon a little easier. It takes a lot of time, precision, and patience but the results are beautiful! Find a good album or T.V. show to listen to while you pleat and it's actually kind of relaxing! Beirut and 3rd Rock from the Sun have been the soundtrack to this project for me.
Beautiful, right?! However, if you remember my dress, it's going to take a while to get the skirt fully pleated. Especially when you mess up, like me. The first time I did this I did the pleats in the wrong direction. Those moments hurt! But that's how fashion design goes- take 2 steps forward, you always take a step back.
On a different note, here's another ensemble I finished about a month ago. It was also inspired by menswear, specifically my main man, Michael Bastian.
Here's the inside with a plaid dupioni silk, "baseball" stripe top, and boucle wool shorts and coat.
And all that was done in my tiny little shoebox of a room that I call my "atelier!" Now I'm back to work!
