Another Costuming Adventure!

Remember how I got my flower mask back from the Arts Council last week? I haven’t had a chance to put her away because…well, where do you put something like this!?

So I’ve been seeing this mask hanging up every day in the living room and I began thinking about how fun it would be to wear it for a fun event. And my town just happens to have a very big Merry Go Round Festival coming up this weekend!

Do you see where I’m going with this?

So I began thinking about making a dress to match the mask. Something big and funky that would set off the mask, but also stand out by itself too. I was just letting ideas percolate and my copy of Designer Joi’s Fashion Sewing Workshop arrived and inside was information I’ve been wanting to learn for 14 years: fabric draping.

Yes, 14 years! I first heard of fabric draping in garment design on the very first season of Project Runway which I watched in our tiny apartment before James was born, before I was a quilter, before Youtube even existed!

The chapter on draping was stellar and last weekend I draped my first v-neck tank top shirt, created a pattern, and stitched it up in one day and created the best fitting shirt I’ve ever owned:

I’m so so so pleased with the results! I draped this directly onto Lucy, my dress form, which I modified a few years ago to fit me exactly. Thankfully I’m still the same size so I was able to pin directly into the duct tape to create the design.

Of course, creating the best fitting top in my life was a huge confidence booster. So much so that I decided to take on something a bit bigger…

I made a hoop skirt! I found a very simple tutorial to follow and created this from inexpensive irrigation tubing and leftover ribbon I had around the house.

But you can’t just make a hoop skirt. You also have to make a petticoat. So that’s in progress today and since I’m under a huge time crunch to have this ready to wear by Saturday (as in tomorrow!) My full-time piecer employee is getting to know the Bernina Ruffler foot while I’m stitching the tulle on the fabric as fast as I can.

I still need to cut and gather the dress itself so cross your fingers we’re able to pull this off in time!

Let’s go quilt (or sew a crazy huge costume!)

Leah Day

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

3 Responses

  1. Jacqueline says:

    You do like a challenge now don't you. Can't wait to see the finished project.

  2. cwade1211 says:

    Love everything about this! You are so adventurous! Can't wait to see you in the whole deal.

  3. Shannon says:

    Can't wait to see the finished dress!

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