It's been a busy week but I did find a little time to finish the aqua print kaftan. The sewing was very easy and quick but attaching the beads took a few evenings of tv time. (I hate that I always mention TV when I talk about sewing, but it's really almost the only time I have to sew after dinner and homework! haha.)
I love it! It's my favorite dress ever! It's definitely more of a summer dress since the fabric is almost sheer.
So the fabric came from the thrift store and I think, after working with it, that is it a poly/cotton blend. The threads that fray from the cut edge of the fabric have that sort of stretchy, plastic-y feel. It has almost no weight so to weigh down the hem I repurposed a beaded belt that I have had for a while.
Some of the belt I left intact and just sewed on to the edge of the neckline.
And the rest of the belt was disassembled so I could sew on the beads individually. This was really quite fun and relaxing. The hem has a nice weight now and won't blow up and billow in a breeze.
This kaftan is slightly narrower than my last one. As a result the sleeves are somewhat shorter. I sewed the side seams as a regular seam, leaving it open below the knee. To keep the inside tidy, all machined seams were french seamed. (For this kaftan, I had 4 seams - two at the shoulders and two at the sides).
I love this dress so much. I can't wait to wear it when the weather gets a little warmer.
For now, though, I need to really focus on getting us outfitted for our reenacting season. It was fun taking a little break to make a few modern things, though!
When you have time, please post a picture of you wearing it. It's hard to tell what it looks like on the dress form. Beautiful!
ReplyDelete