To dye!

I'm working on a ball gown! I bought this gold/purple silk organza last August, and bought some white habotai to go beneath it. The white habotai just HAD to be dyed, though. The look I'm going for is gold tissue over dark purple, and the gown is going to be rather simple. The fabric looks a little garish, each by themselves, but together!!!!!

It was not difficult to dye it. I ended up buying a RIT dye (purple) and it matched great. I thought I was going to have to play around with it a lot to get it right, but it matched the second time I tried on a small swatch!

Here are my results so far:











I'm going to be gauging the skirt next! I'm working on a mockup for the bodice, but got a little derailed over the Christmas season. I'm very excited about the ballgowns I'm working on at the moment!!!

-Elizabeth

Black Basque

This is a black wool basque I made and sold on eBay. It's lined with white cotton, the sleeves are faced with white silk habotai and the inside ruffle is also white silk. Trimmed with rayon velvet ribbon and white eyelet that looks like embroidery anglaise. My absolute favorite part is the sleeve with the ruffle! It really really feels nice when you put your hand through. The silk is thin enough that it's pleasantly soft and ruffled just a little bit against your fingers. I got it to fit very nicely, I think.