Thursday, May 29, 2014

A Quick Poiret Gown

My sister and I were lucky enough to score cheap tickets to see Swan Lake on Sunday, but...I have no evening wear. I mean...nothing. Nada. I have time to make something, but no money to spend on fabric. So, I started digging through my stuff, seeing what I could repurpose. That's when I found my old Lolita kimono!


As much as I loved that outfit, I've only worn it once, and since the fabric was a bit pricey (and because it's completely fabulous), I decided to take the kimono apart and reuse it.  I wanted to keep in the kimono-style, so I chose to go with a Poiret "sorbet" style of dress, like the one below.


I'd have to be very conservative with fabric, though. I had less than two yards of black satin left in The Stash, and the kimono pieces were shaped, so they'd have to be used judiciously. That would mean the sleeves would have to be a bit less full, and the skirt a little more tailored, but it could be done.

I think at least half of my "sewing time" is just me sitting and staring at the fabric when it's laid out, trying to figure out how to cut things out the best way possible. XP I think I stared at the fabric for at least three hours today before I finally decided the best way to go about using the black fabric. And thankfully, it worked! I was so relieved, because after the skirt and the one side of the bodice was cut out, all I had left was a few scraps that were about 4" square! There were definitely no do-overs!

This is the piece of fabric I had to finagle the bodice from.



And here is what I ended up with.


So, the sleeves will be a little shorter, but they still reach about elbow-length, so they still give some nice coverage.

That was about where I've stopped for tonight. I pinned everything together and threw on a quick sash from some pink 'silk essence' fabric to see how it looked, and I like the little touch of colour against all the black and white.


The 'overskirt' is just panels of the kimono that have been pinned into place to see how it would look, so they haven't been cut to length or shape yet, but I'm already super happy with how it's turning out. I took a page out of Katherine's book and made the dress a wrap-dress, so that it closes like a robe. I think that since I'd have to piece the overskirt anyway, and because I plan to leave out the stiffening at the overskirt's hem, that I can just have the entire dress as one piece instead of having the overskirt separate, but at the same time, I also like the look of the dress without the overskirt, so it might be nice to have the option to wear the dress without it. I'll see what I feel like doing tomorrow.

1 comment:

  1. Looks really good! There's such a timeless elegance to Poiret's work and the Kimono fabric works so well for the style.

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