 |
May 31, 2019
So my cousin's daughter's wedding is tomorrow, but thought I would give you a little preview - more - much more - is coming. This is creating the bustle for the dress.
There are several types to consider.
English Bustle
This is the most common and most used as it's also the easiest to create and the most I see in RTW.
Usually this is a matter of attaching some hooks either hidden or otherwise obscured around the back waist with thread loops on the skirt, and these thread loops have to go through all layers. If they don't, the bustle only bustles that which the loops are attached. If there's a petticoat, underlayers, etc., then those must be bustled too, unless they are all at floor length.
The reason this is also the most common is that it's the easiest but it's also the easiest to disguise. Even though the loops must go through all layers and have the potential of causing a dimple in the back of the skirt, they can still be hidden and hidden well enough that only a practiced eye would see them.
The French Bustle
Another common bustle is the French Bustle. This is commonly used for the mermaid silhouette dress as most of the girls who opt for this dress want to show off their figures and bustling all that fabric in the train around their waist takes away from their figure so the French Bustle is their choice.
This bustle is under the skirt and is accomplished by a series of ties that are attached to all layers of the skirt and lift the skirt from under the skirt with a series of ties.
Hemmed Bustle
This is a much more rare bustle because it requires so many ties and a lot of skill to be able to make this look right without a drooping hem or hem that is too short. That means a lot of ties. But that also means a lot more time to bustle up the dress. It also means there's a higher probability of confusion, more time, undoing, nerve-wracking, hand-wringing, with cats and dogs sleeping together and the end of the world as we know it!!!
But this makes such a lovely bustle additionally it makes it so much easier and better for the bride, and if it's simply a bustle that makes the day better, then I say go for it - or at least that's the way I want my brides to feel, and this being a special family member, that makes it all that more important.
So here's a quick drawing of what I'm trying to accomplish with this bustle.
The bottom is the hem or train of this dress, and it is very, very full which is something she wanted, and I always like to accommodate my brides whether they are family or not. And besides a big huge train like this is always really pretty and makes the bride feel extra grand!
So here's a diagram of how this looks. This requires lots of bustles to make this work or you have drooping or too high hem at the end. I start at center back, it's easy to find and each one of the x's has a tie. Tthis is that cotton stay tape that ties and stays very well after having been tied. The satin ribbon, or thinner stay tape (that is great in knits), is too slick-finish and doesn't stay tied as well and often comes untied - ICK!
There's another problem with this bustle. The idea is to fold up the skirt by taking the hem and raising it to the right level. At center back that one length but as you move to the side, the length is shorter. You also don't want all the hem to gather around the center back, so you have to spread the place where they tie to around across the back of the skirt.
Additionally if you attach a tie to the hem, well it will drag out past the hem and as the bride goes down the aisle you can see about umpteen different tie thingies showing past the hem. Not a good look.
The way to solve this problem is to have loops, eyelets, casings or whatever you want to call them, attached to the inside of the bottom of the hem so that they don't show going down the aisle.
But here's the problem with this:
OK - picture this - you're in the back of the church, the after-ceremony pics have all been taken, it's 30 minutes after the service and everyone else but the bride is at the reception, with the groom tapping his fingers in the car to go to the reception, and you're with the bride with umpteen ties to bustle up. So you start at center back, and going along and doing fine, but you get to the end and suddenly you realized you've missed a bustle cause you have two
loops. Uh-oh! Now you have a choice, go ahead and bustle up what you can, and let the rest go resulting in a drooping hem at one point and a hem too high in another point. Not a good look. Or you can start all over again with a very impatient bride and who ever else is helping you and they are like, grab it up and we'll do it later. Of course once you get to the reception and getting a few moments (like about 10) to do this bustle doesn't really work, and
that's the end of it with no bustle really and although it's not the end of the world, it's not a good result.
However......
....enter the color coding method. Not only are these separate colors for each tie and loop, but also the colors are chosen with care. Here's how: You don't want to have an orange next to a gold - they are too close in colors, and you don't want to have an aqua next to a blue for the same reason. So what I like to do is do opposites on the color wheel. Obviously you can do true opposites, but you can get pretty close. So that means next to
red is green; next to green is yellow (it's enough different that you can tell them apart, even in the darkness of the narthex of a church); next to yellow is purple; next to purple is orange, then blue and on.
The exact color progression on my little bride who requires 21 ties for her dress to bustled correctly is: red, green yellow, magenta, orange, aqua, chartreuse, purple, turquoise, and blue. Each color side-by-side is enough distinguishable so that it's hard to confuse the coloring. If orange was close to gold, then that might get confused; if green were close to chartreuse, that might get confused. So making substantially different colors makes it that much
easier. Cause believe me, I've been in the back of the narthex bustling up a skirt and warned them up front that it's going to take a while, and they are still antsy - I'm antsy to get this done and get them in the car and on the way to the reception.
The option for my cousin's sweet daughter were really very easy. Although I showed her both the French and English bustles, it was this hemmed bustle that she liked the most. And most of my brides do prefer this. It totally keeps the line of the dress without losing the silhouette which is most likely the main reason they chose the dress style that they have.
So here's a preview of my cousin's daughter's dress with and without the bustle.
She wants a very long veil train which will be beautiful in the church and in proportion to the church. This part of the veil will velcro out and be gone for the reception while the fingertip veil will remain in her hair and throughout the reception. So that's part of the volume of the dress reduced.
Although at a quick glance this looks like a hemmed dress, when you look closer you can see that the train is folded up into the under part of the skirt. What this bride loved about this dress was the lovely full skirt and folding this up under the skirt makes it even fuller and when she twirls.
Here's a great video to show how well this works.
As yet, I haven't had a bride who doesn't love this bustle, so this has become my go-to bustle for most of my brides. There are a few that like the traditional English bustle, but basically when I show them how this one looks, they really love this look.
The one bad thing about it is that there is one heck of a dirty line in the middle of the train. In this case, we're not concerned about it cause this dress is so basic and simple that even though it will be packed and stored away, it most likely won't be used again. This bride has 3 brothers - no sisters, and the other cousin:
is already married and I did that dress. So this is the last girl in this part of the family for this generation.
****************************
OK one last piece of goodie for today - I'm gearing up for a French quilted jacket session of classes this fall, and toward that end couldn't let this pass by....from Ann Steeves @ Gorgeous Fabrics and good only for Friday only - end of month special:
15% Off Bouclé Fabrics For One Day Only!
|
"Just a small buy," I said. "I just need to fill in a few... ooooo, shiny!"
That's what happened today when I went on a quick buying trip. Some of the fruits are in the picture above. But guess what? YOU get to benefit from that! Through tomorrow (May 31) only, save 15% off bouclé fabrics with the
coupon BOUCLÉ15. Or even better, click on the link below to see the fabrics and activate the discount. I need the room, you want the fabric - it's a win for everyone! But don't wait. The sale ends at midnight Eastern, when May turns to June. So come on...
|
So what in the world does this mean? It means that sewing is a process. It’s like learning math – you must learn that 2 + 2 = 4 before you can learn that 4 x 4 = 16. It’s that simple. And yes a lot of
[…]
Read more →
There is nothing that beats great style – NOTHING! This is most often classic, and yet you can see great style in some pretty dramatic looks, but it’s still classic. There are a couple of young examples of this great style that I like
to go to for […]
Read more →
Sometimes I get a great opportunity to show off my ingenuity and I really love it. This requires a lot from a client because while I’m working on accomplishing all the puzzles involved in executing a specific design, my client can be totally
taken aback by all […]
Read more →
PS - I do a lot of posting on Facebook as both Claire Kennedy and SewingArtistry - if you want to friend me to check out the goodies over there for free!
To view this email in browser or to see past emails click here.
|
|
Follow Us!
     
|
|
