The White Queens Dress

The twirl for the White Queen is starting to come together. I decided to work firstly on the skirt, as this could bulk up the waistband considerably and the bodice of the dress would need to fit over it. The design for the White Queen shows the bodice coming to a rounded point at the front on the waist and dipping slightly into the skirt. This is to soften the waistline. 

I firstly split the skirt up into five panels which would help maximise the amount of fabric going into the skirt, as well as reducing the bulk around the waist. The more material I can gather into the skirt the more fuller it shall become, hiding the crinoline. Before I began on the material, I used dress makers tape to add the design lines to the mannequin. This will help me match up my seam lines when I am both draping the material and constructing the garment. 

For the pleats, I measured 1cm intervals along the top of the material, and then knife pleated securing each of them with a glass headed pin and a hot press from the iron.  Once the pleats were in place, I started to drape the material around the waists design line, stopping at the pre marked lines. Once this was done each of the seams was pinned together and then a 2.5cm seam allowance was measured before cutting the excess material. The top of the pleats was tacked and then sewn down so they wouldn't move and then each of the seams was sewn together. The bottom of the skirts hem line was cut to floor length ready for the fitting. 

I shall admit I am not that keen on the front panel of the skirt. It looks quite bulky and messy, however after speaking to one of the lecturers it was decided we shall look at it on the model and decide the best course of action from there.

Front panel of bodice

The bodice of the dress was constructed in strips, draping around the mannequin and pinning on the seam lines. Darts were added to the front to provide room in the bust for the actress as well as shape the waist. I was correct in saying the waistband has been slightly bulked up however once trimmed down it shall decrease. As I only shaped the bodice on one side of the mannequin, I transferred the pieces onto another piece of calico which made up the other half of the bodice. The front panel was also transferred by folding a piece of calico in half and then matching up the CF line. This got rid of the seam which would have gone directly down the front of the bodice. Once the bodice was pinned together I laid out each of the pieces and sewed the seams up. I have left a 5cm allowance at the back of the garment as we may need to add in some extra fabric. Sleeves have also been made out of calico using the basic block pattern. I predict these will need to be shortened however currently I am following the design which shows they finish just above the elbow.

  

During the fitting  I shall need to fit the bodice to the actress more as I am working off a mannequin it doesn't quite have some of the shape a human body does. I will need to take into account that the actress shall be running around a field all day in this dress so it will need to be flexible and functional. I shall also be requiring sample surface decoration ready for the fitting to show the designer.