Lorelle's Pink and Black One Shoulder Corset Dress

During this week, I finished hand making a custom order for one of my dear customer's, Lorelle.

Lorelle and her sister Leanne, wanted one of my corset dresses each to wear to a family wedding in January 2011. Leanne instantly loved the Silver Floral Corset Dress, and coincidentally the size 10 fitted her perfectly.

Lorelle originally wanted a corset dress like the Black Citrus Corset Dress, but since Leanne was already wearing the same shape, I suggested that I design on especially for her!

Introducing the Pink and Black One Shouldered Corset Dress!




I thought you may like to see a few photos of me creating this beautiful dress!

Below, staring to sew the outer fabrics together.



The dress itself has 3 layers: outer fabric (either Pink cotton/elastane print, or black ribbed poly blend), fusing then bright pink lining.


Above, preparing the corset- sewing interfacing to one of the corset pieces. The corset has four layers: outer black ribbed fabric, interfacing, interlining (where the boning sits) and lining.



Above, the back of the dress. Note that all seams are matched!



Pressing the back, above.


Above, adding the invisible zip.


Sewing through a few layers of the corset to secure the boning in place.



Above, inside the back, where the invisible zip sits, and the bright pink lining contrasts the black!



Above, sewing the lining together.


And under-stitching the neckline so the black fabric stays rolled under.



You can also read about another lady's feedback, who wore the Silver Floral Corset Dress to her daughter's wedding, here.



I am looking forward to seeing some photos from the wedding day ladies!

Kiran's Sari-Inspired Wedding Dress, Part 1: East meets West

Ok, so this is a little teaser for all of those interested in the Sari-Inspired wedding dress I am currently making. I can't show you too much, as I think it is only fair that the wedding guests see the final dress before the rest of the world!, but I wanted to show you the work involved in this design and all the handmade touches that go with it!

This dress is for a lady I have known ever since I started selling at Paddington Markets- over four years ago! Kiran, the bride, is one of my best customers, and I don't usually make wedding dresses, but for her, I was happy to do it. She always asks for something special and different, and through out the years we have grown to understand each others aesthetic, and more importantly, have become friends. I knew that she was going to want something completely different, and I couldn't wait to get started!


As Kiran is Indian-Australian, the first thing I said to her is that we should include the cultural influence. The above drawings is a rough idea of what the design has started out as. As the title of this posting implies, we wanted to keep an even mix of Eastern and Western cultures alive in this design; so we have a western-style corset dress, and as she walks down the aisle, we will have a gorgeous train/overskirt made from the Sari (pictured below).


After a while of searching for the perfect fabric, Kiran showed me this beautiful Sari that her Mum and herself had picked out. I was thrilled straight away! Anyone who knows me, knows that I love over-the-top decadence, so it was really exciting to be able to work with something such as this!



We decided that the plain bright pink silk dupion would be used for the corset dress, as this colour ties in with the beading, and really highlights Kiran's complexion. The navy blue silk chiffon sari will be used in making the over-skirt. The leftover beading/pieces of the sari will be used for decoration.


I generally get images/visions in my mind when I am really into a particular design (it sounds weird, I know, but I have no idea how else to describe it). Every time I envisaged this design, I could see the pink silk added to the over-skirt hem, and constructed into really interesting shapes that would add detail and interest to the back. As we had discussed, most guests would have a view of the back of her dress throughout the whole ceremony, so we wanted to make the back a feature.

The above and below photos show the toile (or prototype) of the dress, with the over skirt attached. Imagine wherever the white fabric is, that is where bright pink silk will be; wherever the black is, that represents the sari.




The above picture is the corset dress toile, so imagine this in bright pink silk.

As you can see, there is a lot more to go on this design. I will be updating this design as I proceed further, in the next few months- so stay tuned!

Take a look at PART 2 here!

Take a look at some of my other designs here: