Hello Friends in Dance and Costuming,
At the end of day three of this assiut challenge, and what have I got done? Well, most of the bra and a pinned together skirt. Today, I spent quite a bit of time fiddling with the numerous darts. Usually, when I’m covering a bra, I use one or two darts. But in this case, I was attempting to divide the darts, spreading out excess fabric, so that under each strip is a mini dart. I started with the top three strips at the tops of each cup and adjusted and fiddled with each subsequent stripe, trying to make the right side match. Moving from one side to the other ensures that the stripes are as symmetrical as I can get them. I invested quite a bit of time positioning each stripe and dart, nearly three hours! And boy, did I used a LOT of those whimsical (yet dull) pins!
I always pin and look Pin and look. Pin and Look. At one point, I actually made sure all the little tips were buried and tried it on! When I was satisfied with the position of the stripes, I then and made sure that the darts were all carefully folded and tucked.
And then I sewed like mad!
Hours later, several cups of coffee and a lot of TV. (Yeah Project Runway, Chopped, and Engineering an Empire to name a few who kept me company while my head was down and my needle was up!)
Sadly, I did all this stitching in black thread, so it’s difficult to see the details, but here’s the best shot I could get.
And I’m done for day three. What’s left to do? First, I need to come up with a solution to make the center front of the bra beautiful and finished. In the photo above, you can see the thickness of the pleated fabric. I’m going to the show tomorrow, and I will search the dealer’s room tables for a piece of jewelry. Alternately, I can place a fabric applique over the exposed triangle of bra.
Tonight, I’m packing my sewing kit up, the scraps of assiut, my books, patterns and heading over to the show tomorrow morning. If you’re in San Diego, stop by Bedouin Bazaar, drop by my booth and say “HI,”
I’ll work on that center front panel tomorrow! ~ Dawn Devine ~ Davina