For those who followed the entire saga of Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse and have been wondering the final conclusion… just got a text from the lady herself, and it now fits perfectly. She’s thrilled, and I am *beyond* relieved! #ElfkinCouture
Front view of a bronze silk chiffon blouse, unbroken at the front and gathered around the shoulders and neck, with a high banded collar. The silk is "figured" with woven on squiggles of frayed silk satin and jacquard. It is on a dressform with a black stand and neck.
Side view of same showing the sleeve with an elasticated cuff and lightly gathered head.
Back view of the same with an invisible zip up the center back seam and two beige dome buttons to close the back of the collar.
Lisa's #NeoVictorianBlouse (v1.1 ) is done! This figured silk chiffon that she found in Paris is a delight to behold but *the* single most challenging silk that I have ever encountered. I do not recommend it for a good #sewing time. #fashion #ElfkinCouture
A gathered front bronze silk blouse on a dressform.
The neckline gathers on Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse have been faffed to within an inch of my sanity, and I’m finally satisfied with them. All that’s left on her is to re-attach the collar and level the hem. #sewing #fashion #ElfkinCouture
Closeup of the invisible zip inserted into the center back of a bronze silk blouse. Flanking both sides of the opening are tiny hand stitches in matching thread. The stitching line is marked faintly with red dots. Black basting stitches hold the assembly in place.
That's the invisible zip hand inserted into the back of Lisa's #NeoVictorianBlouse. After 42" (~107cm) of those tiny stitches, my paws aren't sure if they're ready to start immediately in on #sewing the 70" (~178cm) of blanket stitches that come next to finish the c.b. seam. #ElfkinCouture #fashion
A bronze silk blouse on a dressform.
Eleni and I are carrying on with Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse. Sleeves are basted on and the gathering at the caps is looking nice and even. #sewing #ElfkinCouture
A well worn and deeply grooved puck of tan beeswax sits atop a piece of edge tissue paper lined in grease marks. Flanking the puck are bundled strands of waxed tan threads.
Both Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse & Nick’s #PinstripeTrousers soon need hand #sewing. Time to wax and iron some thread.
This strengthens, protects from fraying, and stiffens so that it’s not so wiggly. The iron’s heat bonds the wax. Otherwise it would stain the garment when pressed or wash out.
I’ve been relying on Headless Eleni (adjustable dressform) as I finish Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse. What an enlightening experience! Like going from just being able to test code in a debugger to having an actual staging environment. My only regret is that I waited so long to acquire it. #sewing
A bronze silk chiffon blouse, sleeveless, draped on a dressform.
Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse is back for its final stitch up (for real this time). Replacing the back panels did the trick. Eleni and I are now confirming that the shoulder gathers are the best they can be before going to the #sewing machine. #fashion #ElfkinCouture
Blouse made of bronze figured silk chiffon down lying flat on a table. Its seams are basted from the top with black thread.
Same bronze silk chiffon as a fabric remnant pinned to a cardboard mat. A pattern piece for the back of the blouse lies atop the fabric.
I managed to get Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse all fixed up and basted together this past Friday. Ultimately *both* back panels were on the wonk and were thus recut and replaced. I took zero chances with the recut and pinned that shit to the board! #sewing #fashion #ElfkinCouture
Related: I traced and test draped a new back panel for Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse this morning to fix the wonky one. Need to do some more testing and faffing before I commit to the new cut, though.
Back view of a sheer bronze silk blouse with a vertical opaque squiggle pattern. It is shown from the back, pinned on a dressform. The center back seam is open. From this view, the back right panel appears to follow the center back line pretty much all the way to the hem. The back left panel, however, stands away from center back and pulls toward the side almost immediately below where it's pinned at the neckline.
After several sessions of unpicking and draping, I think I've found the root cause of the problem with Lisa's #NeoVictorianBlouse. I need to test but believe that the back left panel is on the wonk. It follows center back for longer than it should and must be twisting that shoulder with it. #sewing
A headless woman’s dressform covered in oatmeal beige fabric with a black neck cap.
Everyone, meet Headless Eleni, the adjustable dressform for gals sized US16-20. I got her to initially help fix the shoulder wonk on Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse. Hopefully Eleni is up to it as Lisa has already placed another order and is heading to Paris next month for fabric. #sewing #ElfkinCouture
Lisa got her #NeoVictorianBlouse in the mail yesterday, and the shoulders are draping oddly. So it’s on its way back for adjustment. Lisa’s very understanding, making it easier for me not to beat myself up over it. At least it’s fixable, and the only thing lost is my pride. #sewing #ElfkinCouture
A Victorian-inspired woman’s blouse made of sheer bronze silk chiffon with squiggly vertical stripes of silk satin appliqué. The strips of appliqué are frayed at the edges. The light skinned male mannequin modeling the top wears a curly red bob wig and sparkly rimmed sunglasses with pink lenses. The blouse is gathered across the top of the neck and shoulders. The sleeves have elasticated cuffs with a lot of gathering to give a ballon effect to the sleeve hem. The blouse has a high banded collar and a lightly ruffled hem.
Closeup of the blouse’s hem with the light frayed ruffling of the fabric’s natural selvage edge.
Closeup of the blouse’s back neck showing a closure at the collar consisting of two 1/2-inch spherical beige buttons and beige velvet button loops. The light beige pull of an invisible zip can be seen just below the collar.
Collar shown open at back to expose the inner construction. A tiny black snap secures beige grosgrain ribbon facing in place at the top of the zip. The ribbon protects the wearer from feeling the inside of the invisible zip’s teeth.
Praise the gods, Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse is done! Try to imagine it on a woman with a Betty Page level hourglass figure.
My favorite detail is the selvage edge hem. #sewing #fashion #art #ElfkinCouture
An inch and a half tall stand collar shown in closeup at the center back seam of a bronze silk blouse. Two U-shaped loops of beige velvet emerge from the short center seam of the collar. Below the collar, half of the invisible zip closure and beige grosgrain ribbon facing are visible. The collar is covered in an array of white basting stitches.
At long last, I’m in the final throes of completing Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse. This double sided silk velvet ribbon makes a decent button loop, no? Now for a battery of hand slip, ladder, and ditch stitches to close the collar. #sewing #ElfkinCouture
Closeup of the inside of an invisible zip at the back of a bronze silk blouse. The zip is covered with taupe grosgrain/petersham ribbon. Along the edges of the ribbon are red marked lines where looping overcast stitches will go. The bottom edge of the ribbon has already been overcast in bronze thread. Part of the ribbon has been folded back to show the beige zip beneath.
Closeup of the end of a 1 inch wide piece of taupe grosgrain ribbon. The raw edge is finished with a lines of tiny lopping stitches.
After I got #sewing assistant Kane going with his sloper revisions today, I was able to finish more of the zip/center back seam assembly on Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse.
A bald male mannequin wears a high collared blouse with gathering across the shoulders and neckline and puffy gathered sleeves. The blouse is made of sheer bronze silk chiffon with opaque squiggly strips of gold appliqué.
With the collar basted on and the gathers approximately distributed, I was able to confirm that Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse blouse is not the suck. Now to undo all of this basting and properly finish up the zip/center back assembly.
Related: I need a femme dressform!
#sewing #ElfkinCouture
I’ve worked on well more than my fair share of fussy silks, but this chiffon for Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse takes the cake. The back zip still looked wonky, so I took it out yesterday and reset with the blouse draped on a mannequin to be sure the hang was right.
I had highfalutin ideas about how to insert the elastic, without disturbing the French seam that encloses its side, into the cut-on sleeve cuff of Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse. Nope. Will have to do it the usual way. Tomorrow. If I have to unpick one more stitch on this silk chiffon today, 🤯. #sewing
The bodice of a blouse made of transparent bronze silk chiffon that’s been appliquéd with regular squiggles of frayed edge silk satin. The bodice’s center back seam hasn’t been sewn, so it lays flat. It’s clear that the panel joining the front to back right has its squiggles facing in the opposite direction from all of the others.
Today’s unanticipated #sewing side quest is the replacement of the right princess panel on Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse. I realized too late that its squiggles run opposite all of the other panels. Now I get to unpick all ~750 stitches in the 2 attaching French seams. Fun. #ElfkinCouture
Bodice of a high necked blouse shown flat on a cutting table. It is made of bronze/gold silk chiffon that has been appliquéd in a regular pattern of matched gold vertical squiggles. The effect is almost like animal print.
Closeup of same blouse to show how visible the tape of a cream colored zipper is through to the bronze fabric.
The bodice and sleeves of Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse approach doneness. The zipper that she brought me with the fabric is way too visible through this whisper thin silk chiffon. Gonna need to find a better match. #sewing #ElfkinCouture
Closeup of a piece of bronze silk fabric on a black sewing machine bed. The material is so thin that it’s highly transparent. There are tiny machine stitches 1/8th inch from one edge.
The silk chiffon for Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse is so fine as to be more idea than substance. So I’m starting it off by staystitching every. Single. Edge.
Did I spend an hour last night tuning Jamie to sew a single layer of this stuff? You bet your sweet bippy I did! #sewing #ElfkinCouture
Bronze-gold transparent silk with long, squiggly strips of opaque shiny gold silk is shown cut and placed on top of the corresponding pattern pieces for a blouse.
Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse is all cut and marked. This silk chiffon with the appliquéd strips of charmeuse is just about the softest I have ever felt. It’s going to be a treat to wear. #sewing #fashion #ElfkinCouture
In the foreground: pattern pieces for a blouse on a mix of plain white paper and transparent white paten paper with blue grid markings. The front most piece, the side princess panel, is labeled “NEO VICTORIAN BLOUSE, V1.0.” Midground, the muslin fitting garment of the blouse made in cream colored poly chiffon. In the background, a large roll of beige oaktag paper.
Now for my next trick, Lisa’s #NeoVictorianBlouse. Step 1: validate alterations from fitting muslin, copy pattern to oaktag paper, and add allowances. #sewing #fashion #ElfkinCouture
