Nancy's Silk Skirt Gets a New Lease on Life

Seven years ago, Nancy brought me a wonderful silk georgette skirt.  She wanted it used to create and ballroom costume and we decided that costume could be both a rhythm gown and a smooth dress, by making the skirt removable.  It was her first ballroom costume collaboration and the results were good!  This is the rhythm dress we created, and the skirt pulled on underneath the dress to convert it to a ballgown.

I wish I had taken a photo of the skirt alone, before I incorporated it into Nancy's new ball gown, but I did not manage to do that.  I did take a quick shot of the embellished leotard with the skirt before it was assembled into the new gown, so you can see the relationship in the graphics.

AND I can show you the skirt in its new configuration!



In both cases, the embellishment details for the gowns were suggested by the graphic design in the skirt.  The first was a simpler, brighter, bronze level result,  and the new one is, for me, a WOW! 

My partner Michele and I debated and sampled several different processes to recreate the graphic on Nancy's new French Vanilla leotard base.  We knew we wanted the lines to be defined in the same way as they were on the skirt and then embellished with jet stones and flatback pearls.  After testing appliqued strips of black fabric, and the meticulous application of black permanent fabric marker, we decided that the latter had the most similar visual effect to that of the skirt.  After careful design and planning, and much pre-washing of the red lycra to avoid any post process color bleeding, we were very plesed with our results!

This is certainly the gown of a more advanced and more experienced dancer, one who knows she will be seen, even in black.  And a more elegant and serious look than the original.  When she picked up her gown, she brought in a Light Siam choker style necklace and bangles I had made for another costume of hers, and they looked perfect!

I am really wishing I could be at the Arthur Murray Showcase this weekend to see Nancy, Christy, and also Linda, who has a new Gently Used Rhythm Gown dance, but I will be at MN Star Ball on the other end of town.  I hope you will make it to one event or the other, and I hope anyone at the Arthur Murray showcase with a digital camera might send me a few images to keep me posted on what I am missing!  Good luck to you, my lovely ladies!

Kate: Shaken, Not Stirred

Sometimes, the jewelry is almost the most important part of the costume!

Kate wanted a elegant and sexy look for her new Rhythm gown.  Something that one of James Bond's consorts might have worn.  Something with a lot of class and a little flirt.  Something a little dangerous!  She had a skirt shape in mind when she arrived.

A soft, sheer but satiny skirt with lots of movement.  And enough sparkle power to dazzle a guy like James.

And maybe a few bracelets?  Just for good measure?

Shoeless, makeup-free, and without the usual quarts of hair product, when she picked up her gown... she looked GREAT!  What a beautiful back!!!

 

And in action...  WOW!

I think Gordon even has "Bond Hair!"  It's always a pleasure, Kate.
Visit Kate at her own wonderful blog, Riot and Frolic!

 

Patty's Quest for Emerald

Sometimes, a color is all important.  Patty came to my studio in search of the perfect emerald green for a new Rhythm gown.  Ballroom fabric suppliers provide a beautiful vibrantly pure (and sometimes neon) array of colors in a variety of fabrics, but greens for the last several years have been more on the yellow side of the color wheel than on the blue.  And Patty's dream color was on the blue side.  She had seen Oscar gowns in this magical but elusive color and nothing else would work. I think she was especially interested because her red hair is a new adventure for this octogenarian(!), and she really wanted to feature and flatter her spicy auburn.  Doesn't she look fantastic?


Her friend Randee came to her design meeting and helped work out our design.  Digging through my sources and scraps, we found a piece of silk in the perfect color to order for the skirt, and a scrap of satin lycra in my studio for a sash, but the stretch lace she wanted for her bodice did not exist in that particular emerald color.

So, off to superb dyer Marliss at Iris Color Studio I went, with a sample of white lace in the pattern Patty had chosen, to see if it could be made the perfect color.  Marliss did MANY tests.  The netting and portions of the flowers were nylon and other parts of the flowers were rayon, and the two fibers require different dyes.  Marliss struggled to get a deep, rich, vibrant enough color in either fiber.

Marliss's first samples, close, but not achieving the dream.

 When she mentioned the greatest challenge was getting the green to be both blue and vibrant enough, I mentioned the lace also came in bright, pure turquoise.  She was thrilled with the turquoise sample I took her and assured me that we could go ahead with the gown and she could get the color, particularly since the colored version of the lace was all nylon.

But I had to convince Patty that Marliss would come through.  Patty mentioned that having a  gown custom-made is a scary thing for her.  Trying to calm her fears, I suggested that even buying dancing lessons was potentially scary.  Teachers can demonstrate what steps and styling go with an Associate Bronze syllabus, and you can see how the dance looks on the teachers.  But what will you look like, doing those things?  You just have to trust the professionals to do their job, with your best interest at heart.  The same is true with custom dance wear design, but the difference is, when you are finished with the process, you have a valuable, re-sellable product.  What you learn in a dance lesson program is with you for your life and beneficial in a multitude of ways, but you cannot recoup any of the money you have spent, whereas, most gowns are good for a minimum of 75% of what you paid for them when you are ready for a new one, and that is a better value than buying a new car.  Fortunately, Patty gave me the go-ahead!

The turquoise lace Marliss over-dyed, and the final, perfect result.

Marliss came through brilliantly, and we cut, basted, assembled and fit Patty's gown.  I am especially proud of the lovely cuff detail on the sleeve.

Cuff Detail

I am also proud of the beautiful pattern match I achieved at the center back of the gown.  Lace yardage motifs can be very different sizes depending on where the pattern occurs on the piece, and blocking two pieces to exactly match each other is a tricky proposition.  Adding a zipper into the mix increases the challenge, but this worked out beautifully!

I am also happy with the beautiful edge I created with the lace selvedge.  And the rhinestone pattern works nicely with the lace pattern to emphasize shapes and edges, as well as providing all-over sparkle, while still allowing the vibrant emerald color to shine through.

I'll add one final shot of Patty dancing from the Dancer's Studio Showcase event last night.  I was not able to attend, but Patty had many family members and friends there to cheer her on and kindly shared these images with me.  Congratulations, Patty on your beautiful new gown, and on your performance!  I look forward to our next collaboration.

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???