1950s Evening Gown Update (Bonus Project #1)

Sorry I am late to the party here, but I agree with the general sentiment, do what is best for you and makes you happy! If soaking the fabric doesn't work, and if you can't find a suitable replacement and you have your heart set on red silk, Fabric.com has a massive selection of everything under the sun, including 100% silk and silk blends in all different colors

Would love a petticoat tutotial. I really need to make one. I've bought a lot of fabric lately with flaws - what is the deal here??? We need to look carefully at the fabric in the store, but I always feel sort of rushed and like that is not a cool thing to do.

It happens! Machines will be machines, nothing haunting about your pattern. Just breathe, and take your time and the right decision will come your way. Happy “hunting”, no pun intended, of the next fabric or color you have in mind.

The ZOOM video player might play those files. It's free and they have versions for all OS's. About the red silk...your idea of oxyclean is good. worth a try when you have the time. Or, maybe the perfect fabric will come along. I'm just not keen on the navy satin. The petticoat is beautiful. I bet is was fun to make. LOVE those LIPS!

Have you heard of silkbaron.com? They have high quality silks (including red) for a decent price.

I'm sorry this happened; messed up silk sucks!!! If I were you, I'd try to wash this silk, and if that doesn't work, I'd do whatever you want to do. I'm excited to see what you sew, no matter what it is.

Unrelated, but I just received my fabrics today that I'll need to construct your 18th century McCall's turque. I'm so beyond excited!

Take your time and return to this project when it feels right to you. I don't think any of us want you to push yourself through a bonus project if your heart isn't fully in it!

take the 3 months, find a silk you love. Life is too short to spend it stressed and unhappy.

I don’t have an opinion either way but am sending a big cyber hug!

Give yourself the 3 months to look for an even more beautiful silk! You have proof of extensive damage on yours (in the fabric district?) and could probably bargain the new fabric's price down to the same level or lower with that in mind. Browsing online and going through every possible red silk entry should be quite enjoyable for you, and would be way more exciting than starting a project with blue satin that you're not as into. And it means different lining. You could plan a grossly elaborate phallic-shaped glue-stained dress in the meantime! You could also use it to make a petticoat or undergarments that won't be seen, as long as it's still comfortable to wear.

I feel like you should wait until you find the right fabric to make you happy. I voted on the red silk but at the end of the day any color would work in my opinion as long as You are excited about it. I'm not committed to 'red' silk I'd rather see it in the right fabric that was a different color if you can't find the right color.

I feel your pain. I once lost the entire contents of a laptop, and the recovery was minimal and corrupted. Also so sorry about that silk! What on earth is that staining? I would try soaking it. Even if you chose another fabric, it would still be nice for you to get some use out of that silk, so it won't feel like a disappointing waste.

I agree with the other comments that you should wait until you find a fabric that you love for this project. And that petticoat is gorgeous!

I think I'm just echoing the general sentiment in the comments here by saying that I think you ought to put this on hold until you can feel excited about the fabric you're using.

Hi Angela, I worked at a community theatre for a bit (with no budget for dry cleaning!) and silk is always the hardest to get clean. My first stop is Dawn dish soap and hydrogen peroxide. As for the dress, I think any silk would look wonderful. The 50s were so free with colour, anything would work!

Maybe this is silly but have you tried converting the video files to a different format? I don't know, but that might help. I think you should put this project on hold anyway, and wait for some lovely silk! :)

Wait until there is a silk you want to use and maybe wait to do it with the 1950s mouth. The reds should start coming in the fall fabric collections.

Since you were so stoked about making it in silk I think you should wait until you have some more silk you can use for it. We'll be here waiting, and it's so much better if you're excited about the project instead of doing it just because "you have too".

Fully agree with the main story of the remarks so far, do what feels good for you and what gets your mojo back. This is more back luck than any of us could handle on a single project. The lost files sound way too familiar, if you’ve never seen them on the drive, their probably indeed not recoverable, if they were deleted by accident, recovery could be possible but in general it’s complicated with large files and often result in corrupted files. As an insurance against deleted or corrupted files, a double drive with automatic backup is a great solution. I still have a spare one which is a couple of GB in size. If the connection fits your MacBook and the shipping from Europe is not too expensive, it could help you out in the future. If you want me to check the details of that drive, just let me know. In the meantime, focus on something else to get back in the flow, or read the nice comments from your Patreons 😜.

Arrrggh that sucks!! I feel for you Angela, such a streak of bad luck on this dress! At this point, I agree with Emma; maybe the universe is sending signals that now is not quite the time to work on this project yet, you can wait until you're in the 1950s period and give you some time to get excited about it again. Maybe in the meantime someone really good at recovering fabric and damaged files will come through and help you out! One thing I was also thinking about was to bring a piece of the fabric to your local dry cleaner, to see if they have any tips or are able to remove those weird stains on that smaller piece? It seems so sad to waste such a huge amount of silk...

I agree with the conclusions above. In addition, If you find another fabric that will work, in whatever color, then I would love to see this pattern made, in whatever time frame makes sense to you. I believe that a tone-on-tone brocade, with minimal contrast in color would also be lovely, and show off the construction as well. You’re doing a marvelous job, and seeing your enthusiasm, determination and problem solving is inspiring.

I think waiting until you can find a fabric that you will like should be the best way to go. There's nothing worse than making something with a material you don't like the look of or making something just for the sake of making it, because it makes the journey hard to enjoy. I know you'll have great content to share with us until you're ready to start the ball gown, so please don't feel pressured to make this project until you have the right material for it. As for the files, stuff happens. I'm sorry they got lost. Hopefully you have better luck with your drives in future videos

I say do whatever makes you feel the most inspired about this project! I would try to wash the silk again, just because it's a shame that you can't use that lovely fabric. But if that doesn't work, I think you should wait until you find the perfect fabric. It will be your dress and you need to love it! P.S. I would LOVE a knee-length petticoat tutorial!!! I have been really wanting to make one!

Hi Angela! Please don't beat yourself up about these issues! It sounds like there isn't much you could do about the fabric and there's really nothing you can do about the video files. None of it sounds like your fault! I agree with the others that you should do what makes you excited about the project again. Waiting to work on the dress until the 1950's Sewing through the Decades projects would be fine with me, it would fit with the other pieces you make at that time and probably not make you feel as though you are putting off other projects by working on it since it's from the same time period. As for the fabric, if you're excited that it would be a beautiful silk ball gown, then I say wait to make the dress until you can find a silk you love for it. While yes, this is a product we had input on, it is ultimately something that you have to work on for an extended period of time, and it's something that you will be wearing. You should do what makes you feel best about the project. I don't want it to be something that you force yourself to work on or are unhappy working on, and I think pretty much everyone else would agree. Have a great day and I'm definitely sending good mojo your way!!

Oh that is so terrible! Isn't there an external backup service you can get? I know "today I found out" uses one, I think its called Bear... But Im not sure. Hope things go better! So I just finished watching. I agree, do what you think would work and keep your momentum going. In my opinion, any jewel-tone would make that into an absolutely lovely ballgown.

I don't love the idea of blue satin- I was wondering if there was a way to use the fabric you bought for the lining as the main fabric. I'm sure theres probably a reason why that's impossible/ a bad idea, but I really love the lining fabric!!! As the other commenters said- do what you feel will make you excited about this project again! PS I'm a $6 patron.

I am always for blue, navy blue is my favorite. Just do whatever you feel is most fun. I am also a $6 patron.

I feel like you should do whatever would make this project exciting for you. At this point, I would be so frustrated that I wouldn't be able to continue just out of spite for the material...lol