Mary Kathleen Part 3

Making the skirt was quite the event and I am sorry now I did not take pictures during the making. It was a remarkable sight with all that silk and silk tulle. Figuring out the layout and how to make it look like the picture. Whew! Those panels and pleats and ruching, and embroidery were a challenge. I lay awake at night to figure out which step came next, just thinking through the construction was tiring. Ultimately, it was a nine-panel skirt with silk tulle ruching over six panels. (It looks like three.) There is pleating running vertically in the rear of the skirt, lace attachments and pleating running horizontally around the lower edge above the top frills. Embroidered silk flowers round the ruffle, and lace collar edges show around the lower ruffle. The theme was “Girls in White Dresses with Blue Satin Sashes”. The blue taffeta sashes are on the back of the skirt. I opted out of a blue waistband as it was not correct for the dress, and the sash did not circle the waist. Had I read the directions simply, and not READ INTO the directions, the result might have been different, sadly disqualification was the result. I am not sad, nor should you be, rules are rules. The real result was I became a better sewer and learned many couture techniques.
I have taken a photograph of the underside of the dress for you to see the ties that hold the skirt in place at the rear of the figure. This enables the wearer to walk in measured and uncomfortable steps, but also keeps the skirt from entangling in the legs.
A close-up front closure shows the hooks with thread eyelets. The back is quite decorative and a front apron is part of the display. The front closures will not show when the apron buttons to the waistband. (Notice the buttons.)
The apron will be next.
Kathi

Inside the Skirt