Here we have the original inspiration. (Not sure of the source - if anyone knows, tell me and I will credit it.) Black lace over a pale slip with a magnificent skirt and a train that I can't really justify for day to day wear.
For my version, I used Vogue 1086. This is the fourth time I've made up this pattern, and the first time its been as a dress. (Tracy Reese makes marvelous patterns. More marvelous than she knows, as they are wonderful building blocks.)
And here we have the current status of my version -- Not nearly as stunning, in part due to the much smaller and thinner scale of the lace. (next time....) The paler the background, the more the pattern shows -- however I found that despite being very careful about getting all the motifs evenly distributed, I didn't actually pay attention to their location on the pattern pieces..... Great big flowers, right on the bust points. So, between that, and not putting the midriff on the cross grain (it just looks funny) I've decided to go with a black slip. Technically, everything is still visible, but really, who is going to look that closely?
Since I rarely wear all black, me thinks this is going to take over as the concert dress (so I can reuse the satin!) and that pattern will end up with something else. I have a stripe I think will work well......
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| endless pinning and pattern matching... |
pin pin pin pin pin pin pin pin pin pin pin pin
....but all the 'stripes' match up around the skirt and bodice. So... I shall count this as a win.
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| taste -- she has it. |
Wow. You really sure you're not going to stick with original lining colour plan? It's going to be fabulous and a perfect concert dress. And its good that you included the floor-pinning photo- really does bring home the painstaking matching work. You're a more patient sewer than me!
ReplyDeleteThis is why I usually have about five projects going at once -- I can do whatever suits my mood.
DeleteWhen I tried it on with a pale mock-up of the slip, it looked cheap, in every sense of the word. With black, it was elegant, so I think I'll go with that and try for the inspiration dress another time.
also, thank you!
I suspect the texture of the black-on-black will be *stunning* in person (probably not so great for blog photos, however...). Are you doing a full lining or a slip? Because I think it would be great with a bunch of different jewel-tone slips, depending on your mood... not as stark as cream underneath, but still showing the lace more than black? ;)
ReplyDeleteI think the scale of the original lace is a big part of what makes it work---large areas of black, large areas of sheer.
hmmmm.... I think for the version with the larger scale lace jewel tones would be a lot of fun. For this one I think I'll go with just black as theplacement of the roses remains a problem...
DeleteHaha! I love how I'm not the only one who miss places flowers on patterns! The dress looks fabulous and can understand your thinking with the black on black. I think it will look super classy. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteNope. Right there with you. I think the black will hide it and I'll just be quietly amused by the scandal I could be causing.
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