Ballroom dress blog along
- Thread starter mindputtee
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mindputtee
Forum Master
Your support makes me feel so good and like I can actually do this!
I was in the process of making a dress form using plaster strips when a. I ran out of strips and b. I realized I needed someone to help me because as it dries I won't be able to move. I got more strips and my sister promised to help me, but between her full time job and my school and practice it's difficult to find time when we are both available and not dead tired.
I did end up having some time yesterday and cut out the pieces in the scrap fabric and pinned them together. It surprisingly actually is pretty close to what I want, it just needs some minor adjustments. I didn't have any time to take pictures yesterday though, so I will have to take some when I get back.
The green fabric is the lycra for the body suit. It's going to be rough when I have to bring myself to actually cut it. Once that happens there's no going back!
I was in the process of making a dress form using plaster strips when a. I ran out of strips and b. I realized I needed someone to help me because as it dries I won't be able to move. I got more strips and my sister promised to help me, but between her full time job and my school and practice it's difficult to find time when we are both available and not dead tired.
I did end up having some time yesterday and cut out the pieces in the scrap fabric and pinned them together. It surprisingly actually is pretty close to what I want, it just needs some minor adjustments. I didn't have any time to take pictures yesterday though, so I will have to take some when I get back.
The green fabric is the lycra for the body suit. It's going to be rough when I have to bring myself to actually cut it. Once that happens there's no going back!
mindputtee
Forum Master
The dress form will help you A LOT! I can't imagine how to make dress without it! I agree, adjustable dress forms from Joann fabrics is a good thing to have.
P.S. I looked at your blog, you made pretty cool dress there!
Thanks! I really enjoyed making the corset, it was a lot of fun. I need to do some more sketches of what the final dress is supposed to look like, I decided to take out the drop waist and move it up to above my hips since I have a bum that refuses to be nice and sticks out.
NonieS
Well-Known Member
Joe has whole room housing his dress form army lol. If ever they come to life like the plastic in that episode of Doctor Who, Joe will be screwed
ETA I don't even know if Joe has many dress forms... for some reason I just seem to remember there being a few in there LOL. Maybe I am lying....
mindputtee
Forum Master
Joe has whole room housing his dress form army lol. If ever they come to life like the plastic in that episode of Doctor Who, Joe will be screwed
ETA I don't even know if Joe has many dress forms... for some reason I just seem to remember there being a few in there LOL. Maybe I am lying....
Haha that's fantastic. I'm a total Doctor Who fan. I got DP into Doctor Who and that's how we bonded and probably 70% of why we are actually friends not just dance partners.
I might take you up on that offer though Joe. What are your dress forms like?
dancerdol
Member
I think I remember that the fabric came from Chrisanne so it should be high quality 6 way stretch dance crepe...one quick tip- take a small piece and try to glue on the stones (DSI glue is best - non-toxic and dries clear) to make sure that this fabric doesn't soak up the glue too much. Anyone on this thread should always test to make sure any new or unusual fabric "holds" the stones. I used a bathing suit lycra once on a Latin fringe dress and I only found out AFTER the dress was finished that it wasn't a good "stoning" fabric.I was able to get the stones to stay on the dress but, I had to use three times as much glue and it was a slow project to get it right.
mindputtee
Forum Master
It was just called lycra, I don't know that it's actually "dance crepe". I personally don't like lycra as an outside fabric so I'm making the bodysuit out of the lycra and then making the outerbodice of satin chifffon, which does hold stones well, I've already done some tests on it. I'm going to be using gemtac to stone, but that won't be for a while yet. Thanks for the tip though, I'll keep that in mind in the future!
mindputtee
Forum Master
Andreth
Member
I have the blue adjustable dress form that is supposed to be good for fitting pants too (they sell it at JoAnn's), but the problem I'm having is that the body suit on the dress I'm working on doesn't fit over that bottom part very well. Has anyone else has issues with getting a body suit over a dress form?
My current project, in progress. I hope to get some more done today...mostly underskirts and hemming. Also trying to decide whether to fishline/wire the hem, and if so, how many of the 4-5 layers.
My current project, in progress. I hope to get some more done today...mostly underskirts and hemming. Also trying to decide whether to fishline/wire the hem, and if so, how many of the 4-5 layers.
mindputtee
Forum Master
I just ordered swarovski rhinestones for it. I understand completely now why these dresses cost so much money. I mean, I guess that designers probably get discounts on the fabric/stones but still, it's costed about $500 just in raw materials. (I refuse to compromise on raw materials, I've done a lot of study of dresses and the thing I find that makes a big difference in a dress between looking cheap and nice/expensive is the quality of the material it is made of.) When you factor in the labor they have to do as well, you're easily looking at $800+ just to cover costs, much less make a profit.
mindputtee
Forum Master
I have the blue adjustable dress form that is supposed to be good for fitting pants too (they sell it at JoAnn's), but the problem I'm having is that the body suit on the dress I'm working on doesn't fit over that bottom part very well. Has anyone else has issues with getting a body suit over a dress form?
My current project, in progress. I hope to get some more done today...mostly underskirts and hemming. Also trying to decide whether to fishline/wire the hem, and if so, how many of the 4-5 layers.
Is this made of velvet? I can't really tell from the picture.
As for fitting it over the dress form, I'm thinking about putting snaps in so that it's easier to get on and off (or use the bathroom in) and then I can leave the snaps open while I have it on the dress form. I'll just do fitting for that part actually on my body. Good thing there are safety pins in the world and not just straight pins.
Andreth
Member
I didn't mean to hijack your thread, Mindputtee, but since everyone was talking about dress forms and I'm in the middle of a dress project too I thought I'd ask here. No, it's not velvet, just regular old lycra (with a sheen to it) with a mesh overlay at the top and chiffon skirts. The lighting isn't great, I know. The skirt is super heavy now...I didn't think 5 layers of chiffon would be that heavy, but they are! I'm hoping that trimming off the hem will help, and I'm thinking about wiring it too.
Hmmm, my dress form splits..I can pull the top body off of the supporting pole. This was great Andreth as I had the same problem with getting the body garment on the form. For me, I pulled the body garment up from the bottom of the form,,,after I took the top body off of the pole. Then everything worked out quite well. Much like a swim suit. Should be interesting blog.
dancerdol
Member
Andreth - beautiful dress! But, 5 layers of chiffon is a lot of fabric for a skirt - most of the designers use a dance crepe skirt with chiffon as an underskirt. Two layers of chiffon maximum.
Ballroom dresses need to be able to move and "bell" which is a balancing act of enough fabric weight to move with resistance but, not too much weight to drag down the dress. My advice is to take off three of the layers of skirt and use horsehair braid on the two remaining layers varying the height of the hem and braid. If you don't put braid on every layer the skirt will not "fly"
If this is a smooth dress - you can also cut open a few slits in the front which will help with the weight. Just use a very narrow horsehair braid for Smooth because heels get caught in the wider braid if you have kicks and flicks. Remember - you haven't added stones yet so, if it is heavy now - it will only get heavier.
Ballroom dresses need to be able to move and "bell" which is a balancing act of enough fabric weight to move with resistance but, not too much weight to drag down the dress. My advice is to take off three of the layers of skirt and use horsehair braid on the two remaining layers varying the height of the hem and braid. If you don't put braid on every layer the skirt will not "fly"
If this is a smooth dress - you can also cut open a few slits in the front which will help with the weight. Just use a very narrow horsehair braid for Smooth because heels get caught in the wider braid if you have kicks and flicks. Remember - you haven't added stones yet so, if it is heavy now - it will only get heavier.