PoldaPop Designs

Whew. Now this was a Project, capital P and all. This was one of those projects that feels a bit like climbing a mountain or running a marathon. For a long time, you can't quite see where the finish line is and you have to stop thinking about it or you'll get too frustrated. One foot in front of another is the way to go. And even when you can start to see the finish line, it takes a long while longer to actually cross it - like the peak of a mountain can seem much closer than it actually is. But when you arrive? When the last stitch is sewn? Ahh, you are rewarded with such a sense of accomplishment. I need the quickie-jersey-top-done-in-two-hour projects as much as the next sewist, but I glow for days when I finish one of these challenges (and because I'm a little bit crazy, this one was a twofer).

If you have been reading my blog for a couple of years you know that back in 2013 I sewed a wedding dress for client K. And if you don't know than you can back track and read about it here. And since I love to show off pictures of it, here it is it all it's glory:

A year after the wedding, K brought the dress back so it could be shortened to cocktail length.

A year later after that, K had me use the remaining bits and pieces along with leather to create the jacket using Style Arc's Jett Biker pattern. I think this will be the end of the line, since there are very few pieces left (I had to piece together the front panels as I didn't have anything big enough - the lace pretty well hides the seam). The leftover scraps from the dress and three lamb skins (from GorgeousFabrics.com - still in stock) fit in a quart size ziploc bag.

What made this such a challenge? Let me tell you!

It started with a muslin so that I could check fit and practice some of the steps. The fit was perfect out of the box and I'm close enough in size to my client that it fit me, too (bonus!). This is where easy ended.

The sheer number of pattern pieces was part of the challenge here. Each sleeve alone was comprised of five pieces (although the lining only had three). If I'm counting correctly, the outer layer was made up of 19 pieces while the lining involved another 15. Then I decided that everything needed to be underlined (I used twill for K's jacket because it needed a lot more body and cotton batiste for mine) so for each jacket I had to cut out 53 pieces of fabric. I just added that up right now (106 total!) and I'm no longer surprised that it took me two full days just to cut and mark all those pieces!

Trying to cram as many pieces as possible onto one of the skins.

I decided to go full couture so I hand-basted the underlining to the main fabric. I have no idea how long this took me, except that I watched a season of Broadchurch and a few Miss Fisher's Mysteries while I worked my way through the 27 pieces that needed be be underlined (the leather pieces I basted with glue, so they went quickly). My eyes and fingers were sore by the end.

At this point the meticulous side of my personality was in full reign so I decided that every seam needed to be top stitched with a double strand of thread, so each seam was sewn three times.

You can't even see the second set of top stitching but I know it's there.

The construction process was tricky, but luckily The Clothing Engineer has sewn this pattern and provided guidance through her own blog and on Style Arc's website (see links). If you ever get stuck on a StyleArc pattern, check to see if TCE has help for you. The lovely thing about Style Arc patterns is that once you know what to do, everything comes together neatly because the patterns are so well drafted. The only change I made was to add a hidden pocket in the inside, since the jacket has no pockets and I was afraid that adding them on the outside would mess with the very fitted design.

I'm such a bad blogger that I didn't take very many pictures of my client's jacket - my giddiness fogged my mind. But I have some of the one I made myself. The are almost the same in terms of main/contrast fabric.

I used a stretch cotton matellasse for the black parts and a wool suiting for the black/light pink parts, both from GorgeousFabrics.com (sorry, both out-of-stock). I have worn my jacket almost every day since I finished and my client seemed equally pleased with hers. Oh, and those jeans I'm wearing? They are the Angela Woolf Angel Boot Cut jeans I made last spring - they've gotten tons of wear this fall, too!

Next up I've got some Christmas sewing to finish before I tackle my next big project, a winter coat. And I have another wedding dress order, so I have more mountains to climb in the new year! What about you? I'd love to hear about your latest sewing accomplishment (and feel free to post links to said accomplishment in the comments).

I have a few refashioning projects to showcase this month. One of the things I like about refashioning garments, is that there is usually a story involved. The projects come with a shot of nostalgia.

Back in April I previewed a wedding dress I had taken on as a refashioning project. Our bride Jamie really wanted to wear her mother's wedding dress. I don't think she actually liked the dress all that much (and her fiance actively disliked it), but she really liked the idea of wearing something of her mother as she walked down the aisle.

Yep, classic 1970's wedding dress: floor length skirt (as opposed to 1960's wedding tea dresses), fitted lace sleeves, high neck lace overlay on top of princess neckline bodice. Jamie's mom looked gorgeous in it:

Isn't it funny how context changes everything? The dress looks perfect on Jamie's mom in these photos. I think it's because everything goes together - the hair, the hat/veil, even the flower arrangement. It looks old-fashioned on the dress form, but on Jamie's mom it looks sexy and hip. It's harder to like the dress in a modern context, and it needed some help to work for Jamie.

First, even though it had been packed away carefully by a dry cleaner (we had to break the seal to get at it!), it had yellowed a bit in places and was certainly not the bright white color it once was. After researching online, I decided it needed a bath. I removed all the metal bits (buttons, hook and eye, zipper) and soaked it in our tub for 24 hours in cool water. I discovered that our tub will not hold water for that long, so I had to add more water every few hours. This may have helped as the dirty water was replaced by clean multiple times during the soak. And it worked!!

Before

After (with sneak peek of corset back)

I have to admit I was surprised by the results - I was worried that I would somehow damage the dress and I didn't expect it to brighten as much as it did. But there was no other way to do it - it's not like I could cut off a piece of the dress to test it!

The second step was to remove the lace sleeves and yokes. I carefully removed the lace applique that vined up from the bust and the back, and picked away the mesh from the bodice. Jamie wanted this preserved in case her own daughter someday wants to incorporate it back into a new design. I love imagining what this dress might become in 30 or so years!

Back of lace applique

Mesh, lace, and inside of bodice

For the third step I needed to tackle the straps. I very luckily had a 1/2 yard of perfectly matching silk satin in my stash. I found a pattern with straps and neckline similar to what Jamie was imagining and made a muslin. Jamie came to try it on so we could tweak it for fit and placement.

Muslin fitting

Pattern pieces for straps/neckline

Now it was time to tackle the back closure. The dress was a titch too small, and Jamie loved the idea of a corset back. I follow the blog Fit for a Queen, in which Mrs Mole tells stories of the brides and wedding gowns she tackles in her alterations business - it's both hilarious and informative. I knew she had added corset backs to a number of wedding gowns, so I wrote to her asking for help. And Mrs Mole delivered: she sent me to a step-by-step photo tutorial she had written up for Sew Much Talent AND gave me guidance on where to buy satin cording. I was so pleased I didn't have to try to figure this out on my own!!

Loops sewn from cording and Petersham ribbon

Snaps to hold modesty panel in place while lacing

Modesty panel backed with cotton for support/comfort,
boning to stop it from flopping.

All laced up! The ribbon is as close to "Cubbie blue"
as I could find. Thank you, Soutache!

I found this strange, but the dress bodice wasn't lined and it had no boning for structure. I wanted it to have both, so I made an internal corset from the same pattern (Vogue 2237) I used for the wedding dress I made in 2013, and hand stitched this into the bodice.

Finally, all that was left to be done was adding back the lace applique and bustling the back for dancing.

Jamie's sister under the dress to learn how to tie the bustles!

This was a scary process - I was terrified much of the time that I would both ruin Jamie's mother's dress and ruin Jamie's wedding because she wouldn't have enough time to get another dress. I do like taking on these heart-racing projects every now and again, and every time I finish one successfully I have a little more faith in my ability. But it was nice to have some pants to hem when it was all over!

And finally, here are some pictures of Jamie from her wedding day in the finished dress (nothing was ruined!). Isn't she a beautiful bride? Her photographer was Brittany Lynn from Brittany Lynn Studios. I love when I get to see dresses in action, and Brittany is good photographer.