hey...i'm delving into the dress department of my quest for sewing goodness... i am so confounded by the back of a simple patchie dress. i get the idea - make the bodice, make a skirt, put em together... on a dress that i own that is in this fashion, the open waist area on the back of the dress jutts out because i need to tie the waist tight. (anyone remember that thread i posted about botched custom orders? that's the dress! doesn't fit me for shit...) so i want to avoid this 'sinching' problem when i make my own. how do i make the waist tight enough to not bunch out, but loose enough to remove from my body? also, another botched thing about the custom dress - i think the skirt was really big and the bodice small, so there are fold marks all along where the bodice and the skirt meet. i definitely want to avoid this when making my dress. ideas on how to avoid all those little crinkle marks? i suppose i make the skirt part just big enough to get off, rather than drawstring-style large. thoughts? i've never made a dress before!
Taper your panels...that means make the top narrower and the bottom wider for flare. Then you only need to worry about making the top of the panels wide enough to get the dress on, like you said, with a bit of cinching when you tie it. Here is a crappy diagram made by me to show what I mean... Hope it helps! __TOP__/.............\/................\/...................\/......................\/.........................\/_____BOTTOM_____\
I got a wonderful pair of patchy bib overalls that I love and have nearly worn out, but they kind of had the same gapping problems on the sides when I got them. I addded elastic to pull them close. now I can wear them with out being em bare azzed.
Ok, the "crinkle is gathering, and it is used to allow flow in a garment. Look at rennaisance shirt sleeves. the cinch effect in the bodice is probably a part of the whole apron-style thing. unless you get custom fitted, you will NOT have dead-on measurements. Have you thought about making a mock up in muslin? It's cheap, you baste it together and you have an actual garment to use as a pattern when done. 'twill save you loads of agony. another thing on the skirt. measure your waist/ wherever you want the waistline. add two or three inches, figure out how big you want the hem. taper the panels to that. I usually work on a 4:1 theory My waist (and i do use natural waist) is 26-27 I want about 100 at hem.
