Saturday, February 20, 2010

Bodices, Boning and Dreams

Well yes, it's time for another dream report - this time my daughters and you guessed it - about the wedding gown, but that's for the end. I've been working on the bodice: it's been a difficult job. My daughter says it has to stand up like a suit of armor. The ladies at the House of Fabric in Asheville, gave me a sample to take home and study (below) and it proved to be helpful.
I have the outside layer of charmeuse underlined with silk organza...
followed by the layer of batiste and LOTS and LOTS of boning.
And then the lining - I couldn't figure out how to make it more structured. I think the charmeuse, even the heavier weight, tends to be soft - not one of the crisp silks.
So once again, I was off to House of Fabric to visit with my new best friend - Peggy. Peggy is the professional seamstress on board; she makes all the wedding gowns for customers. She is also very helpful and knowledgeable. I brought her the bodice and she did some handholding (I desperately needed) and told me the bodice was FINE - very, very fine. She said it needed a live body to give it the final amount of structure it needs. Makes sense, why didn't I think of that! She also suggested when using softer fabrics, to make another lining of flannel to insert between the outside and the boning layer. I'm anxious to try it, so now I'm off and running once again.
This project has been a roller coaster of emotions but - A Happy Camper I am once again - and now for the dream. My daughter being aware of the problems with the bodice had this crazy dream. The day of the wedding, walking down the aisle, she had to keep hiking up the dress as it kept falling down. She asked me to try and fix it between the ceremony and the reception! I think I said no in the dream - boooo - bad mama!

2 comments:

  1. A suit of armor? Wow. I thought those days of discomfort were gone forever. I still remember my own wedding gown (c. 1960's). The DRESS wasn't so stiff, but the fitters INSISTED I had to wear what was then called a "merry widow bra"--a torture device that went from my hips up to the top of the strapless bra part. It hooked all the way up and was boned everywhere. I was skinny as a rail then (sigh) but they insisted I needed the structure so the dress would look perfect on the big day. It did. But breathing would have been nice. Anyway, maybe part of what you and your lucky daughter need to think about is underwear. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying reading about your bravery and joy in creating this wonderful gown for your daughter. What a treasure for both of you!

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  2. You are a GOOD Mom, Judy! Such a labor of love. I must agree with the previous comment about wearing the armored bra...the dressmaker made a lot of suggestions but forgot to tell me about the bra, so I wore a simple strapless bra which had never been a problem before...and that baby was at my hips all day during the reception except for the 10 times I went to the restroom to pull it up. ha-ha No pain, no support.

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