After a loooooooong hiatus I am finally working on Queen Mattress again! Where I left off: I was putting together my 100 night sky squares only to discover that after all that work...I still hadn't made enough. I started to paper piece more with the goal of making an additional 50 for the front right panel, shoulder strap, and sleeve. However, I quickly lost steam. I decided I would rather work on smaller projects that I could actually finish and wear in a short period of time, rather than this monster, plus do some costume work for my local theatre.
I am super glad I made that choice! It was a much needed break and it gave my plenty of time to figure out how I wanted to proceed with Queen Mattress.
I was having fun working on my me-made wardrobe, when a friend of mine mentioned he was planning an extravagant event: a MET Gala Art walk. The historic district of the city I'm in will have monthly art walks where galleries open their doors, serve snacks, and have artists available to talk about and sell their art. The one in May happens to be right around the MET Gala, whose theme this year is "Costume Art," with the official dress code announced as "Fashion Is Art." His idea was to have us all dress up in runway ready looks, take pictures, and look at art.
I thought to myself, "if I'm ever gonna finish this, it's now or never!!!" So, my deadline was set. Hope I can finish this in time for my friend's MET Gala...
I've been a busy little bee the past week and have made a fair bit of progress. First: I finished making and assembling the night sky squares into the aforementioned pattern pieces I was missing.
I even have enough left over to make a matching waistcoat for my partner to wear (if I have time)!
Next, I reached out to my local longarm quilter who did an amazing job on the crib quilt I made in December. She was fully on board to help me quilt this dress. For those of you who have been following along, I was previously filled with indecision about whether or not I would quilt this myself, and if I would even add batting since it would introduce a lot of bulk. In the end, I decided I would rather outsource to someone who knew what they were doing, than struggle to quilt on my tiny sewing machine. I also figured out where I wanted the batting and backing to go for the best effect. Here is a little sketch to illustrate:
The very bottom up to the pocket slit will have three layers: the backing, batting, and quilt top; the pocket slit to the waist will have two layers: the backing and the quilt top; and the bodice will be one layer: the quilt top. Once everything in pinned in place, the whole dress will be quilted. Only then will I be able to drape, pleat, and sew the dress onto the bodice lining. The longarm quilter was so kind, and helpful in making these decisions I was stuck on for so long, and I am super grateful for her advice!
After talking with the longarm quilter to make sure she had all the materials and info, I finally started on the left side of the dress. It was Day Time ;)
I started by attempting to draw the sun onto my mock-up fabric where I had it on my sketch. I knew it would be tricky, given all the pleats in that area, but I really wanted to make it work. (I know the lines are barely visible in these photos, but here is the sun pleated on the mannequin, and then laid flat on the table).
I desperately wanted it to work, but it would have been too weird piecing something that would look decent even when the fabric shifted. I decided to pivot and place the sun in a location that made more sense. I moved it to the bottom front corner of the dress.
I drew lines extending out from the sun so that the sky patchwork would follow its rays. I also pleated it and drew more lines that would give the impression that the rays were straight even when folded. From there I drew somewhat random configurations of triangles and quadrangles to fill the area. At first I drew them a little too dense, but luckily, since I used a heat-erasable pen, I just ironed them away and started fresh.
After that, I had to transfer these shapes to paper. I did so by placing a piece of cardboard under the area I wished to copy and two sheets of paper-piecing newspaper. I then used my pattern wheel to go over the area. I thus created both cutting templates for my fabric, and a foundation to sew on for my paper piecing. I labeled/counted all the pieces, and the final count came out to 278!
I started with my sun, but made a mistake. I forgot that with paper piecing patterns, it essentially creates a mirror image of whatever is on the front of the paper. All my patterns were backwards. Ugh. But, no matter! Since everything was traced with my pattern wheel, the lines were still visible on the other side, I just had to sew along the pricks. But, this did mean I made an extra sun, which I plan to eventually use on my partner's waistcoat, so it all worked out in the end!
The fabric pieces you see on the outside of the left sun is just me figuring out what colors to make the rays.
...and that is currently where I'm at! Wish me luck with the rest :)