Couturiers use dress forms to properly fit their client's garment during the construction process. After looking at several options, we settled for "Uniquely You", and we have not been disappointed with our decision. The dress form is foamy, pinnable, and adjustable.
The first step: We pinned black twill tape for the style landmarks, and a white thicker tape to permanently mark the natural waistline (see photo above).
The next step: We drape the toile, or muslin on to the dress form. The draping stage required fine tuned skills to mold the toile to the three-dimensional form.
Below are the final stages of the draping process.
Once the toile has been tweaked and properly fitted, the seam lines are cleaned up and balanced. Most of the time, it is necessary to make a second toile, or even a third one until satisfied with the drape and fit.
We make cardstock paper patterns of any garments we do from scratch. It allows us to have a record of it with all the necessary information (grain line, notches, seam allowances, ease, etc). The pattern becomes a "block".
Transfer the pattern pieces to the fashion fabric making sure to follow the proper grain lines, seam allowances, notches, etc. You have to plan ahead all the technical details before cutting the fashion fabric, otherwise once you cut the fabric, there is no turning back. It is time consuming, but worth the effort.
The Finished Garment
The #garment has been finished; permanent stitches have been done (by machine and by hand), the peplum has been interfaced, stay tape applied to the neckline, contrast bias binding finished, horsehair applied to the hemline, zipper has been installed, and a good final steaming eliminates any little wrinkles.
There are several steps and #couture techniques necessary to be able to make a finished garment look professional. It requires patience and analytical thinking to solve problems that may arise during the construction process.
The material, in this case the fabric, is 100 % cotton jacquard. This fabric makes it possible to mold it with heat and steam during the construction process. Ironing and steaming while sewing the garment is a MUST.
Some Details
We have yet to underline the #sheath #dress, but at the moment we want to be able to see the construction details inside the garment. It will serve as a prototype.
On A Live Model
