WIP: Wizard Glaceon Part 2: The Dress pt 2

Part 1 of this series found here.

Between writing the previous post and today (two weeks later) most of the world has gone on lockdown with shelter-in-place orders to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. I’m classed as an essential worker so I’m still working on-site. My health is so far so good (outside of seasonal allergies), but it does mean I still don’t have a lot of free time to work on things with all of the overtime I’m putting in.

Step 3: Dyeing the Fabric part 2

When I last left off, I needed to redye some parts of the main body fabric. I used the same colors and ratios I had used previously, but doubled the amount of dye used and left it in for a bit longer. I also needed to dye the satin for the side pieces and eventually arm wraps, so I went ahead and did that (…much later). Now all of my dyeing is complete and I can stop having blue hands (wear gloves, people!)

Step 4: Constructing the Dress

With my dyes done, I went ahead and finally cut out the glittery side pieces so I could put those together to create the full piece. I sewed most of the dress together before remembering that I needed to put in the draping pieces on the side, so I had to pull some of it apart again.

I gave up construction at that point and dyed the satin, and picked up again the following week. Once my fabric was ironed, I cut out several long strips, sewed them into tubes, turned them, and ironed them. I then cut them down to half size so I could insert them into the seams where they needed to be and still have enough wiggle room to allow them to drape properly. When pinning them into the seams, I intentionally left a bit out to account for being able to actually get the dress on.

I tried the dress on again once I had sewn all the pieces into place. I overestimated how much extra I would need, so I ended up having to take the ties in again. It took some trial and error to get them where I wanted without them being too tight, but eventually I was happy with it. Also, forgive a) my messy sewing room/office, and b) my “It’s my day off I’m not going to wear real pants” vibes.

Sleeves can go on later, but with that, the majority of construction is finished. I can’t hem it off until the diamond details on the lower part of the dress are on, so that process will be in the next post!