Round 4 Process and Soul Searching....again

When they announced that round 4 would be Tyler I relaxed a little. Over the last two years most of my customer work has been for this size doll, and as anyone who has sewn much knows, even if you are starting from scratch, it is much easier if you are familiar with the shapes and limitations. From the hints, I gathered that it would be a ballgown type and that the print issue was going to be oversized and central to the design. The oversized "element" put me off a bit as did the cotton.

This is not to say that I don't work in cotton on a regular basis, I even have hundreds of pieces in the stash....I just wasn't sure how it was going to work....but then it came to me. Don't get me wrong! It came to me after I scrapped several other ideas.

The first idea was to use a sheer black batiste. I had some great (but a little too big) leather flowers in my collection of trims that I thought would make an interesting contrast to the floaty batiste. I am still interested in the idea, but Ted assured me in clipped tones that as leather was not cotton I should not. Due to the factory strictures imposed on us (back when the winning designs were still going to be made) we were told that no embroidery was allowed. I have a very cool piece of cotton fabric that incorporates an emboidery line in it; my assumption was that embroidery that needed to be done by the factory was out but that embroidery that came by fabric selection should be okay. To be safe, I asked Ted. That asking changed the course of the round.

Ted's emailed response began with the question "Do you want to lose?"

I realized that the answer to that question was probably "yes."

Here is a quote from my journal: "The strictures aren't making me a better designer...and the previously fun communication is currently making me into an Angry Person. I guess I am starting to feel done with this competition."

And so, on the second day of the challenge, I began in earnest, not to "lose" but to do what I wanted with this cotton ballgown. I thought of a picture I had seen in a catalog way back when I was in college. It was a linen wedding dress and the picture was on the beach. The feeling had been both undeniably fresh and breezy but still crisp linen and still, very much, a wedding dress....

I pulled the sloper for one of my favorite bodices. With a quick adaptation, we were on our way. The fabrics I had laid out were very different and would have required very different designs to work properly. All of the hints had been very bold and incorporating dark colors. with that in mind I decided that demure was going to be the contrasting order of the day. The fabric I chose was crisp plain weave cotton in a soft ivory with pale blue and green marbled vines. For a contrast, I chose a midnight blue, also unevenly dyed. It embraces its cotton nature. heheheh

By the end of Thursday (day 2) a bodice is structured. I needed to recut to position the print better. Big print is tricky with tiny darts and pieces. The skirt trial was a moderate success and I knew what I needed to fix it, other than calculating the exact amount of uptake was going to be required. The vision in the mind's eye was becoming real.

Another quote from my journal:

"Friday morning, I wake to a message that ball gowns ar low cut to show boobs and jewels. Ugh!

Decided not to bother with that piece of information.

The resulting gown is just as envisioned - gorgeous and very boxpleat, which, I keep trying to remind myself is the point. It does no good to win a competition designing like someone else, eh?

What does it profit a woman to gain the whole world and lose her own soul...indeed.

Sending today (Saturday) and I am not asking any advice nor making any changes.

Foolhardy perhaps, but true to me."

When I relinquished the box at the post office 3 full days early, it was with such a feeling of lightness.

The dress is called "Luminous."