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