Stephanie Corfee » chiffon

sketch week continues…

StephanieCorfee — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 02:56:29 +0000

Ah…this dress was one of my favorites. Imported Alencon lace was used for the center-seamed, deep v bodice. i lined the bodice with a silk that took forever to find. i was going for a color that would fall somewhere between nude (ick!) and natural white, which was the color of the gown. i wanted the motifs in the lace to stand out a bit and have a lovely vintage flavor. The color i ended up using was like a very soft sand color….like the color of linen. That fabric was so beautiful! The skirt was just awesomeness to the touch. The bride wanted a very slinky feel with layers. We did a shiny silk charmeuse layer and self lining, then 2 layers of chiffon. That’s 4 layers all together. The skirts were light and weighty all at once. The word, sumptuous comes to mind. Yum. The top most layer of chiffon was the natural white, but the underlayer of chiffon was in the linen/sand color. Oh man, the depth of creaminess that resulted was just dreamy. Dreamy creamy! i hand-stitched the scalloped edges along the neckline, backline and armhole openings which were sewn like like slit-openings on the side seam. See them in the sketch? i love tiny details like that. Everything about this dress was designed to elongate the body. Everything was based around long vertical lines and seams. i’m falling in love with it all over again. These dresses were like my babies! It was always difficult to send one out the door.

i’ve really been loving blogging about these designs this week. It makes me remember what i loved so much about sewing one-of-a-kind gowns. (sigh*)

day 3 of looking back…the keyhole racerback

StephanieCorfee — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:39:31 +0000

Please do not use this design without my permission.

Um, this sketch stole my dream hair. Touseled, wavy low ponytail with perfect pieces around the face. Ah well, my hair does not have quite the volume to pull this off, but pencil chick here is rockin it!

This sketch was for an asymmetric beaded/sequined skirt with a charmeuse keyhole, racerback bodice with beading along the armhole edges. This was one of 3 sketches that were shown to a very cool bride who actually became a dear friend. She chose a different dress….a sheath dress entirely in beaded chiffon with a low scoop back that was held up entirely by an attached corset which was the workhorse of the dress. She is awesome. She rocked a cage veil and black gloves and i think there were black feathers involved (tastefully) in the bouquet. My fashionista buddy. She is fearless!…and is now a brand new mama : )

looking back – ah glamour

StephanieCorfee — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 01:29:39 +0000

Hello all! Here is what i’m thinking. Since i am up to my elbows in commissions and it can be tricky posting progress pics “during” the creation (clients like to be the first ones to see a work and still others might consider me stealing their thunder if i posted theirs) i am going to post a bunch of dress sketches this week.

i had so much fun sifting through my design journals from my days in the bridal biz. And response from my sweet readers was quite positive….so here we go~ a week-long peek at some of my favorites.

Dress #1

This sketch is a beaded, triple layer chiffon gown with a bodice overlay in wispy coordinating chiffon with beading along the edges & dangles on the points. i think i might revisit this bodice for a little summer dress! : )

Please do not use this design without my permission

Dress #2

Now, if only i was a good at taking actual photos of the completed gowns to compare! i was horrible at that. i think i only have maybe 4-5 photos? My sister and a few friends are easy marks though. i can squeeze some photos out of them! For now, i’ll leave you with and in-progress shot of my sister’s gown and veil back in 2000? i think? In this pic, i was about midway through the sewing and had a lot of hand beading left to complete….

Please do not use this design without my permission

bye for now! More tomorrow!