Sunday 6 December 2009

Strapless dress with internal corset

The gold fabric of my dress looks much better in the evening when it seems to 'come to life'. In artifical light, it glows. Teaming it up with this retro style (fake) fur wrap made me feel quite like I was wearing an outfit from an old Elvis film - or was it because Elvis was on the radio when these pictures were taken?

The main dress didn't take 2 minutes to cut out and make up! The most difficult part was that each piece has to be cut out on the flat - ie: not the fold - in order to match the pattern up as nicely as possible. The pattern repeat on this fabric is quite large and not easy to match up exactly because of the lines of the dress.

The finished article was a little tight I must admit (my excuse which I'm sticking to is hormonal!). I had to insert the zip about 6 times - destroying 3 zips in the process!! In the end, I discovered that the problem was that although the dress is cut larger than the foundation, it needed to be taken out by a further half a centimetre before the zip would close over the foundation.

The belt was easy peasy to make - just a straight strip of stretch satin, gathered at each end and pinned together at the front with a vintage brooch.

I was very nervous about wearing a "home made" dress out to a posh function, but am glad I did. When I got there, I received a satisfying number of "oooh what a lovely dress" comments to make the hours of consternation and hand stitching totally worthwhile, and the satisfaction of knowing that apart from my time, this unique dress cost the grand total of about £20 to make, was priceless.


Click on pics to enlarge


24 comments:

  1. wow you look gorgeous, that is a great dress. You are very talented, i cant even remember how to thread a sewing machine!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It looks amazing! You are so clever - don't call it homemade, call it handmade couture!

    Pomona x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now that is just gorgeous. You look like a glamorous movie star!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That is just beautiful. Awesome! Everything is just right ..... the wrap, and the shoes go so well with the beautiful dress. If I had your talent and was your size, I would not worry about wearing that outfit to something "posh"....not for one second! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You look gorgeous, clever lady !!
    Twiggy x

    ReplyDelete
  6. "The main dress didn't take 2 minutes to cut out and make up!'

    Two? TWO?

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a gorgeous dress! The first time in a long time I have seen a strapless dress look elegant and nicely fitted...not one of those terrible boob-tube dresses people seem to be pulling on every few seconds in case soemthing might fall out...I absolutely love this dress...so classy!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow--you look like you are ready for the red carpet!

    ReplyDelete
  9. It turned out wonderfully! And you look great too!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, you look stunning, I am completley in awe. And at least you dont run the risk of two people turning up in the same dress, which happened to me at a posh work function!

    Jen
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. looking incredible! great dress.
    x

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well done girl! You look absolutely fantastic! And I hope you told everyone who asked that this was a couture dress... made by sewcurvycorsets.com ? I bet you didn't... everything you do should be aimed at promoting your business... so you need to arrange to wear it again somewhere where there are LOTS of people and take some business cards. x

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh you look such a glamourpuss! The dress is divine, such an achievement.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Absolutely stunning! You look gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow! you do look very gorgeous! and that dress is just amazing. I can never quite imagine what it must feel like to be able to creat something so beautiful and useful.

    You go girl!



    MBBx

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi there! I'm new to your blog (and blogging) and have been reading backwards - I'm especially interested in your corset-making. I've booked a victorian corset-making workshop in Jan and am v excited! But that's by the by - I had to leave a comment about this dress - you look fab and the dress looks beautifully made. well done!

    ReplyDelete
  17. fantastic you look wonderful~and i can almost hear elvis in the background!

    ReplyDelete
  18. WOW...WOW...WOW... The dress is sensational, Julia... it turned out a treat and looks fantastic on you! You look like a 50's film starlett... And definitely not just homemade, but haute couture! Very well done! :o) Happy Day ((HUGS))

    ReplyDelete
  19. You look beautiful!! Well done! I bet you attended the function with great confidence that no other lady was going to turn up with the same dress! :o) Love the second lot of pictures..very glamorous.

    ReplyDelete
  20. The dress is amazing - mostly because you're wearing it!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Gorgeous dress! I think it fits just right and the fake fur cape sets if off a treat. I am a bit envious of your small waistline too but I shall try not to be too pea green about it! You are very adventurous with your sewing and your results are brilliant! What is next?

    ReplyDelete