FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Winter Wisp
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
I have always loved snow during the winter. It dulls all sound and creates a calm peaceful space, while lighting up the landscape, and showing it in a new perspective. Snow-time has always provided me with a much-needed break from the typical grey winter of Denmark. I wanted to create a piece that showed of the hard lines of ice, and the soft texture of snow in one elegant gown.
But then, life came in the way, and both time and money were limited, and if I wanted to compete, I had to change my plans. Instead of the regal Queen of Snow I had envisioned, I decided on a swirling gush of flurry snow, a Winter-Wisp. Years ago, I bought a vintage Japanese silk haori in cream-white with swirling vortexes, that sadly had a large hole in the center-back. I never wore it, but I have always had the plan of turning it to something special, and now I had the perfect project.
I still wanted to create an elegant, structured gown with a boned bodice a la Dior, but with a playful and drapey full skirt. To contrast the silk, I wanted to incorporate cold greys, since the silk was a warm tone. I wanted to make a straight silhouette, to show of youthfulness and frailty, since snow is brief and ephemeral. I decided to show of the fabric, by making the front skirt panel separate from the rest of the overskirt in a tabard-like-style.
Outline the construction…
My first challenge was a non-existent budget, and the next, limited fabric. I really wanted to make a structured bobbinet corset bodice like the Dior gowns, but since I didn’t have any bobbinet, I had to settle for a thin, but sturdy cotton twill from my stash.
I began the sewing-process by making my underbodice/corset. I already had a pattern from an earlier project, which I altered for this piece. I made a one-layer corset with twill tape on top of the raw-edges, these served as boning-channels. It closes with a zipper.
I draped the bodice on top of the corset, and turned the raw edges inside, and hid them with bias binding sewn by hand, for an invisible finish.
I wanted an underskirt in a contrasting colour, to both provide visual interest and structure. I had some scraps of grey linen, which became both skirt and waistband.
While making the over-skirt, I was careful to measure my fabric and lay it, so I got the fullest skirt, while avoiding stains and dirt. A lot of piecing had to happen, since the silk I used for the over-dress was scavenged from an old haori, which didn’t provide me with a lot of fabric. I hemmed the skirts, pleated them, and attached them by hand to the corset with a backstitch.
I attached the waistband over the raw edges of the skirt with a felling-stitch. The dress closes in the back over the corset with snaps and hooks and embroidered eyes.
Such a lovely way to showcase this beautiful fabric!