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for the time being i will keep my old posts here at blogger, but i have imported all content to wordpress. please don't abandon me! to stay updated, head on over to my new space and follow me there. thanks!

—lisa g.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

eclair pt. 3: finished!

here, finally, is my finished eclair! i wore this for easter and i am very pleased with how it turned out. the bodice fitting threw me for a loop initially. i had to muslin it about three times before getting a good fit! it's all due to the position of the princess seams and how they narrow to the center at the waist. while i love this feature, i certainly scratched my head a bit as i tried to work the bodice down to my bust size.




all in all, i got a fit that i am very happy with. i can stand, sit and breathe without being uncomfortable. always a good thing. to achieve this, i had to lengthen the bodice by about 1 1/2". part of this is due to me hiking the bodice up because i have a fairly high bust (and needed a church appropriate neckline). but also i'm on the tall side (5' 8") and needed the bodice to hit below the ribcage. you know, for breathing purposes. i also added 1" to the length of the skirt, plus did a tiny rolled hem. and truth be told, it wouldn't hurt to have added another inch in length.



this skirt is huge, by the way. i have to confess i didn't realize it was a full circle skirt until i had it on and immediately saw it's twirling possibilities. so that's why it took so long to hem this thing...




so here's the rundown—


my shell fabric is a cotton lawn, bordering on voile, and the contrast ties are a poly chiffon. i underlined the bodice with muslin that i added fusible to. i didn't want any fusible attached to the shell fabric and found this a really great compromise. i achieved the structure needed without the downsides of fusible possibly bubbling or causing weird creases or wrinkles on the bodice later down the road.


sorry, weird smirk on my face here... it just happened to be the
picture that best showed off how the skirt hangs.


i fully lined the dress with a lightweight poly lining to which i added boning and a waist stay. it is amazing how much the waist stay does! it's such a simple addition and really anchors the bodice in place without being uncomfortable. seriously, it only took about fifteen minutes to do this. and darn it all, i forgot to take pics as i put it in. next time!





i also added some tiny spaghetti straps, crossed in the back. these don't add anything structural, i just feel more comfortable with them there. also folks, this dress needs some hanging loops. if i hung it by the straps, they would stretch completely out of shape. and if you don't add straps... well you're probably gonna want to hang it up somehow!




as a side note, i just wanted to say thanks to all the lovely comments on my daughter's pajama pants. who knew all us fancy dressmaking gals would get so inspired by pj's?


eclair pt. 1: a quick overview
eclair pt. 2: pockets!


—lisa g

7 comments:

  1. I popped over from your comment on my blog. Your dress is BEAUTIFUL! I've bookmarked you so I can follow your projects! Looks like I can learn a lot from you!

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    1. thanks so much! i aim to share what little knowledge i have! :)

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  2. Hi, just letting you know I've tagged you in a blog meme! You can find the post here: http://meganandthemachine.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/challenge-11-things.html
    Megan

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  3. Hi -- I'm new to your blog & just love it. Your Collette dresses are beautiful. I'm also just getting back into sewing, so reading this is a great refresher. Questions on lining/underlining both Eclair & Macaroon --what kind of fabric with you use with the denim Macaroon & the fusible muslin acted as an underlining? Also looking for info on waist stay - anywhere I can look? Having a tough time finding both patterns -- any good website? Thanks so much. Claudia cshingary@yahoo.com

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    1. thanks so much! the macaron didn't need an underlining, i used bemberg rayon to line the dress however.

      for the eclair, the pattern called for adding fusible to the shell fabric. so instead of doing that, i added fusible to the muslin to give it extra stiffness and then sewed the interfaced muslin to the shell fabric before constructing the bodice. as for the waist stay, i just gleaned information from various sources on how to do it. i will have interior shot of one in an upcoming post and burdastyle.com has some info here:

      http://www.burdastyle.com/blog/invisible-details-of-a-couture-garment-the-waist-stay.

      i have received my colette patterns as gifts, but you can purchase from their website www.colettepatterns.com.

      hope that helps!

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  4. Hey, I found you via the colette flickr group. This dress is so adorable and I love that you added a waist stay!

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  5. Lovely dress, and it fits to a "T"!
    designdreamer

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i appreciate all the feedback, but will no longer be responding to comments left here. i have moved all my content to wordpress (see link at the top of the page!) and will now be posting there. all my posts can be found in my wordpress archive. thanks for reading and please visit my new page!