The Susan Khalje Couture Cocktail Dress/Gown

A few weeks ago, I told you about the Susan Khalje cocktail dress pattern and video that I would be making.

At the moment, I am under the gun t o get this dress finished, so a much more detailed post will follow. This is the fabric that I am using for the dress. You may remember that I am not making a cocktail dress, but a gown. My ideas have gone through a number of tweaks as I didn't have as much fabric as I thought.

The process is fairly labor intensive. A muslin is traced from the pattern. The pattern does not include seam allowances. The pattern is traced and then all the seams are stitched. The stitching allows for the seams to be visible on both sides and also helps to keep the muslin from stretching. This is my center back panel. You can see that at this point I have done my fitting and made changes, not many though.

My fashion fabric has been cut as well as the underlining. The gown is underlined in silk. It seems extravagant, but it will make a huge difference in how the dress hangs and wears. Besides that, I got it on sale for an incredible price, so I just couldn't resist!!! The underlining is marked with seam allowances and then basted to the fashion fabric.

The dress is then basted together and another fitting will be done.

Seam allowances are quite generous in the couture world, 1".

My gown is much further along than what I'm showing you now, but at least it is a sneak peek!
I will finish it today, fingers crossed :) So off I go to work.
I hope you and I both have a wonderfully productive day!!!!!
Rhonda