Take Another Bow

The photo below which I found on Pinterest, has captivated my attention the moment I laid eyes on it. All summer I kept this image in my phone, glancing at it daily as I tried to figure out what this sleeve was about and how I might translate it for the doll. Fortunately there is something called "Reverse photo" and with that online tool, I was able to locate the origins of this photo, other views of the dress as well as the author of the design. 

It is the work of Syrian born, Rami Al Ali, a renowned wedding couturier in Dubai. It's funny because when I first saw this photo, I was too busy deciphering the sleeve, to notice this might be a wedding dress. It wasn't until I found the full frontal view! 

But look closely at this gown and what do you see? The dress itself is fairly simple...it's all about the fancy sleeve work! For my taste, I didn't want to create a full whipped cream, cake-top confection--and I'm not so sure the volumes would work well for my 1/6 scale divas. But I was determined to come away with the drama of the sleeves and I did so using....BOWS! So...we might consider this an extension of "Take a Bow," a post a few years back using bows in the design of dramatic eveningwear!

This is a look that works well with the current "Rococo" trend we're seeing in the doll community (Integrity Toys and JamieShow Dolls)!  For this project all you need is a dress of your choice and either ribbon or slats of fabric you cut, fold and iron yourself. Nadja is wearing an evening shift of embroidered silk I made a while ago. It doesn't have the pizzazz other gowns in the house has, so it doesn't get worn much. 

The first thing I did was to create two sleeves by making two small tubes. You can either leave them as is (for removable sleeves), attach them to the underarm of the dress, or leave them as tubes with the intent of creating fancy gloves!!!

3. You can use store bought ribbon of your choice or cut strips of the same fabric of the dress to create your own ribbon. For this dress, I had on hand a yard (meter) of sheer "wired" ribbon. 

Wrap it around your fingers to create loops and pin in the middle.

4. Place it on the sleeve and pin. The take another length of ribbon and tie it in the middle of the loops.

5. Tack this down onto the sleeve so that it doesn't move. The arrange the loops into fluffy silhouettes.

The wired ribbon is very good for holding the shape you want to create.

We can stop there or..... add a bit of fabric to the back of the dress to create a train. Now for the white dress--the source of our inspiration. Once you remove the excess bulk, it isn't nearly as complicated as I initially imagined...

It's essentially the same thing, only my ribbon is more narrow and made by hand to match the dress. After experimenting with volumes, I decided to go a bit light on the sleeve treatment. The fabric you chose will make a big difference in the result you are trying to achieve. If you use a stiff fabric, the bows will remain crisp but used as streamers, the look will be a bit difficult. If you use something soft...the streamers are perfect, but the bows will flop! 

1. Again, this starts with a very basic dress. In this case, it is a strapless flared gown. 

I made sleeves (small tubes) that can either be stitched to the dress or left alone for a detachable option.

2. Create loops with the ribbon the same way you did with the first dress. For mine, I used about a yard (meter) of fabric. Stitch the loops together in the middle, then attach to the dress. First with a pin, then tack it down to the sleeve.

3. Once you have everything in place, take another length of ribbon to wrap around the sleeve with its loops, and tack in place to secure. I also added a smaller series of loops at the back of the sleeve. And I added an extra small bow at the center back of the dress to finish off the look.

I promised myself I would not make this dress in black. So I did it in red satin. Again, so simple. So dramatic. 

What I did differently this time around... I used store-bought satin ribbon of different sizes. I made tubes for sleeves and placed smaller bows just at the top. This design allows me to also use these as evening gloves!

Again, it is a basic sheath dress with bows added to both sides of the front and back. As you can see, I created a small series of bows and attached them to the top of the sleeve.

And because the dress is so dramatic all the way around, I've included a back view! A nice, big red satin bow at the back is the perfect finish!

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