Final Prep for CFW 2014

Charleston Fashion Week (CFW) starts tomorrow so it's a good thing that I am almost finished with my last pieces for it. I hope to wear this to the Saturday night finale.

This is a lot of purple, or plum as the Waechter's website described it. It is a silk noil and, seriously, it really does look good with the kimono fabric. What's up with these pictures? They make the silk noil look blue next to the silk brocade.

The plum column is composed of CLD's Pure and Simple shell, and her tapered one-seams. I never grow tired of that PAS pattern, when I need a slightly fitted easy topper. It has just the right amount of fit. And of course the one-seams are a great TNT pattern for me.

The shell is lined using the jacket-bagging idea I tried out on the bling version. I experimented with various ways to make sure the lining does not slip out. The is very important, you see, because I used a light blue ambiance from my stash (!). For now, the neckline is finished with a little sashiko using gold silk embroidery thread (4-ply). I top-stitched the other edges at 1/4 inch in the interest of time.

The plum silk noil was narrow (44 inches) so I had to add a front center seam and back center seam to the shell. No real problem since it disappears or creates another vertical line.

I interlined the plum one-seams because I wanted to add strength to them. Silk noil is quite fragile so I'm hoping that will help. And the one-seams are not tight, so I should be fine.

Now for that kimono. I love it but maybe it takes this ensemble into PJ territory. I hope not!

I used another TNT pattern for this kimono. It is the women's hippari from Japanese Field Clothing (Folkwear Patterns). I bought the silk for it in San Franciso's Chinatown many years ago. It is only 28 inches wide and I did not have a lot, so I needed an efficient way to use it. This hippari pattern is very traditional and so involves only rectangles. Very efficient way to use fabric, I think.

The kimono silk is soft-of a silk brocade though much lighter than that and it has great drape. Maybe it is a double-cloth of sorts. One side is predominantly purple; the other is predominantly gold. And there are no running threads on either side. Perhaps there is a better name for it. 

There is still a bit of handwork remaining. The pictures show the hem facing hanging out and the front band with threads. I used gold silk dupioni for the front band and to create facings for all the hems. I've got a  long car ride coming up which will be perfect for the handwork.