Every time I make a  dress from start to finish is a humbling experience.  It  instills even more respect in me  for all the people that sit in front of a sewing machine all day.  In an ode to them and in honor of Earth Month I have documented a new version of the Antonia Dress I made for model Laura Wilson.  We documented The whole process from start to finish took about a week. Here we go:

day 1

Pick the color  and the design.

Do some testing on the silk charmeuse we decided to use.  To obtain this peachy color I decided dyeing with madder and a tin mordant were the best option. However madder and natural dyes in general react different to facbric ervery time. It is the most unpredictable color of all the natural ones I have ever dyed.

Day 2

Prewash the fabric by boiling it in castille soap for 1 hr and and mordant it in tin for 45 min. At the same time we soak the madder roots overnight so they release the dye.

Do the pattern and a muslin for the 1st fitting

Day 3

Extract the dyestuff from the roots, make the dyebath and dye the fabric.

Wash the fabric with softener and and hang dry it.

Do corrections on the pattern from the firtst fitting.

Day 4

Cut the drees in the actual fabric and put it toguether for the 1st fitting.

Day 5

Make corrections to dress from 2nd fitting, there were a couple of adjustments needed. The interfacing was too tick.

Day 6

After the 2nd fitting I had to rip everything I had done apart because 1- the interfacing on the wb needed replacing and 2- my serger broke again and I decided to french seam the entire dress, including the lining.

Day 7

More sewing, puttig the zipper in. It took 4 tries to get it perfect and when it was done I pulled the head out! Yes sewing can be dramatic.  Putting binding on hemming and finishing,  putting snaps on, labeling, ironing all the seams and steaming the dress. Laura left my studio at 9:30 pm, the dress was done and beautiful!

a happy bridesmaid and bride