Ingwer came to me second-hand from a very sweet Canadian who included two handmade dresses. After watching too much thrift flip on utube I thought, how hard can it be. Well... approx. 10 hrs hard. But worth it!
Here's how I started out - original dress and the vision I had. Ingwer's theme is all things Dirndl, and I wanted a Trachtenkleid for her anyway.
Disclaimer - I do not hate the original dress or want to make fun of it. The dress was very well made. I kept as many details as I could. :)
First, I took everything thing apart. I thought starting with building blocks would speed things up. Oh well...
The skirt gave me a chance to test my newly acquired fabric glue. I am very happy with the result. (Lace is sown, bands are glued)
To fit the bodice I temporarily considered unpicking everything - then I remembered this is just a flip, and did two easy seams.
And because everything was going so well, I replaced the sleeves by hand. Then I did the lace seam at the bottom of the sleeves by hand, too, because the arm hole was way too small for the machine. (I am proud I managed to save the lace at the wrists there! I was glad to have them, because I would never have bothered, otherwise.)
Then I stared at the inspiration images, wondering how to adjust the neckline. I have no pics of that part because I got a bit lost in my head. After that was fixed, with only minor violence, I wanted to pucker and sew down the skirt - only to have my machine refuse to cooperate.
So I did that by hand, too. By that point I was thoroughly disgusted with hand-sewing, but I wanted to be finished, so I added the back snaps, because I loved the way they were done originally. Please note the new fit, because I am very happy about it.
A little bow and I was DONE.
I do think both versions have their charms, but the new one fits Ingwer's character better. :)
blakekathryn
romaincrisis
