The Grey Lady, Part VII: Invisible Zipper and Lacing

For the back closure I’m opting for an invisible zipper instead of a regular one, since I feel like having a bulky zipper underneath lacing would just look weird. To install it, I used a Universal Invisible Zipper Foot and followed one of the many tutorials online to install the 22″ zipper. Sorry, not going to do a step-by-step accounting here, this tutorial explains it much more clearly than I could.

Suffice it to say that the process was surprisingly easy, though my Universal Foot fell apart more than once, so I’m not a huge fan of the plastic bits. Also, at a few points on my zipper I actually ended up sewing too close to the zipper teeth, preventing it from zipping up, and had to unpick and re-sew those sections. I thought the foot was supposed to keep things at the perfect distance? If I were going to make a habit of using invisible zippers I’d probably just buy a real metal foot designed to fit my machine.

Once the zipper was installed, it was time to do the lacing. I admit that despite my plans to put in the lacing loops before sewing the dress together, I forgot all about it and inadvertently sewed up the back seams on my first sewing pass. But it did help me get a feel for what the finished dress would look like, so it wasn’t all bad. Anyway, I ripped out the back side seams from the neck to the hip at the point where the gores are inserted, then started making the loops.

I didn’t want to use ribbon to make them (not sturdy enough), so I ordered some double-fold 1/4″ bias tape in “Oyster.” Unfortunately, while the single-fold tape in my local store was labelled “Oyster” and looked like the perfect color (a light gray), my tape it arrived looking completely different (a light tan). It turns out the tape at the store was mislabeled. I eventually discovered that the correct color name was “Shadow,” but that they apparently don’t make double-fold tape in that color, so I ended up buying the single-fold and ironing it in half before stitching it closed. Then I cut it into 2 1/2″ lengths, folded them into loops, and basted them into the unpicked side back seams before re-sewing everything on the machine. I used eight loops on each side, and they were spaced 1 1/2″ apart.

The Grey Lady, Part III: Mockup

Knowing that I would be modifying the pattern for this dress, I decided to make a mockup first to ensure it would fit after I’d changed things up. I’d intended to use my lining fabric, figuring that I could make the mockup, cut the new pattern, and then re-sew the pieces for a lining, but once I decided to use the slippery polyester lining fabric I was reluctant to subject it to too much stress with basting and ripping and re-sewing. Instead, I purchased some pale yellow cotton shirting for $1/yard to serve as my muslin.

The first thing I did was cut out the paper pattern pieces and re-trace them onto butcher paper, then tape on extra pieces of paper to modify the pattern. I added about 5″ to the hem, drafted a full-length straight sleeve instead of the flowy one on the pattern, and drew a much higher neckline than called for, since I’ve heard this pattern can run short and be rather revealing.

I also experimented a bit with the back pattern pieces, since I want to add some lacing to the back side seams to allow for fit adjustment. The first thing I did was change the position of the back princess seams, since they curve out to the armscye instead of going up over the shoulder like the seams in the front, making it impossible to just add lacing and expect it to fit properly. Once I figured out how to redraw the seam lines I added width in the seams to allow for the panels to expand and fold in on themselves depending on how tightly they’re laced. I did leave the center back zipper in– I couldn’t remove it completely because I’m not adding enough extra space in the waistline to allow it to fit over my bust, even when unlaced. It’ll make lacing kind of a pain, since the laces will have to be done anew each time the zipper is zipped or unzipped, but I think it’ll be good to have the flexibility in sizing. It’ll also give me some wiggle room (literally) for when I sew up my seams and blithely eyeball the seam allowance.

You can see the folding back seams here– I’ve pinned them in place, as well as overlapping the back to simulate a zipper closure. Just imagine the lacing between the black threaded seams down the back.

Once the mockup was cut, basted, and on my dress form, a few issues became apparent. First, my added hem length was probably overkill– at most I’d need an inch or two extra, not the five I’d added. The back lacing alterations looked good for the most part, though I’m beginning to see why the back seams were drawn curved in the first place– there’s a weird little blousy area right over the shoulder blades that I’m sure wouldn’t have been there if I’d kept the original seam lines. However, since I can’t figure out how to fix it short of putting in darts, I’m just going to ignore it and hope no one notices. I also noticed that the sleeves weren’t set deeply enough into the bodice– the “shoulder strap” sections were so wide that they restricted my arm movement– so I ripped out the seams and re-set them on a deeper curve.

I drew out a new neckline and marked where my gores would fall on the skirt, front and back. I also tried it on just to be sure that things fit properly (my dress form isn’t perfectly matched to my measurements), and marked the correct hem length and where I wanted my sleeve puffs to fall on the arm.

Then I carefully ripped out the necessary seams and used the mockup pieces to modify my paper pattern pieces, including completely re-drawing the sleeve (you’ll see how later).

Now that my pattern pieces are set, it’s time to get cutting on the real stuff!

Vanessa/Ursula Costume, Part III: The Tentacles

Taking the entire process into account this was the hardest part of the costume, but since I did almost all of the hard work back when I first sewed it in 2010, I didn’t have to do much this time around.

To summarize the original process, I wanted to make eight tentacles (though she only has six in the movie– weird), each completely separate, but intertwined with each other to form the bottom of the skirt. I sketched out the way I wanted the tentacles to intersect, then re-drew each tentacle separately so I’d know what shape to cut it in. Then I used black satin and purple foil dot fabric to sew the tentacles. I stuffed them with polyfill and styrofoam packing peanuts, then hand-stitched them in place on the skirt of a black strapless bridesmaid’s dress.

Anyway, while the costume itself still fit reasonably well, I didn’t need the strapless bodice under the wedding dress– so I decided to make it into a skirt. I just cut off the bodice about two inches above the waist seam, folded it over, and stitched it down to make a waistband. I added a hook and eye at the top of the zipper, and voila, I was done.

I got some more packing peanuts (you can buy them by the cubic foot at U-Haul) and re-filled the tentacles, leaving the upper portions of the back ones empty since they weren’t going to show, then stitched them closed by hand. Next up– finishing the dress.

Tips:

1. I originally filled the tentacles entirely with polyfill, figuring that its soft texture and resulting smooth surface would be ideal. However, pillow stuffing can get really heavy if you use a lot of it, and it made my tentacles far too heavy for wear. I definitely recommend using polyfill only for the pointed ends of the tentacles and perhaps as a thin layer of padding in certain areas that need a smooth look, and going for the much lighter packing peanuts to fill in the bulk of the shape.

2. One great feature of the original dress was the interior structure, which included a separately boned mini-corset thing. It had its own zipper, and was basically like a long-line bra that was attached to the dress. It really helped to keep the dress in place without shifting or pulling downwards due to weight, and kept any stress off the outer bodice fabric. If you’re going to get a strapless dress to use as a frame for a heavier costume, keep an eye out for this feature.