So, when sewing was done, the dress was not.
The first step was the pearls. When you look at the reference images, there were a lot of pearls. So, again, it was much cheaper to order them from ebay than to buy them locally. I did not knew which size would be best (or which white tone), so I ordered few different sizes of green, two different colors of green and two different colors of white. Pearl white was perfect with my yellowish main fabric and the moss green worked fine with my mint green fabric. It was not perfect but close enough.
I started adding pearls to the bodice. I followed the reference image as closely as possible but because my bodice was slightly longer I had to do some creative modification. Then, I added silver stripe to the bodice and pearls there too. Even though it took some time, I actually loved adding the pearls. It was that kind of relaxing activity. Not very complex, things going all right and the result was really nice.
Then came the pearls on sleeves and it was trickier as I had to make sure that the pattern I had for the pearl groups would fit into the circle around the sleeve. So, I did not follow the pattern all the time, trying to hide the "mistakes" to the not so visible areas. (and then I discovered that sleeves have to be slightly larger and I undid the stripes and pearls..)
And then the dress was mostly done. As I removed the undergarment sleeves from the undergarment and sew those into the main dress to make sure they stay in place, I also decided to do something similar with the undergarment visible under the bodice. I used pre-gathered lace for the most part and in the front, I sew rectangular piece of fabric, with elastic ribbon and pre-gathered lace. All done by hand. Worked well enough.
Then came the accessories. The main thing was the wig. I ordered two different blond wigs - one with lace front, other without it but slightly more yellowish tone and slightly longer. While they were on post, I started to work on the netted caul. The pattern I used for the base dress came with a guide for the caul. I thought it was going to be short, considering the refrence for the headstyle I had.
So, I made it larger at one end. I used a pillow as my base for working and used pins to position the same silver thread I used in the dress to make the net. When the base was set using pins, at every junction, I had to sew the pearl and sew the junction together. Again, it took ages to do it. But in the end, I actually had the net and pearls. It tooks lot of pearls. Then, I used the same green ribbon I used thousands times with this dress again to do the sides. It is a nice little piece of caul that I got but it took hours to make.
Then I got my wigs. I decided to go with the lace one as I thought it will be easier to do the hair line as the hairstyle was drawn back. I did few not so successful tries trying to figure out how the hairstyle could be made (I mean - I saw it on the reference images but it was not so easy to redo it. I started to get quite desperate at one point. I mean - I can sew. I have learned so many new aspects with this projects but hairdressing.. I now need to learn this).
So, again, few hours of research and I decided not to start with the braided hair at the top but to curls at the bottom. Then I just tried to add a lot of volume to the wig and figure out how much hair I can use for the braids. I handsew the caul into the wig to keep it in place and it most have been 101 try with the braids when it started to look like it actually reminds me what I see on the reference. To be honest, wig was nightmare. And I have no idea what I can do to gain more skill in the field. I guess it will be testing and testing and testing.
I also added two small ribbons of green with pearls at the bottom of the wig. i did not sew them in (as it thought it will not work). So, on the con, acutally, i was losing one of the ribbons all the time.. somehow I always found it and asked someone to put it back.
The jewellery. I did not made the details myself. I spent hours in web trying to find close as possible components. I think I am 99% happy with what I found. Not all of those components were on the right color. The jewels were most off. So, I bought some transparent glass colors (the jewels were plastic but I thought it will work) that were meant to stick after you heat them in oven. I could not heat plastic in oven so I just hoped it will work and add this kind of more bluish feeling to the color. It worked brilliantly. And due to the fact that I had multiply colors (blue, black, white), I was able to mix different shades and the result was much better than it could have ever been with purchased colored items.
I colored the jewels and beads, I put it all together using small wire, clewed in the endings, tried it on and realized it was too long. Damn super clew! It was hard to take it a part, remove few beads and do it again. But the result was good. I am super happy about the earrings as I do not have piercings I managed to find components that look like piercing but actually are not
The final element that I missed was the ring but I was off for a conference just before the con and I did not managed to deal with it. Luckily, while on conference, I managed to do some shopping and find very similar ring for just few pounds.
The first step was the pearls. When you look at the reference images, there were a lot of pearls. So, again, it was much cheaper to order them from ebay than to buy them locally. I did not knew which size would be best (or which white tone), so I ordered few different sizes of green, two different colors of green and two different colors of white. Pearl white was perfect with my yellowish main fabric and the moss green worked fine with my mint green fabric. It was not perfect but close enough.
I started adding pearls to the bodice. I followed the reference image as closely as possible but because my bodice was slightly longer I had to do some creative modification. Then, I added silver stripe to the bodice and pearls there too. Even though it took some time, I actually loved adding the pearls. It was that kind of relaxing activity. Not very complex, things going all right and the result was really nice.
Then came the pearls on sleeves and it was trickier as I had to make sure that the pattern I had for the pearl groups would fit into the circle around the sleeve. So, I did not follow the pattern all the time, trying to hide the "mistakes" to the not so visible areas. (and then I discovered that sleeves have to be slightly larger and I undid the stripes and pearls..)
And then the dress was mostly done. As I removed the undergarment sleeves from the undergarment and sew those into the main dress to make sure they stay in place, I also decided to do something similar with the undergarment visible under the bodice. I used pre-gathered lace for the most part and in the front, I sew rectangular piece of fabric, with elastic ribbon and pre-gathered lace. All done by hand. Worked well enough.
Then came the accessories. The main thing was the wig. I ordered two different blond wigs - one with lace front, other without it but slightly more yellowish tone and slightly longer. While they were on post, I started to work on the netted caul. The pattern I used for the base dress came with a guide for the caul. I thought it was going to be short, considering the refrence for the headstyle I had.
 |
| Oo my.. it looks almost brownish on this photo |
I also added two small ribbons of green with pearls at the bottom of the wig. i did not sew them in (as it thought it will not work). So, on the con, acutally, i was losing one of the ribbons all the time.. somehow I always found it and asked someone to put it back.
The jewellery. I did not made the details myself. I spent hours in web trying to find close as possible components. I think I am 99% happy with what I found. Not all of those components were on the right color. The jewels were most off. So, I bought some transparent glass colors (the jewels were plastic but I thought it will work) that were meant to stick after you heat them in oven. I could not heat plastic in oven so I just hoped it will work and add this kind of more bluish feeling to the color. It worked brilliantly. And due to the fact that I had multiply colors (blue, black, white), I was able to mix different shades and the result was much better than it could have ever been with purchased colored items.
I colored the jewels and beads, I put it all together using small wire, clewed in the endings, tried it on and realized it was too long. Damn super clew! It was hard to take it a part, remove few beads and do it again. But the result was good. I am super happy about the earrings as I do not have piercings I managed to find components that look like piercing but actually are not
The final element that I missed was the ring but I was off for a conference just before the con and I did not managed to deal with it. Luckily, while on conference, I managed to do some shopping and find very similar ring for just few pounds.
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| Final set of jewelry |
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