The Gown - Details on Vogue 1250

From 2011Gown

From 2011Gown

Finally, photos of the Gala Gown made from Vogue 1250,lengthened and with a train added. This is the gown I wore to the Lyric Opera opening night.


Carolyn was interested in how I did the train. I thought I would probably want to add a godet at CB, but didn't know if I should put it in the seam, or cut it onto the main skirt, which was what I had hoped would work, since with the ribbed knit fabric, the fewer seams the better. I looked in all my books, and found just about nothing on the subject.

I asked, and got good suggestions from my friend Jane, who gave me several patterns from her 'permanent collection' to look at, including the one I finally decided was just what I wanted, (OOP) Vogue 9400, which has a very similar skirt, with a cut-on godet train.

I laid it over my pattern, but only used it as a guide, since it had side seams, and my skirt was one piece from the CF fold to the CB seam, necessitating a narrower godet, even though my fabric was quite wide.

For general informational purposes, Jane says that a train will usually start where the top of a slit would be in a skirt, but I thought that since this was a knit, I could preserve the columnar effect of the skirt a little more by starting lower, and still have plenty of walking room, which proved to be the case. I started angling out at about the knee, and made an angle that brought me to the edge of the fabric at the length I wanted. Not very technical, but it worked perfectly.

From 2011Gown

She pinned the hem for me too, and used her standard 'bridesmaid length' which finishes 1 1/2" above the floor, giving plenty of room to walk, and looks floor-length to viewers. I worried a little about it being that far off the floor, but I have to admit, it worked perfectly, and I had no trouble walking, although one must 'manage' one's train when backing up, etc.

I did a hand stitched hem, using a supported catchstitch, and very fine silk thread. I started it with regular sewing thread, and it showed a lot. The fine thread made a great difference. You can see both the inside and outside of the hem in the photo below.

From 2011Gown

The shoes are slightly visible in some of the photos, but here's a better picture.

From MuPhiConvention

They are the ones I had to put 4 coats of ModPodge on to keep them from 'adhering' to the dress. I had no problems walking in them, quite a few blocks total in downtown Chicago, and wore them for about 6 hours total that night. As I'd thought, they were quite comfortable, although going down steps in them is not my favorite thing.

You can see all the photos in the slideshow above, but I'll leave you with a back view showing the train a little better, and a better view of the wrap I made to wear with the dress.

From 2011Gown