15-Sep / DIVA ON A SHOE STRING-La Grande Cabale-Pearls of the Opera / 1 COMMENTS

The crafty Diva in me is back with a freshly refashioned gala dress! About a year ago I wrote the first installment of ‘Diva on a shoe string’ featuring (among others) my golden brocade dress which I made some years ago under the tutelage of the formidable Ilana Singer .

 

Back when I was initially cutting the fabric for the bodice, I made a slight error in judgment and cut the fabric way too low. This might have gone over beautifully in 18 century Paris, when showing a half nipple was all the rave, but it would definitely limit my options for wearing the dress today. Making it work, as I imagined Tim Gunn whispering in my ear, I sewed an extra layer of the same brocade golden fabric into the inside of the bodice which saved the day to some extent.

 

 

Last week, while preparing for the two performances with ‘La Grande Cabale’ at the ‘Opera aan de Schie’ Festival, I felt my old solution didn’t work anymore. The extra layer of fabric seemed to make the dress a little heavier looking, and so it had to go. My dress deserved a little bodice lift!

 

 

Extra fabric gone- now what? To redefine the extra coverage needed I used a pearl colored ribbon. I bought the whole ribbon reel in one of the Chinese shops at Martim Moniz (Lisbon) for only € 3.50! This is the time to mention that if you live in Lisbon you are in luck- these shops are like an Alibaba cave filled with sewing and crafting treasures. My only warning is to go there with a specific goal in mind. It’s too easy to lose one’s way a midst the mountains of materials that fill these shops floor to ceiling.

 

 

Since the ribbon is very see-through, I had to play a bit with the fabric to see just how much gathering is needed for the right effect. here are a few work process pics:

 

 

 

 

And the end result:

Let me know what you think. Do you want to see more sewing/refashioning? Let me know in the comments below.