Chinese Empire Gown, o how I LOATHE thee

Some would think loathe is a strong word for something like a dress, but I think it honestly describes how I felt about this dress through all of it's construction. What, you may ask, would inspire such a passionate declaration? The answer is silk charmeuse. Silk charmeuse is airy and light, but slippery and challenging to work with, especially as one of my first project in silk. But unfortunately that was the whole point of my couture sewing class.

As always I hate having to sew something that won't be worn. Seems like such a waste in resources, even if it is for my education. Lucky for me and for her, Grip N Flip needed a winter formal dress. And strangely enough I dreamt of a dress even before this class, so I already had a design prepared for this project. In retrospect, having such a vivid design in mind made it more difficult for me to compromise on many design aspects of this dress.

My design concept is east meets west. A Chinese style spencer jacket with a empire waisted gown. We both decided on purple/lavender for the color theme.


































The Chinese style spencer jacket is a separate piece then the dress, giving her the option of wearing it to less formal occasions or for The Lunar New Year. The silk charmeuse is overlain by several layers of organza to give it a ethereal feel. The back flares out almost like a butterfly.

I actually didn't finish the dress on time and was still working on it the day of. And at the last minute the zipper broke and I had to sew her into the dress (seen below). At first we were pretty stressed but then realized how funny it was and couldn't stop laughing as I started to sew her in. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breath at times. It was pretty surreal, even thinking back on it.

On the picture below is a close up of the spencer jacket. The double layer bias binding was extremely difficult to do in silk charmeuse. But I didn't have a choice, since I couldn't find pre-made bias binding in a matching color. And to add insult to injury, the double layers, required double the work, so that I could infuse both a purple and a silvery lavender color at the edge. It's very subtle and hard to see in this picture, but worth the agony.

And what took more time and energy than I had properly allotted for was the hand made chinese button. If you think it was hard finding bias binding in a color to match my spencer jacket then the button was simply out of the question. I should have known this would be a challenge since Chinese people do not favor purple/lavender in their traditional brocade fabrics, hence the accessories were equally difficult to obtain. I have to say, my color choice was probably the main culprit to all of my trails and tribulations. But that is what made me so adamant about this color, so I guess I can't complain. Back to the chinese button, it was clear that I wouldn't find a button in matching colors so my only choice was to make one. I couldn't find any books or internet sources to help me (If anyone out there does have information on this topic I'm still interested). I ended up buying some cheap chinese buttons and dissecting them to figure out how they were constructed. As you can see I'm still perfecting the technique. But for a first try, I think they turned out quite well.


And to round everything out, a pair of CONVERSE. To back up every pretty dress should be a pair of converse.

Though this dress is not an accurate depiction of the dress from my dream, to actually be inspired and to follow trough with something so fanciful, has it's own merits.

This dress was completed in January and for months I still loathed it. But recently I had to pull it out for some reason or another, and upon looking at it again with some distance, I found myself reluctantly proud and amazed at my own progress.

Taffeta Gown

Here's a gown I draped for my final. We had to choose a celebrity and then drape a gown for a red carpet event befitting the celebrity and her style. I was at a quandary on whom I should choose. Finally the form of Busty McBusterson gave me the inspiration of Catherine Zeta Jones. Who else could do justice for Busty McBusterson?? I decided on a simple boustie style top and flared gown using a dark purple taffeta. I'm not sure how well these pictures reflect the color but it was a blackish purple depending on the light. It was to be embellished with this wired piece using aluminum armature wire.


I'm quite pleased with the fit of this gown, which fits like a glove on the dressform. We had a vote on 4 categories in class: best design, best fabric, best construction, and best fit. I actually won best fit in class. I'm very satisfied with the gown outcome

Here's a close up of the wired piece. I took a long time trying to find the right materials to use since I didn't want something too dainty and would hold it's form while being easy to mould. I was also a little worried that it would turn out too much like something out of Xena: Warrior Princess. The front was loosely based off of a Turkish bookmark with Turkish calligraphy and the back was free handed based on feeling. There are places that could use a more polished moulding. I guess that's the best that could be done with just my hands a pair of pliers. For a first attempt at an abstract concept and new material I think it turned out pretty close to what I wanted.