The deed is done there is no going back now, the swan maiden is entered and now it is but to wait for feedback with all things crossed. Honestly I don't know how I will go there is so many talented people out there, far more talented than I but as the saying goes got to be in it to win it. Beyond that competitions like this can only serve to strengthen my skills and better my sewing so it all fulfils the plans I have for 2021.
Before I continue I do just want to address why I didn't do update posts, I had wanted to but the thought about it in terms of best use of time and felt I was better off hand-sewning feathers than typing in order to get it finished on time. I also conjectured that one good post at the end of a project is probably more worth while than posting weekly for the sake of it.
So without further ado the summation of the Swan Maiden
Part one: A Silk taffeta regency inspired style dress with lace and pearl detailing
This part of the costume was cannibalised from the remains of an unfinished wedding dress I inherited from the estate of a deceased seamstress. Not only did I unpick the large skirt for yardage I also removed all the pearl details, pearl buttons and the elastic button loop. As they say waste not want not.
The process of construction was fairly simple and the dress pattern is based on Sense and Sensibilities Regency gown pattern. Alterations were done on this though as I wanted the neckline to be V shaped, inspired by Jane in BBC's version of Pride and Prejudice. I have no idea of the historical accuracy of this in terms of regency but given the swan maiden is not historical it felt like the best time to take advantage of how well this looks on the décolletage.
I also had to (for both personal journey and competition reasons) work to create the right fit, which did present some challenges. Primarily having a large and high bust with a small back the bust measurement generally creates a far to big bodice size for me where the side seams push forward and the back just swims. So I did several new things here. Firstly I traced out the size based on a smaller back than front, trued up all lines on the pattern with rulers and French curves then made the thing I avoid most..... a mock up. I in fact made 2 mock up's of the bodice before I was happy enough with the fit. Changes included, in addition to the neckline and getting that curve right, adding about an inch to the back side seam tapering down to nothing, and adjusting the back curved seam. Proud of myself I moved onto the silk. (trust me the assurance of fit comes up later).
So how does one cut into silk taffeta that they would never have the budget to buy otherwise? Simple just don't think about it. I used the two back panels to create the skirt back as they had the most length. I even kept the train and the scalloped hem for about a week. the plan was to join them to what had been the front piece of the skirt and use a side piece for the bodice and bodice lining. However this was not to be, the front piece came up a few inches short. I was then left with the decision of whether to give up on the idea of the already partially finished hem detail or use the two side fronts and have a seam in the center of the front of the dress. I deliberated for a week on this as I worked on the bodice (being cut from the otherwise too short front piece).
In the end logic won out, I shortened the train cutting off the hem and used one side front piece of the original to cut out my dress front. Being regency inspired the skirt work did not require much more. I French seamed all bar the Centre back seam (it was on selvage) and pleated in the back top using both my eye and hope and prayers. In hindsight I probably should have done larger pleats for less of a poofy end effect, they do however sit well when ironed flat.
Now back to that bodice I was working on earlier. I used several techniques that I have generally not used before (watching you tube gives me so many ideas). These included under stitching, which is likely to be my new favourite thing ever. Drawing out the seam lines on all pieces, tacking the seams prior to the machining and ironing as I went. I still had to whip stitch the lining in place though not trusting myself to ditch stitch neatly enough.
For sleeves I toyed around with the patterned poofs but in the end decided to use that scallop work as at least a nod to the efforts of the original seamstress. Whilst the scallops were there I did have to finish them (they had only been tacked in place, I assume based on other wedding dress bodice that the scallops were to be finished with lace and beadwork) and there is small piecing under the arm due to the whole sleeve pattern not fitting on the width I had to work with but the outcome I think looks fantastic. This was also technically the place I first used the hem stitch or cross stitch. That's right I actually hand finished hems this time.
The original wedding dress had used pearl beads as buttons down the back with an elastic loop closure so both of these I salvaged for my dress. I did later find out when I went to sew on the beads that the loops counted 11 where the beads counted only 8, so I had to do a quick match at spotlight. I briefly considered changing them out for swarovski pearls but decided against it based on the expense of the cloak notions.
In order to dress up the front I purchased form Millinery Online (where I got my feathers) the off white lace which I then hand beaded with some salvaged pearls to dress it up. Feeling bold I followed up with some pearl detailing in the scallops of the sleeves again with salvaged beads.
In the end I was very impressed with the finished dress, it works as a stunning stand alone piece and also within the context of this overall costume. The silk was a literal dream to work with, weightless, rustling, exquisite. The fit however, remember I said we would come back to that. Well apparently in the time it took to make this (only a few weeks) I saw a significant (think 2" across the front bustline) drop in my boobs. Highly likely this had to do with the whole being post natal and hormones but those hormones didn't make it any less infuriating (actually probably made it worse). There was little I could do about the dress and to be fair to myself the looser fit is not an issue so much on the dress as it was on the stays.
Part 2: Sizing down Half Stays because your timeline does not allow for a whole new set.
It actually only took one night of hand sewing while binge watching costube so I can't complain to much, however undergarments' like this one are kind off boring so I will keep this brief.
To change the size of the bust line I unpicked all my meticulous hand sewn binding, unpicked the top stitched gores and cut them down by 1/4" each side. 4 gores across the top meant a total of 2" was taken out.
I then replaced them and whip stitched them back into place folded up the binding and re-stitched that down as well. Interestingly hand stitching the gores in was way easier, neater and less time consuming than machine top stitching them in the first time.
This is possibly a construction method thing whereby the first time I flatlined the lining with heavy linin, and sewed the entire stay as a lining and then a fashion fabric then sewed them together around the outside and top stitched to enforce the seams, when hand stitching I treated the stays as done and just layered the three fabrics on the gores, placed them in, folded back the raw edges and whip stitched them on both sides. If I have to make short stays or any sort of bust gored stays again I will likely use this method rather than that of my earlier attempts.
Part 3: Crinkle Organza Cloak with individually hand sewn feather trim and hand beaded lace edging
So the crowing glory of this costume, for where would a swan maiden be without her magic cloak (married to an abusive asshole who would rather control you than risk losing you to actual freedom that's where). I purchased for the price on sale of $5/3m (that's 5 bucks total not per meter) crinkle organza from Pitt Trading. I wanted a sheer fabric but I also wanted to have some texture. I had considered glass organza or crystal organza, but then had flashbacks to earlier projects. So I started surfing my favourite Aussie online fabric places and was fated to find this bargain.
The pattern for the cloak is simple and thus kind of draped on myself. I started with a vague shoulder shape, angled down to ensure enough length to cover the dress train at the back and reach the ground at the front. The shoulder shape did have to be reworked when tried on and I did this by simply pinching in what was sticking out weirdly. And by weirdly I mean Gridiron padding weirdly.
I was going to French seam the cloak also but the nature of the organza as a sheer meant that any time I doubled the fabric it was very apparent, so having essentially 4 layers of the organza in the seam would have been unseemly (pun totally intended). I checked the organza for fraying and found it held up to a lot, given that the nature of this item was to be delicate, I decided not to apply a seam treatment but rather keep the seam allowance as small as possible (1/8") to minimize seam visibility from the outside.
The inside seams were folded over and then folded again and sewn down with invisible thread. For those who have never heard of this it is like really fine really breakable fishing line that you cant see and knots like a calf after leg day. You have likely seen it on some hems in mass produced fashion, the hems that drop regularly and within the first two to three washes. Yeah.... can't say I will ever use that again by choice. It did however allow for me to have no visible seam line on this finished edge.
I then started sewing on feathers, lots of them, like over 500 feathers, one at a time, for hours and hours. For those wondering I found the easiest method (and there are a few tried on this) is to sew through the shank from the front on like a cushion or lounge arm back up through the shank then around the shank a few times then knot off. I did start with using my thread two ends through the eye of the needle and bring back through the loop to knot off and start. WRONG. no you need to have a knotted end because otherwise your thread slips out of your needle eye every single stitch. I did try working from the back. WRONG. Your feather will move and end up at an odd angle requiring you to undo that feather and start again. So the best way I found was;
1. Stab thread through shank, close to where it turns white,
2. Sew through fabric where you want it placed and pull tight.
3. Stab back up through shank about 5mm higher in the clear section
4. loop around shank a few times
5. knot off.
Second issue I came across was not having enough feathers to do what I wanted. It took more feathers than anticipated to get the density required. I quickly ordered more feathers express, though also had an issue with cost. All up I think there is about $100 in just feathers on this cloak so you can see why I was unable to fund Swarovski pearls now. I also had to re-assess just how much of the cloak i could cover. The original plan was to go up to about the knees, then start to fade out/decrease density to about the hip. As you can see in the photos that would have taken probably another $300 easily. So plans were changed to bring up to above the knees in center front, then taper it down in an uneven pattern towards the back which would be 3-4 rows of feathers high (depending on stock).
One of the reasons coverage is low is because the feathers are natural so by nature not uniform. In a pack of 50 you could get on average half really good full shaped feathers and half kind of long skinny feathers. There is no saying if you will get a pack with only 10 good ones or only 10 shit ones. But as I say to my son you get what you get and you don't get upset. It did however make it harder to guess what number I would need.
I don't think this change necessarily had an adverse effect on the costume though as you can see in the photo (top) there is a certain wing link quality to the pattern when held out. Also while I can say I am unlikely to work with feathers in this quantity again I do like the finished look of them all bunched together.
This brings me to the next issue, after I was half way through the feathers (both fronts and half of two rows of the back done) I tried on the cloak and you know how they say light as a feather - well 250 of them on crystal organza does actually create some drag. Add to that the natural convex of the feathers and the cloak was just not sitting right. The feather boarder which hung beautifully on the hanger, was curling under. I shortened from the shoulder to counteract this, however I did make sure to sew all feather trim and then shorten so that I didn't have to do this twice.
Finally it came time to add the hood (drafted as a basic hood shape based on a hoodie) which is where I realised as much as I hate it I should have gone with a more draped chiffon over organza, which has a lot of body. The hood was not going to sit flat on my head. I having just wrangled a whole hemmed edge plus felled seams in the stupid invisible thread was not about to be defeated though. I went to my trim stash and pulled out several options to try and weight the boarder of the face hole (sorry I don't know the technical terms for these things and face hole works for me). I decided on a lace embellished with more pearls to tie into the pearl detailing on the dress.
Once finished I added the hood to the cloak with more of the devils thread and created a thread loop and pearl closure. It was done and ready for photos.
The costume has been entered in the foundations revealed competition today so hopefully I can get at least some constructive feedback from the costume community at large on where I can improve in this 2021 the year of improving. And stash busting.
I think the biggest lesson I take away is to work on the chemise dress next as anything fitted is going to cause problems as I continue to drop pregnancy weight. I am however also trying to stagger the costumes out. I would like to complete 12 solid projects this year (that's at least one of these posts a month) but they will be split between a costume, then something to add to my wardrobe, then something fixed/ufo completed and then start back at costume.
Stay tuned for my 1940's dress made from another $5 bundle (cause I may be stash busting but who can resist a bargain).
