The emergency LBD

This should have been the post I wrote last night, if I hadn't been for the equally beautiful and horrifying Water For Elephants.  I am now officially in love with an elephant called Rosie and 1930s evening gowns.

* * * * *

That aside, upon the doorstep have recently landed more invites to Black Tie dinners than we would normally receive in a couple of years and after much debate and procrastination, we have accepted the kind invitations.  So yesterday, a quick Google and 30 minutes shopping later, the boyf emerged from a changing room looking impossibly dapper and happily parted with some cash.  I on the other hand am slightly panicked.  I have not, in the past, done well in store bought dresses; hence my love of vintage, which fits me so much better.  But I do not have the time at the moment to find something and wait for it to be posted from the States; so I pulled out of the cupboard my emergency LBD.

I made this dress a couple of years ago, it was made in an emergency dress for a Black Tie birthday party.  Lined and boned, it was the first dress I'd made in a good few years and it was the catalyst for the projects that I've done since.  Sadly, at the time I didn't know enough about boning to realise that plastic boning is just no good, or that long lengths of boning really need to be spiral boning.  The boning bent outwards when I sat down - luckily it was a stand up and sip champagne party - and the dress went back in the cupboard when I got home.

If I could remove the boning, it may be possible to rework the dress.  Luckily, the boning was zigzag stitched onto the lining: a quick-unpick loosened them and they could be pulled through a small opening at the bottom of the lining and trimmed.  

The other problem now is that the dress is now also a little too large for me and bunches badly at the waist.  It is a pretty safe design but the original plan for the dress included a tulle skirt; when I made it I ran out time and skill!  I still have the tulle so am thinking that perhaps I could keep the bodice and revisit the original plans for the skirt. 

I would also like to rework the bustline; I wasn't as confident a couple of years ago and as soon as I'd made a dress that was strapless and didn't cover my shoulders, I promptly covered everything up again with lots of chiffon and a cardigan!  This picture was taken once the boning had been trimmed, I kept the boning in the bust; it's definitely the best part of the dress.  I'm thinking I will tuck and sew in the chiffon; create a shelf-bodice style waist band and add a tulle overskirt.  Inspiration looks something like this:

I don't have much time for this.  I've just started resizing the pattern pieces for my Victorian Jacket so that I can start on the lining and get the boning ordered; I have the 10yr old's costume to start; Dolly sitting naked and looking at me! and I have Christmas projects to start thinking on...  I will have to find a safe spot for the Victorian Costume, stick this dress on Miss G and get something sorted quickly... the first party is next week!