Tie dye (kimono) dress completion!!
Oh no.. I have a problem.. I'm sewing faster than I can write these entries! I keep saving posts as drafts so I can come back later to finish them and add the perfect pictures. I think I'm being too much of a perfectionist though so I reckon I will embrace the imperfection and try to post more frequently. Post small, create big!
Project begun: 10/9/19
Project complete: 25/1/20
Hardest part: redrafting the bust lining to fit properly. I think I made maybe 7 or 8 versions of it and it still didn't fit properly when I put the final dress together.
Best part: The fabric sections which were individually shibori dyed give it a completely unique look.
Pattern used: McCall's Yaya Han costume range- M7765 view D.
This was the first project I made a toile (aka muslin) for, normally I race full steam ahead and then just deal with the consequences. As you can see below though, the original fit was MASSIVE so I'm glad I did.
As the fit was so big I wasn't sure if I should redo the toile in a smaller size or just adjust it from the large size. Being self taught sucks sometimes.. I spent a bunch of time trying to google the answer but just came up with really generic info on making a muslin. So I decided to just plow ahead and adjust what I had and in the pic below you can see the results. I ended up with a really nice fit everywhere except the small of my back and at my bust point. You can't really see it in the photo but the bust point ended up hallow and lumpy.
The battle of the bust began! I tried to extend the darts, move the darts, change the darts into a princess seam instead and eventually settled on making it into a 3 piece cup. Looking back I wonder if it was work all the effort seeing as this was only the lining and the outer piece was ruched so you probably wouldn't have seen the puckering anyway.
Here you can see all my different versions of the bust.
Tah daaaah! Look at that fit on the finished bust. It does look slightly pointed but I don't mind it and it doesn't crumple in the nipple like the original.
So once the pattern adjustments were finalised, the fabric cut out and I had practiced the dyeing it was time to dye each piece individually. I took 3 weekends to dye everything, and did some of the sewing in the weeks in between. Some pieces had to be dyed twice while other things I forgot to cut out the first time. I hadn't cut the ruched bust pieces on grain properly and they shrank again after dyeing even though I had prewashed the fabric. This meant that I ended up cutting and dying these a second time because the first version was mismatched and unusable.
Finally I have some fabric dyed up and ready to sew! Look at all those pretty colours!
Disaster! Look at that sad frayed edge below! I had major fraying on the edges of the fabric of the first batch I dyed. This particular piece was so bad because I dyed it twice. To achieve this look I first melted some tea light candles then used a lighter (a small spatula would work)) to paint the liquid wax on. I kept the fabric flat when drying it out and also when transporting and dying it. I wasn't particularly delicate with it though as I wanted to get the cracks in the surface for the dye to seep into. The first layer of dye was an ombre of pink, purple and blue, mirrored on both of the side back pieces. I removed the wax and washed the dye out then let it dry. The next weekend I overdyed it with a light green and blue. Although I loved the outcome of this process it was so messy using the wax and I'm not sure if I want to do it again anytime soon.
I might make a more detailed post later about how I dyed everything as I used different techniques for all the different pieces.
On to the sewing- I had to do a lot of adjustments to make everything fit together- especially the lining. I'm not quite sure why the lining was such a disaster but when I first tried it on there was a 5cm gap at the back! I had to unpick the entire lining and resew it with smaller seam allowances.
Sewing the lining and outer layer together was a bit of a guessing game- especially on the pieces which had frayed a lot as they were no longer the same size/shape. By this stage I was frustrated with how long everything was taking and just eyeballed the new hem lines- I was actually surprised the dress didn't look more lopsided!
The instructions didn't say to topstitch along the hem but I did it anyway and I think it looked a lot nicer and crisper.
Almost done! just checking the strap length/position. I didn't use the markings on the pattern to position the strap because I had altered the pattern for the bust. Also I forgot.
Below you can see a close up of the bust and strap. I thought I might have to add the piece of binding between the breasts as the upper edge of the dress was loose and unshapely.
Once I added the bias binding along the top edge it really firmed up and everything was fitting snug as a bug! I found I no longer needed the binding between the breasts as the original shape was perfectly fine.
Overall this was a mammoth effort but I'm so glad I tackled it. It was a very ambitious project considering that when I started I had only used one store bought pattern before. Everything else I have previously made has been self drafted.
The dye turned out really well- almost exactly what I imagined. Next time I dye individual pattern pieces though I will make sure to zig zag the edges to stop fraying.
I think if I make this again I will also make the size slightly bigger to avoid the headache I had with the lining being too small. I will also add a little extra to the lining bust pieces as they ended up less wide than where it connected to the dress.
Finally I get to twirl around in my pretty dress!
