FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Esmeralda
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
moodfabrics, Butterick
Outline the story …
Inspiration: Esmeralda of Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.
Romantic dancer of 15th century Paris. Cosplay-ish. Historic accuracy: Absolutely none.
Young girl with dreams and ideals of love who lives in a though world that judges harshly and where wishes do not come true.
I wanted to make a flouncy-feely cosplay type of garment, that could be worn individually during contemporary conditions and I could feel fancy wearing them. I really wanted to try working with large chunks of materials, and this was going to be the biggest skirt I have ever made. The blouse was supposed to be the most technically difficult over-the-waist garment I have ever made with first time use of interlining in the neck and the sleeves parts. The corset, well, that was just a dream. And it surprisingly worked out! Generally, I saw it as a challenge to my skills and perception of myself as a hobby seamstress and let me gather the courage for bigger projects. It is very exciting to call myself that, seamstress. I think I reached my goals. Thank you for that.
Outline the construction…
This is my first time working with shiny light materials (synthetics, of course), and first time I tried French seam, rolling foot and well, building a corset (and all that jazz). And absolutely adore all of them! The blouse and skirt patterns are from moodfabrics.com (Rosa blouse and Cress skirt), while the corset is from Butterick. I completely loved the French seam finish with these fabrics (after I got the hang of it) and the rolled edges seem so professional with the exception of connection point of the skirt body and ruffles. I still have problems with those. There were no other problems with the skirt, some issues occurred with the gathering around the neck of the blouse and I definitely should have gone size or two up for the waist.
The construction of the corset was surprisingly smooth, with all three layers of the fashion polyester on the outside, canvas interfacing and the cute lining. I feared the most the busk and boning installation, yet the struggles happened mostly with the final binding application and the eyelet installation. I did have to finish the binding by hand on numerous places, since I was not able to do it by the machine. The previous mock-up was indeed very practical and educational. I kind of regret skipping the waist tape, but did follow the instructions. For the future, I would go smaller on the corset size though, to fit more snuggly. Overall, I’m very proud of my work.
Yana, I really appreciate you talking about your learning and challenges so honestly, as it really highlights your joy at discovering the french seams and professional finishes your learned!
(and I wouldn’t worry about missing the waist tape! It doesn’t look like there’s a huge reduction, so you should be fine!!)
You have so many reasons to be proud with this beautiful ensemble, and “seamstress” is definitely an accurate word for you to describe yourself!
I love the colors you chose so much!!
You make a lovely Esmeralda! This corset is stunning on you and I love your choice of colors ❤
You did a beautiful job.
Oh my….this is simply beautiful! very well done. Thank you!
The corset looks great! I love the colors too!