I am attending a Masters Workshop with Emily Magli where I am making this dress:
Both photos are taken from Emily Magli’s website. (here)
The dress is made of four “squares” hung on the bias. It is both very simple and completely intriguing..
The first day I made a muslin and cut my fabric. I am making the dress out of a fine green cotton voile. I took my time squaring-up the fabric, laying out the muslin pattern and cutting. By the time that was all finished, the day wasn’t over but I was done.
As you can see from the picture below. the squares aren’t really squares, although I couldn’t really get enough distance to photograph the entire pattern piece.
I also spent a good deal of time pinning both the front and the back pieces to their respective pattern muslin, using tons of pins to make sure nothing shifted around. Although I did cut the pieces double (two fronts, two backs) I could only cut one piece at a time, using shared cutting tables, so the pieces had to be moved before cutting another piece or marking. So I pinned. perhaps excessively so, as Emily commented that I didn’t really need to mark the hemlines. (All pieces have narrow-hemmed edges). I replied that I was simply anchoring the pieces together. You can see my rows of pins along the edges in the picture you below. I am also known for using generous quantities of tape when sealing packages.
After all, one can never be too careful.
The second day was spent marking those seam lines in the middle of each piece. I spent some of my down time obsessing over the whole thing. because the fabric is sheer, and I didn’t want anything showing in the final garment. I decided that I would use different colors of basting thread so that I could tell the pieces apart. Yellow was for side seams. Pink or Red for either center front or center back.
Today was day three, or narrow hem day. I spent the morning making practice hems. the biggest issue was the corners and I made several versions before I was ready to take on the pieces of the actual dress. In the end I didn’t finish even one of the four dress pieces, but the day ended just as I was about to tackle the most complex edge, one containing a sharp angle. Waiting until I was fresh in the morning seemed to be the wisest choice. Nonetheless, I was very happy with what I had accomplished thus far.
Liana and I ended the day with dinner and a cocktail.
Liana had an amaretto sour and I had a specialty cocktail called the Nocturne #2, which consisted of Chopin Vodka, Peach Amaro, Bay Leaf Liquor, and Lemon Bitters.
More later.