is this going to work??

Well, I was looking at CheapTrims for the first time and the creative juices
started flowing. I was looking at the feather trim on tapes and got a little
designing brainstorm. Well, maybe not a completely original idea but I'm a
Fashiontrance fan and I've seen some haute designs with feathers and I love
them. They have a 6 inch sort of peacock herl fringe, I want a spool of this
BAD!.....cause it's there. LOL

OK, here's what I've come up with, I'm thinking sort of a bolero type vest
thing. I saw clothing with feathered skirts and pants but like I'm going to
hang feathers on my caboose? hahahaha!! Sleeveless box vest, stopping
just above the waist. I'm thinking that sewing the tapes of feathers as you
would the fringe on a flapper dress, only I don't want the tapes to
show....so, if I first take my fabric do all the folds sort of like
__/\___/\___/\__ this,
the folds being as deep as the tape is wide and then steam press very well
with the inside of the fold being pressed UP. I was going to use a green
taffeta, it's that deep green that changes shades and has a bit of black in
it, depending on how the light hits. Then when I sew the tape into the
fold, the back of the fold points up so the feathers hang down.......but if
I put folds in the fabric, across the grain, press well, then lay the
pattern on the pre folded fabric, cut it out, join the side and shoulder
seams, these would be unfolded when sewn up, matching creases of folds as
closely as possible, repressing folds into seams then sew the feathered tape
into the folds, whatever little fudging needed at seams (with all the
feathers it's not like matching plaids) pressing up on the inside so
feathers hang down and then lining it with a solid heavy weight fabric, I'm
thinking the same heavy taffeta, this should work pretty good, right? I may
have to fine tune and tweak the shoulder seams a bit to make the feathers
hang right but that really isn't a big problem ( infamous last words).

Planning and Pondering,
Val

Valkyrie wrote:
Well, I was looking at CheapTrims for the first time and the creative juices
started flowing. I was looking at the feather trim on tapes and got a little
designing brainstorm. Well, maybe not a completely original idea but I'm a
Fashiontrance fan and I've seen some haute designs with feathers and I love
them. They have a 6 inch sort of peacock herl fringe, I want a spool of this
BAD!.....cause it's there. LOL
This is a REALLY dangerous web site! I've had the same
thing happen to me there - very hard on the wallet.

OK, here's what I've come up with, I'm thinking sort of a bolero type vest
thing. I saw clothing with feathered skirts and pants but like I'm going to
hang feathers on my caboose? hahahaha!! Sleeveless box vest, stopping
just above the waist. I'm thinking that sewing the tapes of feathers as you
would the fringe on a flapper dress, only I don't want the tapes to
show....so, if I first take my fabric do all the folds sort of like
__/\___/\___/\__ this,
the folds being as deep as the tape is wide and then steam press very well
with the inside of the fold being pressed UP. I was going to use a green
taffeta, it's that deep green that changes shades and has a bit of black in
it, depending on how the light hits. Then when I sew the tape into the
fold, the back of the fold points up so the feathers hang down.......but if
I put folds in the fabric, across the grain, press well, then lay the
pattern on the pre folded fabric, cut it out, join the side and shoulder
seams, these would be unfolded when sewn up, matching creases of folds as
closely as possible, repressing folds into seams then sew the feathered tape
into the folds, whatever little fudging needed at seams (with all the
feathers it's not like matching plaids) pressing up on the inside so
feathers hang down and then lining it with a solid heavy weight fabric, I'm
thinking the same heavy taffeta, this should work pretty good, right? I may
have to fine tune and tweak the shoulder seams a bit to make the feathers
hang right but that really isn't a big problem ( infamous last words).

Your plan sounds right to me - I've done things this way
before, though not with feathers. As you have guessed, the
tricky part comes at the shoulders, especially if the fit on
you is very sloped.

One option is to make and fit the lining first. Once the
shape is how you like it, you can chalk-draw on lines for
the trim spacing it out as needed to get the coverage you
want. Then lay the face fabric on, folding your pleats
along the lines drawn similar to your plan. Then cut the
face pieces to match the vest you know fits.

Another option is to run the feather lines at non-horizontal
lines over the front. If the slope at the shoulder is
moderate, match that line, and adjust the bottom edge. Or
go at 45deg. or something totally wild.

It ia also worth thinking about how to stitch on the feather
trim - the one time I used lots of feathers, the trick was
not going through the ribs with the needle. I ended up hand
stitching just to keep the strength of the feathers. Even
with the tape, I suspect that you'll need to be VERY careful
with this. No point in making this and them having all the
feathers pop off during the first wearing.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. (I may have to get
some of this trim too...YUM!)

$.01