More Bustle Ideas: Decorations...
I'm thinking lots about decoration ideas for my bustle dress. I've recently bought a couple laces off Ebay and I'm looking at buying some different flowers and some pearls online as well. I'll need to order them soon if I want to have them here in time to attach to the dress. So I need to make some decisions.
These are the trims I already have in my stash. I'm leaning towards the ivory and pearls, and not the white as I believe this will tone in well with all the fabrics.
- I'd like to use the ivory lace in the centre (with the pairs of holes) as the trim along the top part of the frill on the shot taffeta underskirt, as I have a satin ribbon that matches to thread through the holes.
- I'm not sure where to use the pearl trim, but I have heaps of it, so I know I want to use it somewhere!
- I'm thinking I could perhaps use the floral lace on top of the fabric that I use for the pleated trim on the overskirt. If I end up using the embroidered taffeta as this frill, using the lace over the top may help to differentiate it from the rest of the overskirt. Or using it on a plain fabric (I may end up with enough pale pink lining fabric) may help disguise the colour difference.
- I think the looped trim is a bit too white to use in the ensemble.
To keep in the pearly theme, I'm looking at buying some coloured pearls to sew onto trims and possibly even scatter over the fabric in various places. I found some very reasonably priced pearls in Pale Pink, Pale Green (Which looks like it may match the leaves), and Natural Cream which would match the laces. This particular store has those in 8mm, 6mm and 4mm, and I've found another store with pale pink, ivory and cream pearl beads (acrylic rather than glass) in various sizes and quantities. I'd like to buy a variety of sizes and colours to give me a bit of choice. I also might use these as buttons, if I decide to have the buttons visible.
There's also flowers used as decoration on the dress in the illustration - around the neckline, on the side of the overskirts and also in the hair. I had wanted to use some velvet roses, but most of the ones I've seen online are rather expensive. Though there's a few options I've found on Ebay that I'm considering. There's these Soft Pink Velvet Roses, which also come in Ivory. These look to be more suitable for the side of the overskirts than the bodice, due to size. But I'm also not sure that they're flat enough for use in decoration. There's also these Ivory Pearl Flowers which are smaller, which would make them ideal for decoration around the bodice and also for use in my hair. Though it's a rather huge quantity and kind of expensive, after everything I've already spent of fabric and other trims.
My other option is to make my own flowers using matching fabric, but I'm not really sure I have time, nor am I really confident I can make my own. There's also a couple floral shops here in Adelaide I can check out too, see if they have some affordable flowers.
So there's my thoughts at the moment. If I'm going to order the pearls, I'll need to do it fairly soon to allow time for them to arrive and for me to actually sew them on.
I also need to think about accessories, for which I'd love advice! I'm thinking the main accessories I'll need are: Gloves, jewellery, shoes and bag. I have a pair of wrist length ivory gloves, but I'm not sure if that length will work, or if they should be longer? For jewellery, I'm thinking some pearl studs (already have), some kind of necklace (pearl choker perhaps, or a velvet ribbon choker with pearl cameo? Though perhaps I could have that for my day dress), or a pearl bracelet. For shoes, I have black or pink heels, though I suppose it's not important since they won't really be seen. They'll need to be comfy, and be able to be worn with white socks, so I'm leaning towards the black. I might make some decorations for the shoes with some flowers and pearls. As for the bag, I would like to make that from some extra pieces of fabric, but I'm wondering what the best design would be to go with? Does anyone have examples they can point me towards? Oh and I'd like to get a nice fan too :D
So there's my thinking, I need to make up my mind in the next day or two so I can order everything!
These are the trims I already have in my stash. I'm leaning towards the ivory and pearls, and not the white as I believe this will tone in well with all the fabrics.
- I'd like to use the ivory lace in the centre (with the pairs of holes) as the trim along the top part of the frill on the shot taffeta underskirt, as I have a satin ribbon that matches to thread through the holes.
- I'm not sure where to use the pearl trim, but I have heaps of it, so I know I want to use it somewhere!
- I'm thinking I could perhaps use the floral lace on top of the fabric that I use for the pleated trim on the overskirt. If I end up using the embroidered taffeta as this frill, using the lace over the top may help to differentiate it from the rest of the overskirt. Or using it on a plain fabric (I may end up with enough pale pink lining fabric) may help disguise the colour difference.
- I think the looped trim is a bit too white to use in the ensemble.
To keep in the pearly theme, I'm looking at buying some coloured pearls to sew onto trims and possibly even scatter over the fabric in various places. I found some very reasonably priced pearls in Pale Pink, Pale Green (Which looks like it may match the leaves), and Natural Cream which would match the laces. This particular store has those in 8mm, 6mm and 4mm, and I've found another store with pale pink, ivory and cream pearl beads (acrylic rather than glass) in various sizes and quantities. I'd like to buy a variety of sizes and colours to give me a bit of choice. I also might use these as buttons, if I decide to have the buttons visible.
There's also flowers used as decoration on the dress in the illustration - around the neckline, on the side of the overskirts and also in the hair. I had wanted to use some velvet roses, but most of the ones I've seen online are rather expensive. Though there's a few options I've found on Ebay that I'm considering. There's these Soft Pink Velvet Roses, which also come in Ivory. These look to be more suitable for the side of the overskirts than the bodice, due to size. But I'm also not sure that they're flat enough for use in decoration. There's also these Ivory Pearl Flowers which are smaller, which would make them ideal for decoration around the bodice and also for use in my hair. Though it's a rather huge quantity and kind of expensive, after everything I've already spent of fabric and other trims.
My other option is to make my own flowers using matching fabric, but I'm not really sure I have time, nor am I really confident I can make my own. There's also a couple floral shops here in Adelaide I can check out too, see if they have some affordable flowers.
So there's my thoughts at the moment. If I'm going to order the pearls, I'll need to do it fairly soon to allow time for them to arrive and for me to actually sew them on.
I also need to think about accessories, for which I'd love advice! I'm thinking the main accessories I'll need are: Gloves, jewellery, shoes and bag. I have a pair of wrist length ivory gloves, but I'm not sure if that length will work, or if they should be longer? For jewellery, I'm thinking some pearl studs (already have), some kind of necklace (pearl choker perhaps, or a velvet ribbon choker with pearl cameo? Though perhaps I could have that for my day dress), or a pearl bracelet. For shoes, I have black or pink heels, though I suppose it's not important since they won't really be seen. They'll need to be comfy, and be able to be worn with white socks, so I'm leaning towards the black. I might make some decorations for the shoes with some flowers and pearls. As for the bag, I would like to make that from some extra pieces of fabric, but I'm wondering what the best design would be to go with? Does anyone have examples they can point me towards? Oh and I'd like to get a nice fan too :D
So there's my thinking, I need to make up my mind in the next day or two so I can order everything!