Alright, so when we left off I had just finished deconstructing the gown. Now it was time to put things back together. So, the biggest hurdle I had was figuring out how to keep the zipper/lace/row of buttons intact, but still take the bodice and "flatten" it out as much as possible so it wouldn't be a "funnel" when sewn back together. Get it? It's hard to explain but think about how flat most tree skirts are. There wasn't a way(ok, I couldn't come up with a way) to "flatten" out the bodice while still keeping the back intact and not taking the entire gown apart at all the seams. And it turns out I needed all the length of the entire gown to get the width I needed, so, I had to sew back on the section I cut off! Which was a blessing in disguise as I had a finished hem on all the layers ready made!
It took three attempts to "get it right", but I finally felt like I had achieved the practical application that was needed while getting the look I was after in narrowing the bodice down.
I know this looks goofy, but I used a giant gallon Ball jar to simulate a tree stand. Here I was playing with the lace, trying to space it out around the top of the tree skirt. I also reattached the crinoline underneath the newly bustled skirt to give more fullness to the finished product.
At least I had plenty of lace to work with. And I love doing handwork, so the time spent sewing the lace back on gave me a boost.
Gorgeous, simply gorgeous!
And here's a close up of the lace all attached on the finished product.
I ended up "bustling" the gown's skirt in two layers to get a feminine re-creation of the way the original gown was designed. When I delivered the tree skirt to Natalie, I explained that when she uses it, it will be just like her wedding day. She will need to "primp" and play with the gown/skirt to achieve a finished look. She plans on having a carpenter build her a 10" high box made of wood and attach their tree stand to it. That will give some height allowing the gown to tumble down over the stand and box. Then, using acid free tissue to stuff out the areas she wants to pouf more, she will get the look she was after.
Oh, yeah, this is a horrible picture but I was exhausted at this point and just took the pic for the sake of having a pic of the veil attached to the skirt. I didn't spend any time rearranging the bustled portions of the skirt to make it look pretty. When the skirt is arranged pretty around a tree, it will look much nicer than it did plopped on my cutting table.
When I delivered the skirt, Natalie was so excited to see her gown transformed into something she will get to use every year around her huge, decorated Christmas tree. I hope it's all she wanted it to be....a way for her to relive her precious memories of her wedding day....now being celebrated each and every year under her Christmas tree.
Merry Christmas, Natalie
Debbie
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