Beginning to Sew Final Garment

 Before this stage I'd already sewn the bodice and skirt, then I had to sew the petals together, cut down the seam, turn inside out, press, and sew wire next to the seam with a one toed zipper foot.

Sewing the wire into the petals was challenging because I had to bend it to the curves of the petal and make sure that the wire was as close to the seam as possible, but I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

 I also added darker brown tones to the bottom of some of the petals because some had dried lighter than others and then pinned them to the mannequin to get an idea of the placement on the waist.

 Sewing net insert seams.

Cutting and Dying Fabric for Final Garment

 I chose to use satin back dupion for the main fabric because the dress was structured and the quality of the material was suitable for my 'couture' garment.

For the petals I had to cut and dye each one individually with pigment/brusho inks and then add darker tones with acrylic paint and watercolour paint. Previous to this project I hadn't dyed fabric before so I deciced I would use this technique this time around and it proved to be time consuming but worth it in the end! I also drafting the smaller petal pattern and repeated the same steps for the five petals which would be sewn into the collar.

Final Toile

Here are photos of my final toile. I made another petal this time using lighter and thinner wire but I still wasn't happy with the size and how the petal still drooped. So I then sketched another petal pattern and compared it to the one sewn onto my garment - I finally came to a decision that the petal needed to be smaller than the one I'd just made so I drafted a final pattern. I also used a white netting for the insert which I think looked a lot nicer than the organza I'd used in my first toile.

After finishing my final toile I decided I wanted the silhouette of the skirt to be a lot more fitted, so I took in the side seams in and altered the patterns, adding a vent for ease of movement.

First Dress Toile (Part 2)

I then progressed to making a petal by sketching a shape on paper and using this initial pattern, and sewing a channel with wire threading through to see whether my idea would work. The wire proved to be too thick and heavy which meant it was harder to mould to shape the of the petal and was to heavy to lift the petal to stick out from the waist.

I also experimented with using an organza material for the insert but I decided I didn't like the finish - although it was slowly starting to look like my design.

Drafting Initial Dress Patterns and First Toile (Part 1)

The drafting of my first toile was pretty straightforward because I only had to make a few changes to the standard dress pattern to create my desired shape. Firstly I lengthened the skirt to make it midi length, added in a waistband, created a sweet heart neckline and then adjusted the darts to make the bodice into four pieces so would fit nicely around the bust.

I also made the pattern piece for the insert to go between the collar and bodice. As you can see below when I had sewn the bodice, it proved to be a bit big at the side seams so I had to then adjust the patterns accordingly.