Some wins & some fails but definite progress. I got all of the dress cutting done just in time to leave for an event, because it took me a while
to think through the patterning & experiment with the smocking machine. The
smocking did not go well. I tried
multiple times to smock fabric for the cuffs but every time I got to about the
halfway point a needle would slip & they whole piece would go wonky. The taffeta is not forgiving; one try &
it goes to trash because there are holes from the needles & pinch marks
from the feed gears. It takes time to rethread all those needles. I have plenty of fabric but I don’t have time
to fuss with it. I cut out the whole
dress as if I wasn’t going to smock anything & if I have time tomorrow I
can try again & substitute the bits if they work.
 |
| Smocking the cuffs |
 |
| Sleeve pleats drying |
I bet you’ve never seen anyone pleat a dress this way. The taffeta
has some sizing in it, so it’s holding the pleats nicely. I wasn’t sure how it would look but the swatch
test came out well. I put a plastic
dropcloth over the dressform wearing the hoops.
The skirt was mostly assembled, then soaked in cold water & wrung
out carefully so that there are lots of vertical wrinkles. It's draped over the hoops dripping out in the garage. Voila! Fortuny pleating. I won’t know what it
really looks like until it dries overnight. The sleeves are also pleated &
laid out flat to dry. Now it’s nearly midnight & I have one more day to pull
this project together.
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