The Wedding Dress -- Godet vs Box Pleat

Faux box pleat (rt) and godet (rt)

Godet vs Box Pleat or should I say faux box pleat. We're talking flirt skirt here. I decided to experiment with a couple of options that may work for the reception flirt skirt. This skirt is in addition to the long wedding dress skirt with a train that I finished in my last post. What DD and I envision is a matching pencil flirt skirt which DD can change into during the reception so that dancing is easier. She can also take the separate bodice with the pencil skirt with her on the honeymoon to wear when night clubbing.

There are several ways to make the pencil skirt (Simplicity 1760) a flirt skirt. Any method that widens the skirt at the knees will make it a flirt skirt. I decided to experiment with the "godet" and a "faux box pleat". placed strategically around the hemline of a skirt, either option will allow movement of the skirt at the knees.

godet pieces

godet finished

A godet is a pie shaped slice of fabric. Here I used a triangular slice, but sometimes a godet has a rounded tip. I sewed the colored triangle to one "panel". Then sewed that entire "panel" to the other panel.

faux box pleat parts

Depending upon the type of fabric and the "hand" or feeling that it has, this slice of fabric may or may not be very visible.
 Of course with the fabrics being white and ivory, there will be little difference.

The faux box pleat is made using a colored rectangular or square piece of fabric between two panels of the skirt. The fabric is folded and as a result hides unless the wearer of the skirt is moving. Using a color of fabric similar to the main color of the skirt will make a very subtle look. While somewhat more complicated, imho, the box pleat gives 10 times the wow factor.

faux box pleat finished

Although it is totally up to DD (eh hem) I already know what option I that prefer. But of course DD will have final decision -- with a little help from her loving designer -- um er -- mom!

Happy flirting!

The Wedding Dress -- Love Train

I got the muslin skirt for DD's wedding dress finished last night. Except for the fact that if felt like I cut miles of fabric, marked miles of seam lines, and sewed miles of panels together -- the skirt went together so easy! The skirt has 12 panel with lots of flair even after I adjusted it to reduce the parachute affect that the pattern has. After the bodice, it was a joy to assemble.

Going forward, I have been restricted to what I am allowed to show in the photos of the wedding dress. I am "Facebook friends" with the FSIL and DD does not want him to see photos of the whole dress. Since my blog automatically posts to my Facebook timeline I have to get all posts approved! But that is OK with me. At the end of July, I will likely make you tired of looking at pictures of her in the dress!

I finally purchased a skirt pattern for the pencil skirt. Simplicity 1760 view "D" is the choice. View D is the one the model is wearing. I am going to add flirt panels at the knee and extend the ruching a little lower than the pattern indicates. The ruching will mirror the bodice nicely and give interest to an otherwise plain skirt.

If you remember, the dress will be a mixture of white and ivory. The pencil skirt will be white with the flirt panels in ivory. The front of the dress has a modified princess seaming with three panels but the back is two paneled. I will likely change it to a 3 panel back so that there are a total of 6 panels and therefore 6 flirt panels. Changing the back to three panels won't be a problem as I intend to move the zipper to the left side to match the bodice anyway. It also eliminates the kick pleat at the back of the skirt. For some reasons I hate sewing kick pleats.

Well, DD arrives for Thanksgiving and her first fitting 4 weeks from today. I feel pretty good right now and with only the flirt skirt left, I'm ready for what ever the fitting brings.

Happy sewing!

The Wedding Dress -- Bodice Finished - Lessons Learned

The muslin for the bodice is finally finished and I think this final version looks good. I learned a lot working on it and already have a list of things that I need to remember when making the real thing.

For the actual dress, I will get the finest and smoothest thread possible. Yes, I used colored thread on the muslin's seams, but even were I used light colored thread, you can still see the stitches. On fine silk, that will really show.

I need to take the time to measure the stop and start points of the draping on the side. As you can see on the photo to the left, the draping does not match on the side. It is off about 3/4 of an inch. Although some people may not have even noticed it -- having that in the finished product will drive me insane. (When DD's father walks her down the isle, there might as well be a neon sign with an arrow pointing to her side.)

You can really see that all of the untrimmed seams are poofing out the seam a bit. I also did not iron or steam the seams. There is no sense in doing that if I will be undoing them. Rest assured, the final version will be much smoother.

The unfinished side is where the zipper ends up. I am not going to add the zipper to the muslin - if I have to take it in or let it out at all during the fitting (and that is likely) I don't want to have to remove a zipper. I will have to pin it on DD along the seam line and fit it that way.

I like the back although it could have a little bit more ruching on the top side. In order to add more ruching, I will need to make the draping a couple inches taller form top to bottom. But I don't think that would be a problem. I will let DD make the call -- she is the one whose going to wear it after all.

By the way, I have cut out and sewn in all the seam lines on the skirt and will start constructing it this week.

Happy sewing!

The Wedding Dress -- On to the Skirt

McCall's 6701 is the base for the Hi-Low skirt that DD wants for her wedding dress, however, some adjustments need to be made. First, each panel is one piece from the top of the bodice to the bottom of the dress. I selected a line just above the pattern's waist which is one of the two points made for lengthening and shortening the dress. At this point I cut the bodice off of each piece. First adjustment accomplished.

Secondly, I needed to reduce the flair of the skirt to make it look more bridal and less parachute. I decided to make the adjustment using a hinge at the second lengthening/shorten point. Since I am not sure I can explain it with just words, I took pictures of the process with one of the smaller panels.

On the left you will see one of the panels of the skirt. I have circled the second lengthen/shorten mark.

Using a straight edge and my rotary cutter, I cut along this line.

I then folded the pattern, matching the line for the hem of a short version of the dress. After creasing the fold, I cut along that fold. I did not use the grain line as the cut. I wanted that left intact.

Here you can see all the pieces spread out.

Lifting one piece, I swung it over the other, overlapping the two pieces under the horizontal cut with a "hinge" at the top. When I go the pieces positioned just right, I taped up the overlap and taped the top piece back on making sure to line up the grain line. Then I redrew my hemline.

If my calculations are correct I removed about 2 feet out of the circumference of the dress at about the ankle. I think that this will reduce the flair enough, but if necessary, I can always make a similar hinge cut on the other side of the grain line.

Happy hinging!