Dress-to-coat project: further detail and pictures

[misslynx]

This is a follow-up to my previous post on the idea of remaking a thrift-shop dress into a Victorian/steampunk coat. Several people had asked for photos and further details

Comments

[sageincave]

The fabric is great.

My take? Kill the collar, and open up the back and sides with decorative Vs. Maybe slash and puff the upper part of the sleeves, Elizabethan-style, to give you more room and add some style. This will shorten the sleeves, so perhaps you could lengthen them by adding a faux under-blouse cuff.

Or just use it for fabric to cover an outerwear corset and/or a hat. It's hard to go wrong with that.

[misslynx]

I think making corsets and hats is still a little beyond my sewing skills right now, but the decorative V thing is definitely a go! Not sure yet about the sleeves.. And yes, the collar definitely has to go.

Thanks for your suggestions!

[unclrashid]

You can sometimes get more room in the bust by adding an oval or fish-shaped side gusset. you want the diest part of the gusset to line up with the widest part of you bust, rather than lining up with the armhole, like a more common gusset. Depending on how your bust is shaped, you may actuall need to have the gusset extend into the underside of the sleeve to get as much fullness as you need.

You could also kill two birds with one stone and cut the dress apart from the center of each shoulder downd to the hem both front and back, and then add a band of contrast fabric like a stripe to widen both bust and shoulder. Depending on if you want to empahsize the bust it could be just a straight band or it could have some shaping to widen at the bust and narrow at the waist, and then flare towards the hem.

[misslynx]

Good suggestions - thank you!

[anonymous]

[misslynx]

Oh, I really like that idea! *bounces* And if I use the same kind of material I use for the inset triangles I want to do on the sides, it'll help tie everything together...

Cool, I think a plan is definitely forming in my head now! Thank you!

[misslynx]

That's weird - veantirme's comment that I just replied to is now showing up as a "Suspicious comment" by Anonymous - even though it was a perfectly normal comment and it wasn't posted anonymously. And it was showing up fine a few minutes ago. Maybe because it had some links in it to outside web sites? But usually that doesn't cause problems... Very strange!

[veantirme]

Hmm, that's odd. Maybe because I also don't have a profile pic and I don't write in my journal much? I promise I'm a non-spamming human!

Glad you like the idea, I hope you'll decide to post pictures of the coat when it's done. :)