Sprucing up my Standard gown - sewing questions!

Back to my black latin dress - refresher - it is fitted and flared with godets inserted in the hem and trimmed with crinoline. Two questions:

1. if I go for adding the underskirt, which would be same fabric, circle skirt attached to miniskirt attached to bodysuit, should I be trying to match the diameter of the hem of the topskirt, or go bigger? Idea is more movement, more swish, more fabulousness (the elusive dream of having a pro look costume :) The underskirt will have the same black crinoline trim for body.

2. I like the look of what look like long straps attached at the shoulders, heavily stoned and framing / draping around the back opening, usually attached at the bottom or side of the opening - not sure what these things are called. Are they normally made of 1/4" covered elastic, or just a rolled tube of the dress fabric? I can't decide whether elastic is necessary to add body or will be too heavy.

Thanks!

Sania
 
SwingingAlong said:
wow wow wow just SO pretty!! I wanted my niece to go for that length but she was adamant she wanted ankle length.
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Thank you so much! It was my first competition and I thought I had enough to be concerned about without worrying that I may step on my dress. It did move nicely I thought, as the top skirt is chiffon (with organza flowers my daughter made from multiple shades of blue)
 
datitmarsh said:
I ordered it from a guy on Etsy. I wanted satin bias and the guy sold it in 12 metre lengths. I also got a 50 metre roll of horsehair trim from the same guy.
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FYI I have had great customer service with EEAGAL Trimming in LA - don't know if they have satin but they have lots of trimming options and definitely have crinoline
 
My fav source for crin trim is Hats by Leko. Amazing selection of colours and widths, wholesale prices and prompt service. There is a min order, but 2 rolls of trim (so ~2 dresses of 4 layers worth) is well over the min. order.
 
Sania said:
FYI I have had great customer service with EEAGAL Trimming in LA - don't know if they have satin but they have lots of trimming options and definitely have crinoline
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oh thanks, that is good to know. It's always good to know where to look instead of going round in circles on the internet. I will make a note of it.
 
FancyFeet said:
My fav source for crin trim is Hats by Leko. Amazing selection of colours and widths, wholesale prices and prompt service. There is a min order, but 2 rolls of trim (so ~2 dresses of 4 layers worth) is well over the min. order.
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I will check that one out too. The satin bias trim was about $7 CAD for 12 metre length, and the horsehair was $35 CAD for a 50 metre roll. These were from etsy shop Utrimming.
 
Who has experience dying gowns? Im concerned the different fabrics, lycra, chiffon, and organza, will absorb dye differently. And I think most dyes require heat to set but these fabrics may not tolerate heat. Should I just forget this dye idea?
 
I
flying_backwards said:
Who has experience dying gowns? Im concerned the different fabrics, lycra, chiffon, and organza, will absorb dye differently. And I think most dyes require heat to set but these fabrics may not tolerate heat. Should I just forget this dye idea?
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I have only dyed some stretch lace - did that with regular Rit dye and it dyed nice and evenly. I see now there's a Rit 'dye more' which is suitable for synthetics, which sounds interesting. Looking forward to doing some experimenting with that.
 
Thinking of changing my floats to attach to wristbands rather than gauntlets. How wide do people make them? Elastic, rigilene, or something else entirely?
 
I do mine using elastic, and cover the elastic using one of the stretch fabrics I've used in the dress. I've made various widths, often influenced by the width of the elastic scraps I have available! From experience, don't forget to put the stretchiest part of the fabric ALONG the elastic, so it goes around the wrist - yep you got it, I was in a rush and did one wrong. It kinda worked ok but I ended up ditching it and making another one. The latest trial used an offcut of shoulder elastic covered in tan mesh, and I put hotfix ss34 pearls around it. Haven't made a float for that one yet, I just wanted to see if it looked OK.
 
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