Obsession, Part 3

​The next thing I was a bit nervous about with these dresses was how to divide up the green and black fabric for cutting.  

Kate's green fabric is the same shade, but with a gold and black design. I got identical black fabric.

​Cutting for the underskirt really meant I needed to cut out the overdress at the same time, since the overdress had accent bands of black, and the underskirt would be cut from the remainders.  But, those remainders had to utilize the green stripes at one end… And the overdress skirt, bodice, and sleeves would be out of the same green fabric so I had to cut the bodice and sleeves before praying there would be enough left for a full skirt.

This was after I had to create patterns for the black stripes. Including forgetting a section to cut, but remembering at 11:30 at night one night. I had to dig through the trash the next day and pray there was enough to make up my mistake... there was!

​Nail biting work, I tell you!  But it all worked out!
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The underskirt really was the work of only one evening.  Sure, it’s pleated, but that’s not an even pleat.  It won’t ever be seen.  And the waistband has two ties sewn on to it for an adjustable waist measurement.  I got more of a response on Facebook than I thought I would, and Ryan really loved the fabric.  He asked if it was the main skirt…

She's looking good! The gold design at the waistband makes the pleats stick out, but they squish down under the overdress just fine.

​As a side note, this black fabric is “art silk” instead of real silk.  Meaning it’s polyester.  This particular stuff is lightweight, but frays and fringes if you look at it sideways.  I’ve had issues working with it this entire time.  Totally NOT worth using again, even if I did save $20 overall in fabric costs for Kate and I.  And, if I weren’t using a hoop skirt I would never let my legs sweat directly against this stuff.

Also, I accidentally turned my iron up to the “cotton” setting to get some fold marks out of the waistband material… and promptly melted about 6 inches of the waistband onto my iron.  Fortunately it was 6 inches I didn’t need, but at the time I felt like crying!

The next post will be on to the bodice and overdress, which took 3 full days of an extended weekend.