I made this gown to attend a black tie gala on my first trip to New York. (I heart NY!)
My husband chose this silk dupioni fabric and gave it to me for my birthday. I used an old commercial pattern I had (I don’t remember which one) and added the feather trim. I used flexible steel boning in the bustier, cut to size by my husband. I made a silk organza dust ruffle for my dress based on an article about Chado Ralph Rucci in Threads magazine where he describes how to float a train. I really love making fancy dresses and this one was a lot of fun!
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Very nicely done. Love the color too.
The color is very stately, and the garment is classy. I love your idea of the addition of feathers along the top of the bustier. They were just enough! You have a lot of umph that I don't have when sewing, or thinking about a garment in that you made the bustier with boning. By the way, for this portion of the construction did you refer to any of the Threads Articles by Susan Khalje? Gret job.
Wanda thank you so much for your wonderful compliments. Actually I did refer to Susan Khajle, thanks for reminding me! I have her book Bridal Couture and I added a grosgrain ribbon waistline stay to the bustier and ironed fusible knit interfacing to all the pattern pieces. I found the instructions online for the spiral boning.
Sophronia. You look wonderful. Your husband has a great eye for color.
Is the gown fully lined and how long did it take to make it.
Again, wonderful-wonderful.
Thanks for the compliments 4mythreads! My husband does have a good eye :-) The gown is fully lined and I also underlined with fusi-knit. It took FOREVER to make it! As a matter of fact I was still hand stitching in New York the evening I wore it! Some of the time was due to the techniques I used from Bridal Couture; underlining, construction of the bustier, waist stay, dust ruffle (Kenneth King), etc. You can't see from this picture but I cut the train on the bias and the top of the feathers are covered with self bias tape. The spiral steel boning gave my husband fits when he cut it but it made the bustier so comfortable! Although it was time consuming I would love to make another one. It will probably go faster next time.
Sophronia. Thanks so much. Your one of my FAVORITE designers. I'd love to see your other designs. Again, thanks.
Sophronia. Which Threads magazine issue has the Chado Ralph Rucci "how to float a train" article?
Thanks for the encouragement 4mythreads. I will look for that Threads article and let you know.