Project Cupcake (Part I)

I think we can all be pretty honest that I haven't done the best job of documenting my make on this little space.  However I still have been sewing up a storm and I also do think there is something to be said for a return to long form text.  What I am good about is documenting everything on Minerva, so I think I am - at the very least- going to take what I have already written and posted there and transfer it here so you can take a gander well.  So without further ado:

Hi Friends!

Let me introduce you to my ‘Operation Cupcake Dress’. Otherwise known as what I made to wear to NYC Frocktails 2022. I thiiiiink this was my first time at frocktails. I definitely have been to other sewing parties in NYC, but with this being frocktails, I just wanted to really indulge myself in creating something truly fun and over the top.

So as soon as I bought my ticket, even though I’ve made lots of beautiful dresses I knew I wanted to make another over the top dress specifically for this occasion. Don’t get me wrong, I love making clothes that I can wear all day everyday, but taking an opportunity to make myself something really special and creative, just gives me all the happy feeling, so I almost always jump at the chance. As such this was the perfect opportunity to use this amazing bridal lace I had had my eye on for months, so I pulled the trigger and ordered some yardage.

I wanted to make something with a lot of volume, and I also knew that I was going to want to cut out the individual lace motifs so I could individually place and appliqué them onto my dress where they would best flatter their own shape and the shape of the dress. Knowing that, I made sure to order enough that I could be picky with which motifs I cut out. It was almost like fussy cutting for a quilt, especially because I wanted the final layout to be symmetrical.

When it arrived, wow… I mean wow… I took some video and posted it earlier in my feed, but even that doesn’t do it justice. It’s the most beautiful off white lace, on a medium beige netting. The motifs are as small as 1.5” and as large as 8.5” (8.5”!!), and there are no less that 6 different kinds of beads, pearls and sequins sewn throughout. Each edge also has a similar, but unique motif that is clean finished with a scalloped edge. It’s truly so so beautiful in person. As I mentioned I knew from the beginning that I was going to want to make something with a lot of volume, but this lace made me seriously second guess myself. It was just so beautiful on its own, that I started wondering if I should be making a column dress instead, so all of the design would come from the fabric instead of the dress itself. I spent probably a week in truly frozen indecision, but after a chit chat about it with a colleague and friend, she point out that, a column dress didn’t seem very me. Which was true and at the end of the day, though it would have been beautiful, operation cupcake dress would not have been fulfilled.

So I stuck with my original idea and chased the general inspiration of ‘high volume’. Another idea that I had set my mind to was that, though this is bridal lace, I didn’t want my final dress be a wedding dress. I didn’t mind if was low key bridal-inspired but bridal-adjacent was as far as I wanted to take it. I also didn’t want my dress to be be so highly elevated that it only felt special because of the materials that were used. I wanted to feel like a million bucks without all the materials costing a million bucks, plus in the same way that I like to find ways to integrate sustainability when I can, I loved the idea of taking this super luxe beaded lace and mixing it with other materials that were more common. So these were the parameters that I had put in place for myself. It had to fit the theme of ‘operation cupcake dress’, it couldn’t look like it was an actual wedding dress, and I wanted to find materials that were very attainable to pair this beautiful lace with.

One of the most common and attainable fabrics I know of is the humble muslin. I keep a roll of it in my sewing room, for making muslins, but I’ve also always felt that it is so beautiful on its own and really kind of taken for granted. In this day and age were there are so many man-made and non biodegradable materials, but for whatever reason, this 100% cotton fabric is relegated to the botton of the totem pole when other fabrics made of natural fibers are elevated for their sustainability. So I really wanted to take this opportunity to see if I could make it shine.

…I think you know where this is going. I decided to pair my lace with the humble, but all natural muslin, and I truly think they look so good together. I did, for a short period, entertain the idea of dying the lace, and the muslin, or just the lace or just the muslin, but then I went digging in my scraps to see if there was anything else that would compliment my chosen fabrics, and I found scraps of quilted muslin (I tagged a similar fabric below) and coating fabric that I had used for prior projects. When I saw them all together I knew that was it. They all just looked so goooood together and it no longer seemed like dye had a place in this project.

So I have a million more things to talk about especially regarding the making and construction of this dress, but let’s both take a coffee break first because its going to be a long ride.

Talk soon!
Kten