Katherine Young yes! LOL ironically I saw that video the day after I made this comment and absolutely loved it! I’d still love to see them do another one, perhaps something where they appear in each other’s videos over zoom or something
Tip for anyone who wants to make a bodice or any corset-type thing with foam: you can use your sewing patterns! Just make it a bit bigger than your measurements, bc foam is much thicker than fabric, but follow your pattern shapes, add all the darts, and you should have a great base to work off of!
ohhh tHAT DRESS IS GORGEOUS also thought it was a dress made out of book pages and thought of just waiting in an elevator or something and you’re just reading your dress out of boredom
I made a dress out of bookpages once and people actually started reading me and asked me what books i used and stuff like that! it was lovely but also some people do not care about personal space.^^'''
@Ivan the flying squirrel Now I might have that sound in my ear for the entire day 😂 In Germany we call it 'Ohrwurm' (earworm) when a sound doesn't want to leave your ear and brain for hours. But ... it sings DnD ... so it's pretty cool ^^
Names for that bodice: "Keeping abreast with a traveling library", or "A chest full of classic's!" I admire your creative mind. It is a thing of wonder! This was truly delightful!
“She is a designer I am a potato”. Naughty Rachel. No potato ever made this. You did. You have your own gifts and talents which we all love by the way. No potatoes were harmed or even used. In the making of this video.
I was thinking the same thing. I think the skirt would look cool using tea or coffee to dip dye the bottom. It would make a nice transition and create an aged/weathered look.
Also! You can buy “dirty down” sprays which are aerosol fabric paints designed for breaking down costumes and they’re a great cheaper alternative to an airbrush!
Definitely would suggest dip dying if you still want that ombre aged effect. It's really quite easy....you "dip" one end into a cat of dye, allowing that end to dye to desired color. Simultaneously, the dye naturally sort "bleeds" up into the rest of the fabric, creating a very natural gradient.
So many things to appreciate: The rust colored top “Sponsor Rachel” was wearing, the completely amazeballs pop culture references (Harry Potter, Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and The Goonies in the first 8 minutes), the utterly stunning source material, and the incredible final product. Thank you for another wonderful video. Stay safe and be well.
That’s so fun! I love the result. I had thought if you ever wanted to revisit it, the shape of the bodice might conform better to your body if you cut the foam using a pattern for stays or a corset, depending on the shape you wanted it to have.
@@rachelmaksy These sewing videos are amazing, I just made vintage plaid overalls from scratch and I can't sew for the life of me so watching someone sew teaches me what I could improve on.♥️♥️♥️
@@rachelmaksy Check the choreography of Uno, by the Russian band Little Big. It's that same movement over and over. And it's the kinda thing you'd like. PS: I like the Russian dance, but my favourite is Lithuania's On Fire (Sang by the band The Roop)
I think this looks amazing. This is just a tip for keeping any ruffles even when pinning and stitching. Using a regular kitchen fork and twirling it helps tremendously. I do that all the time. You have really grown with sewing. Keep up the good work
Oof! Your experience with the Eva foam reminded me of the time I did my WHOLE entire graduation collection with foam! And because Eva foam isn't available in my country, I had to work with foam boards (the stiff ones) and then when that got tricky, I used yoga mats 😂😂😂 But thank you for sharing your struggle. All the cosplayers videos that I watched just did it so easily, I wondered why I couldn't do it like them. In the nicest way possible, watching you have the same issues with this made me feel like I'm not totally incompetent. 😂😂
"don't say it'll be an easy sewing project! Because they can hear you!"😄 Best sewing advice I have ever been given and have been proven right every time is you always need a third more of the time you originally estimated. xxxx
I appreciate how brutally honest you are with your critique of your dress, but you don't let it get you down and stay positive! Fear of creating something "imperfect" is what keeps me from creating anything myself. But making something imperfect is a lot better than making nothing at all, so I need to go for it!
I was actually thinking that you wouldn't even need that much. She wore her stays anyways, the dress itself could just be fabric with the thin craft foam for the books on top
Oh dear lawd, I almost did a spit-take with my coffee at the "OF KNOWLEDGE!" bit! :p As always, you are made of awesome, and I adored every moment of your amazing and intrepid sartorial shenanigans! A gal after my own heart!
Hey Rachel! A good technique for getting a color gradient on fabric without an airbrush (or paint) is to get the fabric completely wet in a bathtub with plain water, then stick one end of the fabric in the color you like and it will soak into the fabric slowly and create a gradient. Getting the fabric wet beforehand helps the color to flow easier and fade into the water and dilute into a gradient. (and and if you want a brown/reddish or green color, you can use tea and it won't stain your tub!) If you don't want your bath tub to be used though, you can just use a large cooking pot. Good luck!
Rachel, this is AMAZING! You ARE a designer and an artist. Never forget that! … A suggestion for a gradient transition from bodice to skirt could be adding different gold lace, tulle and any other transparent fabric you can find, gathering it and gradually using less of it as you go down the dress. Can’t wait to see your next project!
Oh wow 🥰 That's a dress I always love so much when it comes by online, it's sooo beautiful! ❤ Can't wait to see how it will turn out! I'm sure it's going to look amazing! 🌿🌻🦋 Thank you so much for another video and for inspiring smiles in these times! Lots of love 🌹
Please don’t put yourself down. You are NOT a potato. I agree it’s not the most flattering of corsets, but that’s just because of the material. BUT, the detailing and bindings. When I first started seeing you make it, I couldn’t imagine where you were going with it. Fantastic!!! You do have a talent for painting among your other talents. I really enjoyed this video and I love your quirkiness. I see a lot of my daughter in you.
It turned out so pretty!!! Making foam tops is super tough. What works for me is taking a simple corset pattern two sizes up (to accomodate the thickness of the foam) as a baseline. It gives you the flattering shape, is easy to build on and is good to have in your arsenal regardless. (I mainly use the Yaya Han Bunny suit pattern M7398 as a base and ignore the crotch part. It works wonders!) You can also put eyelets into the foam itself if you add fabric backing where it's going
The fact that your Saturday morning is my Friday evening should tell you how weird our construction of time is, regardless of our current situation Also: loving the Greek username 😁
My dearest Rachel: two things I thought of for this recreation. The first is: I would have used a thinner foam for the bodice overall. The second: I would have used an actual corset, tied myself down, measured the back spacing, and then tied it down on a large bag of rice or a dress form to those spacing measurements to then heat form the foam. But! I find this am amazing recreation! Your videos, as well as a few other period dressers are inspiring me to go and create. Your usage of craft materials as well as goodwill finds has inspired me to begin making my own clothes. I've wanted to for quite some time, but now I think I really may.
I am loving your sense of humor! I scared my dog with sudden laughter when you experimented with the designer’s name! The dress is a riot, love the way you did the hem! 💕
That's so cool! I loved it! I think I would just make the base for the bodice out of regular fabric I think, try to construct it like a corset and then add the thin foam on top. But then again, never made it, I have no idea. But good job, I think you nailed it!
You should have seen my face seeing that inspo, thats so gorgeous, and i love your take on it, im glad you didnt try to copy it perfectly, i think you would have been miserable doing that.. Id love to see a list of the names (i have a really hard time reading anyones handwriting)
I made a presentation 2 years ago about her for my french class! The dress is actually made out of real books!!!!! She was born in Arras (a small city where Robespierre was also born) and the books used in this dress belonged to a small bookstore there called "La Grande Librairie", the dress was a challenge since dismembering the book cover without damaging it (since the books she used were REALLY old) was very hard, but she somehow managed it after many hours of work. By the way, she also has a dress made of a *real* violin! And many other beautiful garments.
This is absolutely beautiful On a completely unrelated note, I just wanted to thank you Rachel for being a creator and not being afraid to be yourself and let your personality shine through. I myself have wanted to dress vintage and make my own clothes but I wasn't sure if it was possible because i thought that my personality wouldn't match the aesthetic I was looking for. But watching you and realizing our personalities are alike has made me more comfortable in trusting myself and doing things I love.❤
Argh it's so good! Using tobacco cloth was such a good choice. This has reminded me that it is ok under some circumstances not to hem things. Hope you're having a lovely weekend 💕
I would suggest using Worbla (thermoplastic modelling materials). It's widely used in cosplaying and it's it is easily moldable using heat gun. Hope this helps if you ever want to recreate the bodice of this Book Dress. Other than that, you have done a great job! The gold gilding part is very nice too, I love it! Super nice touch!
I love that you always include what you liked and think you did well and areas you want to improve on. Sometimes I'm timid to try to make something new because I know it won't turn out exactly what I've pictured in my head but I'll never improve if I don't try in the first place... as always great content and inspiration Rachel, keep it up!
5:58 all the focus went to the skirts! Haha. Also I love the tablecloth dress! Looking gorgeous and hobbity as always. I’ve never been able to read your tattoo before and I LOVE IT.
So amazing! Turned out really cute. I think knee pads are an item every human should have in their stash. I have a pair and can’t believe how much they help when I do the whole Cinderella scrubbing the floor reenactment once a year.
This was so unique and creative - I love the thought behind each part, the unconventional fabric for the skirt for example - so fairy like! And the fake book names were amazing... If I ever saw you in a convention wearing this, I hope to be brave enough to ask you to let me read all of the names while admiring the different book designs!
BOOK DRESS!!! I made a Facon-inspired book dress last year, using leather and vinyl for the spines and muslin "pages" of text for the skirt, so seeing someone else make one is AWESOME. (For the trashcan waist issue - elizabethan corsets work pretty well to make everything more cylindrical. Also making all the spines sliiightly wider at the top than the bottom.) I'm jealous of your painting skills! It came out great!!
Good job!! 👍👏 If you are going to revisit this dress, to help the shape of the bodice, instead of the foam you could use canvas or denim for the base. In that way you can have more control over the shape. I like your creativity. I like the colors and design of your books more than the original.
You can always dip dye the skirt if you want to get a gradient. Also, pro-tip for crafting or sewing with pets: have a decoy project set out and pretend to be interested in it. Once your pet has claimed the decoy, then you can work on your actual project.
RACHEL: next time you ever do a corset project, cut two pieces of fabric for each pattern piece. Then label with a piece of paper, pinned to each piece (preferably with a liner piece as well), and store with the whole thing pinned together to the pattern piece. That way you can just assemble it for your next construction that would benefit from a corset, corset bodice, or stays. This dress could have been assembled directly to you stays and you would have achieved that shape you were looking for. Double time them corsets. LOVE YOU GIRL!
This was a fabulous treat! To watch you use "Almost All " your talents on One dress. You are very talented and very creative. I love watching you create!!!
SOOOO ... At the end of my Sleep Deprived Night last night>> I had a Rachel Epiphany! Cut out the pieces for this kind of thing from a Dog Food Nylon Mesh Bag!> Sew it together and glue your book bindings pieces to it and go from there. You get the definition you want and durability... and the way to create the book bindings. Just a thought...The dog food bags can be cleaned with anything. Shrunk in the dryer or with a heat source and Yes. Practice Practice Practice makes perfect. Great Video.
This is beautiful!! I really love all the little details like the gold leaf. You said you wanted a gradient for the skirt and i know its probably too late now but you could always soak the top of the skirt in tea and then hang it up letting it leech into the rest of the skirt? Idk if that would work but its an idea!! Great work as always i really love this!!!
