FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
A Flower Godesses Gown
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
Thanks to Matthias Wassermann and Taschas_Fotoreise for the Pictures
Outline the story …
When the competitions Theme was announced in November 2021 I already knew exactly what I wanted to do – I wanted to honor my Granny, who unexpectedly passed away in that year. She was a fabulous woman with a career in home decorating and a big collection of curtain fabrics, laces and miscellaneous craft / sewing supplies in storage, which my family passed on to me. Within the many boxes and bags also came a giant box full off faux flowers and so the decision of creating a dress to suit a flower goddess was an easy one. When I started to look for inspiration on the silhouette, I found that a lot of great designs included a crinoline and since I wanted to go historical I decided on a 1850s Dress. I looked for patterns and decided I wanted to create everything from the undergarments, crinoline, corsage and dress from scratch and use the materials that I received from my beloved Granny.
I began in November 2021 with research and pattern ordering and finished in early June 2022 with a Photo-shoot in what was our favorite park, where we weren’t able to do a last walk together, but she was with me every step of the way, in the process of making the dress, on the day of the photoshoot, and I still felt her approvement as I planed another project with a beautiful silk fabric of hers just a few weeks ago.
Outline the construction…
Almost everything is recycled, only a few construction items were bought and I was able to use ribbons and hooks instead of elastics. I started with the underwear from raw linen and lace. Next was the Corsage, my first. I’m happy with it and I learned a lot in the process. I had some trouble with the crinoline when the fishbone decided to roll up and ended up buying some pipes in the hardware store and connecting them with nails, hot-glue and Gaffatape. It works great, is lightweight and even holds up traveling. The Main skirt was made out of a heavy woven curtain. I was extremely happy when I realized that I had just enough of the fabric that I wanted to use. The Pattern for the bodice didn’t seem to fit right, so when I saw a gown online from the Philadelphia museum of art I took a chance and with courage asked them for help, I felt as happy and proud as a 5 year old when I got an answer and some amazing pictures from the inside of the garment, which really helped construction. I was extremely proud of everything I made and didn’t want to sew the faux flowers directly on the fabric, so I decided to go with an overskirt. I used some mesh curtain and started to sew some of the Flowers on till I realized that I want more and more of them so I started using a hot glue gun.
What a sweet tribute to your Granny! I’m sure she would be so proud of you.