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Blouse Front

Detal of trim and bound, beaded buttonhole

Back of blouse peplum

Back of skirt showing silver drape

Blouse Front

This outfit was truly a labor of love as it was my MOB dress for my daughter's wedding.  She requested that I wear black and silver to coordinate with the wedding party and I happily obliged.

The skirt is made from black silk taffeta, lined with silver silk satin that peaks out at the back in the flounce.  The taffeta portion is completely underlined in silk organza to add stability, finish the seam allowances and reduce the taffeta's horrible propensity to wrinkle.  A horsehair braid was applied to the hem of the skirt to add structure.

The blouse was an extraordinary challenge!  I fell in love with the lines of a 1980's Neue Mode pattern, but I did not love the over-sized, dropped shoulders that are so common in patterns of this era.  So I set about redrafting the shoulders and sleeves to a more neat silhouette, while retaining the body lines I found so appealing.  In the end, I based the new draft on a 1940's pattern that had a high armscye and tailored sleeves with elbow gathers.  The result was much more flattering on my slight frame.

The fabric also presented a challenge as it was a sheer beaded silk georgette.  I found the best way to handle this fabric was by thread tracing all of the stitching lines -- time consuming to be sure, but worth the effort when it came time for construction.  It also showed me exactly where I needed to remove the beads from the seam allowances.  Even with this careful planning, I spent hours hand stitching beads over seam lines and in bare spots.

The blouse is completely lined and all seams are enclosed.  Even the sleeves were inserted with tiny French seams. The peplum is made from the same silk taffeta as the skirt and I used this inspired idea http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/10619/take-a-buttonhole-a-long-way to create a single long bound buttonhole out of the silver satin.  A simple beaded design was added between each of the delicate glass and metal buttons.

The final touch was hand stitching a beautiful silver beaded lace on all of the edges.  This took meticulous planning to line up and mirror image all the motifs.  Beads removed from the blouse fabric were added at precise points to make for a cohesive design.

I will add a picture of me wearing the complete outfit as soon as I get one from the wedding photographer.  In the interim, please see the Burda link for a better idea of what the skirt looks like...

mysticah, member
Posted on Jan 4th, 2010 in design, garment construction, fabric, reader's closet, button, hand stitching, underlining, beading

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Comments (2)

Sewista writes: Exquisite!
Posted: 8:22 pm on January 25th

Clarasita writes: What a gorgeous piece of work. I'd love to see a picture of it on. Your daughter must have had to really work it to outshine you. And your loving work will be immortalized in the wedding pictures. I can picture her bragging about your dress to her own children when they marry.
Posted: 9:44 pm on January 4th

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