Help! Calling Cea!

A stapler would have been more accurate! I will take pix, after all - seeing is believing!

Yeah, well... Me too!

They want bras, and we shall discuss the knicker thing. If they really want them, Sloggi Maxi's would be better than anything else, or my mum's suggestion of bias cur French knickers, though the waist elastic might show...

I've seen that before, and these are not QUITE that bad!

Further thoughts. What do you bet the original pattern called for a wider fabric (i.e. 60" wide rather than 45" ), so this here "dressmaker" tilted the patterns off-grain to fit them to the fabric rather than piecing the skirt as she should have done? No doubt you will find out when you make up the last one.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

I did make them giggle when I looked at the frocks and said, 'This is proof positive that while one cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, it is perfectly possible to make a pig's ear out of almost anything!'

I saw something on QVC (NAYY) that looked like it would do the trick-Spandies (Spankies) or something like that is the name. They are control-top pantyhose that end at mid-calf and push up or down as the needs dictate. Come in black or nude and in a bunch of sizes. You might check out their web site and recommend them to the bride.

-- Beth P (In Las Vegas, but missing Georgia)

Kate,

Regarding the twisted side seam, I suggest this may have been caused by the front and back dress pieces being cut out in the same direction of bias (which creates a spiral effect in the dress) rather than the correct way of cutting front and back on the true bias, but at right-angles to each other. I would imagine this to be a common mistake if one doesn't understand that the two biases are (I believe) slightly different in a similar way that warp and weft are slightly different. Does this make sense?(Not that you can do much about that at this stage of the proceedings!!!)

What on earth are "Sloggi maxi's"?

liz young

Checked the name -"Spanx". They come in all sorts of configurations.

-- Beth P (In Las Vegas, but missing Georgia)

Sloggi is a brand name, like Wonderbra. It's a sporty type made of a marl type of fabric (usually) andyway, I think that's what it's called. They cover everything, not like those damn cheesestrings you're expected to wear if you're young and hip.

Charlie.

Sloggi is an underwear brand. They make very smooth cotton stuff: most of their things are 95% cotton and 5% elastane, and you can put them in a hot wash! The maxi's are a traditional cut leg knicker that comes up to the waistline. The joy of them is that they cover you fully, bit because the elastic is flat and they only have a seam up the back, they have minimal show-through and VPL effect. I wear nothing else, haven't since James was an infant.

They do bras and sport bras too, but not for those of us bigger than a C cup. Wish they did!

It's called a bodyshaper, just what you said, and they're widely available, and would be just the ticket for these gowns. Unless they're especially low-cut, or strapless, in which case they'll have a more difficult time finding the right ones.

There are a couple of brands here in the States--Flexees, and one with someone's name, that escapes me at the moment. Oprah once had them on her show, and the line with the person's name was the one she showed. They are capable of really squeezing a person into shape, too.

For my daughter's wedding, I wore a Flexees shaper, which was sort of like a maillot swimsuit, but with power Lycra and snaps at the crotch. And I was heartened to learn that some of my daughter's 30-ish girlfriends were also wearing similar undergarments to give a smooth line in their sheath dresses!

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

There's a good description of bias, and the different ways it works, in Sandra Betzina's Power Sewing book (can't recall which one). I've never seen a better description in a book, although I once attended a seminar by Astrid Gallet of Boston about bias, and she gave a very good illustration of how it works.

Crossgrain is stable; lengthwise grain "looks for the floor", according to Astrid. If you put the cross to the lengthwise, you will always have an issue of twisting like this.

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

I know just how you feel, Kate. When I was teaching sewing, one of my adult students brought in a bridesmaid's gown that she had to wear for a wedding. It was stunningly awful, and all the dresses had horrible things happen to them as the girls walked down the aisle (ugly, poorly made flower literally popping off and falling on the floor of the church), during the ceremony (zipper failing, bosoms being uncovered), and afterwards. The seams were incredibly crooked, and even had raw bits sticking out here and there. The hem was the biggest mess I've ever seen (the seamstress really had to work to make this so awful), the zipper looked like a very bad first effort, and we won't even discuss what happened to the basque bodice!

I wanted to drag this gown with me to my classes on sewing for money, to show what not to do with customer's money, time, and trust, but I held back, worried that I might offend the person who made it.

The maids paid $35 for these gowns; they definitely got what they paid for! Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

Bet you're right, Olwyn Mary - that's probably why she wanted them shorter, too, because she only had 45" fabric, or 54", say - that would only get you to knee or mid-calf without piecing.

:) Trish

I was telling this whole story to my mom, who sews. She told me that her mom had a number of lovely bias dresses in the early 30s, and that the underwear of choice for these (at least for grandma) were 'step-ins'. It was hard to get a picture of this over the phone, but they had a flat buttoned waistband and were loose. They were cut on the bias and the leg opening was curved up to the side. They came in colors like orchid (light purple), peach, and white. You could get them with embroidery around the edges. I think that I'd call them tap-pants, but w/ a non-elastic waist.

liz young

I meant 'knickers'! Reeeeeely I did!

We'll be wanting French widows in every room, next!

And having seen some of those sexy gowns, the low, low backs would preclude the wearing of anything at the waist!

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

garments! An elegant shuffle in the arms of a Lounge Lizard type, while holding a cigarette in a loooooong holder would be more the thing!

And, of course, it would be impolite to inquire what they would be doing in the Lounge Lizard's roadster afterwards! (evil grin).

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

front and back dress pieces being cut out in the same direction of bias (which creates a spiral effect in the dress) rather than the correct way of cutting front and back on the true bias, but at right-angles to each other.

Another evil question. What did she do with all the fabric she saved? Presumably the pattern listed the amount to buy? The reason I ask this is, when I was growing up in the north of England, there was a dressmaker in the next town over who was famous for telling people "buy a little extra material, you don't want it skimpy." Then, no-one ever got so much as a clipping returned, but this dear lady's granddaughter was always dressed to the nines in - surprise, surprise -- leftover fabric "scraps"!

Yes, yes, I know I'm a nasty cynic!

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.