MY VALENTINE GOWN ( CUTTING)

Hello my lovelies! its been a while!

This post is super late all thanks to my phone that has been acting up (like its under a spell aka Naija ogbanje)

that's where all the pictures for this post is stored. i found my way around some how thank God *hands up*. i got this material the last time i visited Aba market in December and i wanted to sew somethings free with it. My friend Tawa refused because she thought the style i had in mind looked like a maternity gown and according to her i was just being funny if i went ahead to sew the style. After all her long talk ( she would pull my ears when see reads this) i just kept the material aside and forgot about it. Fast forward to 31st January i was arranging my small cozy Corper room and i bumped into the material and momentarily an idea popped in my head VALENTINE!!! it was 2 weeks from that day and i needed to sew something to celebrate myself that day.

 I didn't want a straight gown neither did i want an A-shaped gown, a skirt was a no no for me. I wanted something a fitted around my boobs, free around my waist, simple but classy. Different styles popped in my head but i just didn't like them, i went on like that for days until  i ran out of time valentine was two days away. I finally had to settle for a Double breasted flay gown with bands and little belts.

Below is a sketch of what i envisioned!

Front view

Back view

I wanted the band to be just below my breast 

Measurements

shoulder - 17

shoulder to nipple - 9 ^½

bust - 34

shoulder to under bust - 12 ^½

round under bust - 29

waist - 28

gown lenght - 40

There was no time to waste  so i started cutting immediately and i cut the flay first.

The Flay

Fold into two 

From one of the ends fold the material in such a way that it forms a right angle triangle

 

From the upper side of the triangle, measured out your waist since this is a flay the outline of your waist shape will be a little curvy somehow forming a cone when marked out.

From the point where i got my waist measurement,  i stretched my tape downwards and measured 25  inches. I did this at different point of the waist so as to get equal length all around 

See how the length shifted at different points 

I connected each marked point to each other with a line ,next i began to cut starting with the waist , then the sides and finally the hemp.

Up next was the double breasted top side and it involved a lot of calculations and skill. Any double breasted style involves lapping of  the material at the center of the front or back side this means you have to measure out the material for the lap first before you follow the normal procedures of measuring the neck width, shoulders armhole e.t.c.

I folded the material into four marked 13 inches and cut

 the piece was in two parts and i cut the front side and back side differently

 Front side

I  measured 3 inches each for the lap at the top side and bottom side and i drew a line to connect both sides and notched ( learn how to notch here)

I went ahead to measured out my neck width then at 4.5 inches next my shoulders at 8.5 inches  from this point i measured 8 inches downwards for my arm hole.  

From where my shoulder width stopped  i drew a V- shaped line down to where to the edge of the material

 After i finished cutting i lap the notched parts together. Notching  the lap is very important because it is the whole essence of the style

Back Side

I measured out my neck width at 4.5 inches, marked my shoulders at 8.5 cm and neck depth at 1 inch

I drew out the shape and cut

The Bands

I cut the band and used gum stay on it to give it strength

The Belts

i cut the desired length I wanted, folded, stitched and ironed it .

The second phase of the cutting was to cut out the lining for each part of the dress to be made

I folded the lining the way i folded the material when i wanted to cut initially and then i placed the already cut piece on top of it and cut. Very easy!

I did same thing here.....

here...........

 And finally for the double breast too.

When i was done cutting i folded each section separately to keep it straighten and to avoid mix up.i used two yards of fabric and lining for this dress and i still have some left overs here and there.
The next post will be on how i joined these plenty plenty pieces together to get my gown. Come back soon!

Love,

Ada-uju