The candy wrapper dress is done.
The dance is over.
She didn't wear the outfit I'd worked so diligently on, but that's ok; she looked beautiful anyway.
Did it hurt my feelings?
Enh.. little bit, but all along I'd realized this project was as much for me as for her.
So now I have this amazing dress, which I'll soon place on
Etsy. It's all good.
In my rush to get this project completed, I'm afraid I did not remember to stop and photograph each step.
After the last photos posted
here, I sewed the bodice to the skirt, and was very unhappy....the wrappers on the bodice just didn't "match" the ones on the skirt; they didn't belong together.
I also realized there was no way a ruffled flounce was going to be attached to this dress. I created the sleeves/flounces and saw that it looked more like armor than a ruffle! Bleh!
At this point, I took the dress outside and hung it on the mimosa tree, spraying the entire creation with teal dye, letting it run and drip randomly. Awesome!
This not only filled in the "blank" spaces of fabric, but helped the wrappers to "blend" together better.
The flounces would've finished off the dress edges, and since that didn't pan out, I was faced with a new dilemma--- what to do with all those raw edges.
Enter the duct tape I'd purchased.
I trimmed the entire dress edge with hot pink duct tape. Ooooh----VERY unhappy!
It was far too bright and shiny compared to the dress itself!
I immediately added a teal tape edge over the pink. Better, but still SO shiny!
Mod Podge to the rescue!
A coat of matte Mod Podge saved the day, dulling that tape just enough to more closely match the dress.
This was a wrap-style dress, and to cut down on bulk, I chose not to add a tie-belt, but instead used snaps at the waist.
This left the dress a little plain, so I used one of the sleeve flounces to create a large rosette by rolling, pleating and hand-stitching. When it looked like a flower, I stitched it to a large safety pin and attached it at the waist.
I wasn't happy with the way the skirt hung (and with a real live
curvy human being inside, it had a gap at the bottom of the wrap overlay), so I created a petticoat from muslin and hot pink tulle.
The plain muslin begged to be hosed down with that teal dye from earlier, so out it went to the mimosa.
The way the dye dripped and puddled into the tulle was
delicious!
It was only then that I realized I hadn't remembered to take photos of the steps!
So I packed up the dress, the petticoat and a wig from my collection (don't you love the way it matches the dress?) and sent it all off to the studio with the Canadian to be photographed. His prissy little mannequin is just not the same as a real feminine body, but she'll do.
I love my dress, but now I have all these candy wrappers, and a million ideas....
I don't think this is over.....not yet.
All along I'd been contemplating a matching clutch and pumps.
And I'm in love with that petticoat....
No, I do not think this is over.....
*maniacal laughter*
