Bead There, Done That - Part Three

Skirt: The skirt is a full circle skirt, cut in three sections - one large piece for the front and two pieces for the back, which allows for a back zipper. The skirt was lined/underlined using silk organza and my TNT method (see Construction section).

Since so much of the skirt has a hem on the bias, it was allowed to hang overnight. Although the dupioni remained stable, the organza underlining did droop a bit. The organza was then trimmed to match the length of the dupioni. To hem the skirt, I attached rayon seam binding around the entire bottom perimeter. With a skirt this full it is difficult to turn up a nice smooth hem because so much fabric must be eased in. One way to remedy this is through the application of the seam binding (or actual hem tape). Apply the binding along the hem edge (on the right side of the fabric) and be sure to pull it taut as you sew, leaving the fashion fabric relaxed. Place the fashion fabric against the feed dogs. The combination of the taut binding and the natural easing ability of the feed dogs against the fashion fabric will slightly gather the bottom edge of the hem. Thus, when the hem is turned up (1" in my case), the excess fabric has already been dealt with and a nice smooth, perfectly eased hem results. I also choose to trim away the excess fashion fabric from beneath the seam binding to reduce bulk and produce a clean edge (see photo at right).

As an afterthought, just before I began to hem, I decided to jazz up the bottom of the skirt a bit. The hem is sewn to the organza underlining to create an invisible hem. However, every 1.5", a small seed bead was tacked to the front of the hem (see photo at left). I like how it provides another subtle embellished element to this dress.

Project Photos:
Conclusion: With the completion of this dress, I am officially done my SWAP. Hallelujah! Now, I just need pictures and a write up to send to Julie by April 16th. Hopefully, the weather in my part of the world will cooperate. It seems like it has been rainy and cold forever and I want to take photos outside, as there are no good places inside to do them.