Dress with Handkerchief Hem
23 Mar 2019 07:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
motorharpI can't say that I ever feel dignified on a regular basis. Or on an irregular basis.
The translated title of this book is Garments of a Dignified Lady. Um. Can I actually wear these if I'm not dignifired? Or will it turn me into a dignified lady. Do I want that?
Regardless, I fell in love with the blouse on the cover of this book by Koji Takiguchi published in 2014, and bought it without knowing what else was included. There are so many other wonderful garments in here that I started making dresses before anything else. And these are not my style of dresses - asymmetrical and arty.
I decided to test the "Dress with Handkerchief Hem" with some of the vintage fabric a coworker gave me. It fits fine - it is unstructured and loose enough that choosing to make size ML, instead of M, probably didn't make too much of a difference in the end result.
It probably would have made a
difference in the cutting layout, though!
The fabric is 100% cotton broadcloth and tends to stick to itself and wrinkle. I was going to dye it, since the red and greens are not my colors, however under the chiffon dress, it looks lovely. It adds depth and dimension to the colors. As usual, I have yet to take pics of the chiffon version.
Probably the hardest part was translating the instructions. I figured out, for the most part, using the google translate app and this helpful Japanese sewing terms translation list, what the instructions said. The only part I couldn't really figure out were the instructions on finishing the hem. A friend who studies Japanese figured out that google translate's "throwaway sewing machine" actually meant staystitching. So the hem is left raw and staystitched, as it is all cut on the bias.
And I did keep my sewing machine.
The translated title of this book is Garments of a Dignified Lady. Um. Can I actually wear these if I'm not dignifired? Or will it turn me into a dignified lady. Do I want that?
Regardless, I fell in love with the blouse on the cover of this book by Koji Takiguchi published in 2014, and bought it without knowing what else was included. There are so many other wonderful garments in here that I started making dresses before anything else. And these are not my style of dresses - asymmetrical and arty.
I decided to test the "Dress with Handkerchief Hem" with some of the vintage fabric a coworker gave me. It fits fine - it is unstructured and loose enough that choosing to make size ML, instead of M, probably didn't make too much of a difference in the end result.
It probably would have made a
difference in the cutting layout, though!
The fabric is 100% cotton broadcloth and tends to stick to itself and wrinkle. I was going to dye it, since the red and greens are not my colors, however under the chiffon dress, it looks lovely. It adds depth and dimension to the colors. As usual, I have yet to take pics of the chiffon version.
Probably the hardest part was translating the instructions. I figured out, for the most part, using the google translate app and this helpful Japanese sewing terms translation list, what the instructions said. The only part I couldn't really figure out were the instructions on finishing the hem. A friend who studies Japanese figured out that google translate's "throwaway sewing machine" actually meant staystitching. So the hem is left raw and staystitched, as it is all cut on the bias.
And I did keep my sewing machine.
