Gathered pieces

There were a couple of items missing from my last post. They were posing at MUSE, the location of the book launch, to serve as examples of the finished projects.

These two pieces are similar in that they require fabric that gathers easily and elegantly. I don't like to pick favorites...actually, I do that everyday in everything I use and consume, so yes, these could be my favorite pieces. They are both incredibly easy to wear, can be so very romantic in the right fabric, and coincidentally are the easiest items to make since they are not fitted to the body.

First up is the Chemise. I found this awesome sheer fabric second hand for around three bucks.
The photos don't do it justice, but it shimmers various shades of a lime-y green and golden yellow. It served this purpose perfectly because of its ability to gather very tightly. I used the same fabric for the casing around the neckline and just zig-zag stitched the sleeves. I hate having to hem sheer fabric, especially at the bottom of a dress. It's annoying and can cause the area to stiffen. So, rather then hemming, I made sure when drawing out the pattern that the bottom was on the selvage (edge) of the fabric, which is already finished and won't unravel. Then, when sewing the sides, I went from the bottom up so that the edges would line up perfectly. Plan to avoid extra work!

This close up shows the gathers concentrated rather than spread out, I like it a "bunch". 

 

 

 

 

 

Next is the Retro Dress, featured in the Stay-Stitched video. This fabric reminded me of figure skating dress material. Super stretchy, super metallic and shiny, and a weight that makes it quite slinky, all perfect qualities for this piece. It was able to gather in as many gathers as I wanted. I could have made it twice as wide and it would have still worked. If you haven't looked in the book yet, let me just tell you how simple this dress is...it's a rectangle, that's it. A rectangle with a hem at the top and a side seam. Yep. The belt was homemade ... actually I stole it from the kimono since it was just the right shade of burgundy to pick up on some colors in the dress. This was my New Years outfit, with a cardigan over top and some slippers. It was chilly and the party was at our place so I was allowed to be comfortable.

In the top hem I used a chain necklace. It suited the dress without taking anything away from it. Look at those lil' gathers!

If you're looking for something easy to wear and versatile, these two items are the ticket. It may take some extra searching to find that perfect fabric, but when you do, you don't need much. And most importantly, you can whip up this piece in very little time and accessorize with items you already own.