Cindi's Golden Ribbon Lace

This is the first of my THREE golden gowns this fall.  I swear, sometimes the craving for a color gets in the water!  When Cindi came in for her design meeting, she fell in love with ribbon lace, and we designed a gorgeous gown to put it to good use.  I had so much fun with this design!

This gown was a real patterning puzzle, with loads of twists and turns and confusing bits.  When bespoke clothing is patterned, we do so without seam allowances, to allow us to think clearly and see style lines easily.  This pattern has lots going on!

First the leotard, (the basis for all dancewear) sleeves, and collar are patterned, and style lines are drawn in place.  Then, the pattern is cut apart on the style lines, and each individual fabric is patterned separately and cut out. 

Then a fitting confirms that all the lines are in beautiful places on my client's body and the real work begins.

The upper leotard and sleeves of this gown looked like this assembled.  I imagined that Cindi's left sleeve and side (on your right) might look as though she were naked and sprayed with a light dusting of gold.  Bra cups provide her with ample cover, but the impression was pretty successful, as you can see here.

The lower portion of the leotard looked like this, before the skirt and lining were applied.  The empty space on the garment left side (your right) is waiting to be filled by the white mesh above, which is both leotard and the beginning of the white section of the skirt.

And below are the first of the seven skirt panels, laid out on the ribbon lace for cutting.

Because all of the patterns are applied to the wrong side of the fabric for cutting, they are created upside down, which requires a good bit of thinking and puzzle ability with asymmetrical style lines like this.

Cindi's left side and sleeve are glimmering with Aurum crystals, the most expensive rhinestone money can buy, because they have a fine real gold coating on their surface.    The white center section is drenched in Crystal AB sew-on Rivolis and many sizes of flat backs.  The gold ribbon lace was so splendid on its own that we chose not to apply rhinestones to it at all. 

Now, no laughing!  I was sad when it came time to create jewelry for this gown, because it didn't really need much, but I did get to make a pair of earrings!

The competition at which Cindi will debut her new gown is in HAWAII! next week, and sadly, I cannot be there to take pictures, but I am hoping she brings me back a shot or two to share with you.   Maybe something with a palm tree in the background, or a sandy beach???