FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Winter’s Night
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
Entry inspired by Folk of the Air by Holly Black. Jude Duarte is a human who was taken to faery land by her red cap stepfather as a young child, and has spent her life trying to fit in but feeling vulnerable amongst the dangerous faeries. The gown I’ve chosen to create is the one she wears to the coronation for the next faerie king. The dress is described as an ombre gown starting at white near the throat, through palest blue to deepest indigo at the hem. It’s stitched with the outline of trees, the way Jude sees them from her window as dusk is falling, with little crystal beads to represent stars. My inspiration for the silhouette and fabric decoration is Victor Prouve’s 1901 “Riverside in Spring” gown.
While Jude is described as wearing ‘modern, human world’ undergarments to the shock and confusion of her fairy classmates, there are references to being corseted for this event. For this reason and because of the period of the inspiration gown, I also chose to make all of the historical undergarments for this costume. Jude’s stepmother is very proper and sometimes seems ashamed of her human wards, so I feel having the correct silhouette would be very important to her projected image of a noble faery family.
Outline the construction…
I made combinations using patterns combined from Manual of Needlework and Clothing for Women, a corset using a modified 1876 pattern from De Graceieuse, and a petticoat from a Period Costumes for Stage and Screen 1800-1909 pattern.
For the dress I added the petticoat pattern to a bodice pattern draft started with The “Standard” Work, and widened each skirt panel. The dress is a silk/rayon blend, with flat lining and boning channels of mercerized cotton
First I stitched the silk layer dart, cut out the cotton layer dart, then cross stitched to attach both pieces. To flat line, I laid pieces in a popcorn tin while basting to give the outer layer more ease than the inner layer. After machine stitching, I finished seam allowances with an overhand stitch, CB opening with a foldover placket, hem with a 4” bias facing, and neck edge and armscyes with a bias binding. The dress closes with metal hooks and hand-worked thread loops, with cotton ribbon concealing the hooks. Lingerie straps are sewn into the shoulder seam. Flipper bones on either side of the closure hold the dress to the corset.
Because I don’t have a large enough pot to ombre dye my dress, I airbrushed it with Pebeo SetaSilk. This didn’t give the smoothest application so there are some paint flaws. After airbrushing, I painted trees using acrylic as a base, with deconstructed lace fabric over top to give depth. Crystals of varying sizes and seed beads were stitched to represent stars.
I can’t describe how much I love this
I love this so much! Every detail is so beautiful, I can definitely see Jude wearing this as she plots her enemies’ demise!!
Amazing work. I like all the details en the colors are beautiful.
Gorgeous!
Not only is the dress beautiful (and it ISSS), but I’m blown away by the delicacy and elegance of those combinations and the magnificent fit of that corset!
This is gorgeous!! I knew it was Jude from just the thumbnail, I love it! I also love that you made all the underpinnings as well, with a matching aesthetic to the dress. Wonderful!!
This. Is. BEAUTIFUL! You took one of my favorite characters and a dress that stuck out so vividly and brought it to life.
Oh I love this! So many gorgeous details, but especially the trees are stunning.
I really like your work, the undergarnments are exquisite. The ombré dress is stinning
Lovely! What I really love about this dress is that it is such a strong graphic, so it looks very striking even in a small image. but then you zoom in and see that all the elements are really quite delicate. And it’s all so pretty! Good luck from Icarus!
Bravo! Rarely do you see a choice of such delicate material for combinations. I think the underpinnings are just as deliciously beautiful as the dress itself. Wonderful!
Stunning details– I am particularly enamored with your combinations! Well done!
ingenious
My first thought was “You’re wearing faeryland!” The details and the layers of stitching to bring to life the story are so evident and this is exceptional. I love the fading colors and contrasts!