8 yards natural silk shaunting
8 yards natural silk twill
3 yards natural silk jaquard
3 yards 1.75" zardosi trim (silver/gold)
12 5/16" brass buttons; metal shank, round and flat in shape.
Garnets cut into bicone beads, oval ivory freshwater pearls, clear glass bugle beads, gold Japanese seed beads.
Hemline zardosi work is done with gold bullion. (Fabric was marked and sent to India for them to apply the goldwork)

I started with a princess seam bodice taken from a well-fitted dress I had made in the past. I cut the waistline in a low "V" at the lower part of the hips, and mimicked the same slant for the wide "V" neckline. Because the silk has a lot of bias stretch, I sewed a strip of twill tape to the V-opening to prevent it from gaping. After fitting the bodice, the skirt could be attached.

The lining for both the bodice and skirt are natural silk twill which is increadibly lightweight but strong, sack lined to the neck edge and hand sewn to the hemline. The lining is completely free of the outer dress except at the zipper so the layers hang smoothly.

Cream colored zipper was installed up the back and the lining was attached to it to finish.

A princess seam skirt pattern with a small train (8-10") was marked onto the silk, and the pattern for the goldwork was applied at the hemlines with water-soluble marker. The uncut silk was sent to India to have the goldwork applied.

When returned, the skirt segments were cut and sewn together, then attached to the bodice.

I used a semi-fitted sleeve for the upper portion, and hand drafted/draped both the lower bell and fitted mitten pieces. The basic shapes and construction are shown here: Upper, Wrapped-Bell, Mitten. Contact me via email if you would like further specifics on these.

The mitten inner sleeve is attached to the upper-sleeve's lining, and both outer layers are attached to eachother.

The bell sleeves were sack lined in hand-dyed silk jaquard. The dye is from Dharma Trading Co., the acid dye "Ecru" powder diluted to 1/3 teaspoon per liter of tepid water and dyed for 5 minutes (no vinegar added).

The mitten inner sleeve had to be fitted more snugly around the wrist, but the pattern shown worked very well. The lower sleeve is lined with more of the silk twill. Because both the twill and the jaquard are so very light, it adds very little bulk to the forearm or the elbow seams, which I really appreciated. I added 6 small buttons up the side of each sleeve with small button holes so the hand could be inserted through the narrow wrist opening.

The gold bullion along the hemline is all done by hand, stitched down with metallic thread. Click here for the pattern adaptation I used on the hem, as well as clear pictures of the goldwork.

The neckline and belt trim are the same, but I added garnets for a little more interest and color. The center front of the belt and V-neck area have been miter jointed together, and I used the scrap bullion bits to re-construct the design where the pieces overlapped.

The belt is tacked to the waistline at the vertical seams so it hangs mostly free (which prevents any pulls or puckers from happening). The dangling section down the front is backed with more silk shaunting so it looks finished even if it flips over.
The bottom end of the belt is cut to a point at a 45 degree angle and finished with scrap bits of bullion from the excess trim so it looks as if it was hand embroidered.
Because I did not want to use several pieces of flat trim to wrap around the hips, the center back is somewhat slanted to accomodate the natural shape of the hips. If I had met the trim up at its normal angle, it would not have fit smoothly over the hips, so it was a compromise I was willing to accept.

The entire perimiter of the bell sleeve is beaded with a combonation of glass bugle and seed beads. It gave it a similar gold and silver twinkle you get in the neck/belt trim.