FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Nightingale & the Rose
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
The inspiration for my entry design was Oscar Wilde's short story "The Nightingale and the Rose". It's a story of a nightingale who gives her own life for a red rose, so that a young man can give it to the woman he's in love with. The tale isn't set in a specific time period, and so I chose not to base my design around any particular historical era. Instead I took cues from the Nightingale's character herself. I wanted the overall feel of the ensemble to be ethereal and romantic, so I designed the dress with a sweeping silhouette with a ruffle at the hem and a feathery lace detail for the sleeves. For the corset, I selected a pattern that had long, elegant lines and somewhat resembled a bird with its wings folded at its sides (particularly, the elongated hip panels in this pattern). As a nod to the story's plot, I added a rose and some beaded detailing on the corset front. Overall I'm incredibly happy with how my concept formed into the finished pieces!
Outline the construction…
The dress is white cotton voile. I like its slight sheerness, and I found it wonderfully easy to work with. The pattern for the dress was self-drafted. Main skirt seams were machine stitched, as was the ruffle hem. Otherwise the dress was hand-stitched. I'm particularly happy with the interior seams of the bodice which were hand-felled, and the delicate hem along the sleeve pieces (detail photo included). The corset uses the pattern "Tesa" from AraneaBlack Corsets. Her patterns are wonderfully easy to work with, and I made only some small modifications to the original pattern for better fit. I constructed it in a two-layer method. The fashion layer is ivory/brown silk dupioni, flat-lined to cotton canvas for the strength layer. The interior is lined with a lightweight brown cotton. I used spiral steel boning, plus a couple of flat steel bones for the back and the center front next to the busk. The rose is hand-made from a red/black shot taffeta, and I added Czech glass beads for the "blood" droplets.
This is the fourth proper corset I've made, and proud to say it's my best yet. I worked out a couple construction techniques like roll-pinning the panels to avoid ripples in the fabric, as I've learned the hard way before. I struggled with the lining, as my first attempt didn't fit right so I unpicked and re-made it from new fabric (I ran out of the original, hence the mis-matched interior colors). I'm very proud of the results!
No words. Oh my god this is amazing! That corset is so clean and beautiful and the effect with the dress is just exquisite!
there you are! i’ve been looking for your beautiful project so i can tell you again how much i love it. your choice of story– that tale is just so lovely and heartbreaking, and you captured both in your work. good luck, from craftyroo/icarus <3
Beautiful, and perfect for such a heartbreaking story.
Such a well-fitted shape! And the ruffle details on your dress are lovely♡
It really is ethereal, romantic and subtle. Well done!
So beatiful
So beautiful! I adore the rose petals and beads, such a gorgeous detail, and the shape you created with the corset is stunning! You definitely gave life to your inspiration of the nightingale in the ethereal, feathery skirt too; really well done!
I love this!