Smithson Gala Gown 2004
For the past few years, Bob and I have attended the annual James Smithson Society Gala. Every year I make a gown for the Gala, and have tried to tie the design of the gown to either the theme or venue of the event. Last year we were at the National Zoo, so I made the leopard duster and Tiger Paw Purr-se.
This year, the event is being held at the new Udvar-Hazey Air and Space Museum Annex near Dulles Airport in Virginia.
Hmm; air and space. Lots of possibilities there!
My first flash of inspiration came when wandering through G Street Fabrics one day. I spotted something called "Cracked Ice Slinky." It was a very deep velvety black, sprinkled with little sparkly chips that flashed prismatically, like aurora borealis crystals.
In my mind, I saw the dress: a slender sleeveless sheath, with a deep plunging draped back and a gored train. And scattered over the dress would be Swarovski crystals in the patterns of constellations.
My first thought was, I can't design this on paper; I really need to make a mock-up. I bought a single yard of the fabric to play with (at $30 a yard, I'm not going to get too playful, though!). Then, using the suggestions from the Fitting Tips site, I made a half-size dress form.
I drafted the basic sheath pattern with PatternMaster Boutique (of course), and printed it out in half scale. To my amazement, I got the whole dress out of one yard of fabric.
The First Draft
Front
view
The fabric doesn't show the style lines very well. It is a shoulder princess sheath with a high and wide neckline in front, and a very deep back neck (cut by hand).
The slinky gives the line of the skirt a nicely pegged effect from the front; I think it will be quite flattering.
Oh, and I'm planning on wearing a pretty strong body shaper underneath this!!
Back
view
This shows the part that is supposed to drape. It doesn't gather the way I want it to; it lays flat like a cape. It's obviously the wrong shape. I need to play around with getting the right shape that will give me a shape like a drapery swag.
Drape
You can see that the drape just hangs flat, rather than in soft folds as intended.
Train
The train is a double godet (godet within a godet, as seen in Threads
magazine issue 111). I elongated the first godet to give it a slight train
effect, and it's just what I wanted.
March 31
Full size muslin completed, and the fabric has arrived!
No, I'm not going to wear sneakers to the ball!!
The test fabric is an inexpensive Slinky from my favorite addiction, Fabric.com. The muslin is actually too loose (yippee!) so I need to trim the side pieces a bit. However, it looks just the way I wanted it to.
The neck and armhole seam allowances have not been trimmed, so they will be a little different than shown here.
The back, showing the revised drape and the godet. It's really hard to see the details of the godet; it wants to hang so flat. I'm going to put horsehair braid in the hem and perhaps that will make it drape better.
The drape now looks very close to how I envisioned it. I need to make the back scoop a little deeper if I can, but that's about it.
Also, the fabric arrived from California today, so I am rarin' to go to get this dress done!!
April 1
Muslin Modifications
I received so many helpful ideas from the fabulous folks on The Creative Machine list (you know who you are!). So this evening I did a few modifications to the muslin.
What I did:
Here's the new front view
I don't want to make the front neck too dramatically low. At the same time, I realize I need to select my jewelry and accessories before making the final dress. However, I like the slightly lower neck.
The side seam also fits much nicer.
I made the godet opening into a wedge, with the bottom opening about 6" across. I might have to increase it a little, but just this much makes a difference as well.
The horsehair braid is also going to help. All I had was 1" wide, so I think I either need to find skinnier braid or perhaps use something else to stiffen the hem. It was suggested to underline the godet with organza or another material to give it more body; I might try that as well. Luckily I have plenty of the trial slinky!
I didn't realize the train turned out so... "trainy"! It's a bit larger than I thought it might be; amazing how much a slight alteration makes (taking a circle wedge godet and lengthening it into an oval). This event is usually crowded, but this year the venue is the new Smithsonian Air & Space Annex near Dulles Airport, so there will be lots of elbow room and (hopefully) no one will step on the hem!
This is actually dangerously close to a wearable muslin...
Update: April 12
By jove, I think I've got it! Interfacing the train is the way to go.
I fused lightweight interfacing to the train sections. I gives the fabric just enough body to stand out. However, I think the nonwoven stabilizer is too stiff; I will use a fusible knit on the final version.
It swooshes nicely when I turn, too.
I think I will declare the pattern officially "tweaked" and will now go on to making the real dress.
Shoes have been purchased! This is the style, but they are in black. They are from Capezio and wow, they are the most comfortable pumps I've ever worn!!
Update: April 22
It's Done!!
Boy, do I look happy or what? The final step of the dress was understitching the neck and armholes. This had to be done by hand, to preserve the stretchy quality of the gown.
Here's a better shot of the front.
I stabilized the godets with fusible black knit interfacing and also widened the godet slit from 8 inches to about 12 inches.
Oh, can you spot the little dipper, big dipper, orion and libra? Just out of view are casseopia and aries.
I love how the back drapes.
Oh, and astronomy buffs might recognize the constellation Gemini on my backside.
A closer view of both the drape and Gemini.
Polaris is on my left shoulder, with the little dipper and big dipper.
So, now the only thing is to do up my hair, powder my cheeks, and it's off to the ball!
I will post one more picture of the both of us all gussied up, but that will have to wait until Sunday. In the meantime, I thank you all for your advise, suggestions, support and encouragement!!