the making of… cordelia

'Cordelia' was a real challenge as it started out as a simple vintage corset in a gorgeous champagne shade which I then transformed into a dress with a lot of hand finishing! I didn't have a design in mind for this which is why I enjoy creating directly onto the stand, as it then happens very organically.

I created volume by using remnant organza fabric in pale pink and pinned this around the corset to see if there was enough to create fullness as I had to also pleat each section. I then added on two layers of peach spot tulle fabric on top of the organza but kept it shorter than the organza layer to add more interest.

I had a lovely chocolate brown cotton lace trim and pinned it into place to see what it could look like. Even though I liked how it looked, a piece of ecru chantilly lace seemed much better for this dress as I wanted the overall look to be soft and diaphanous but it's always worth taking progress photos of all your ideas as you never know when you may refer back to it for another project!

I placed the chantilly lace over the top of the corset, pinned it into place, then cut off the excess fabric. To make it easier to hand sew into place, I took the corset off the stand. I finished off the top edge of the corset with a vintage cotton trim to tie it all in otherwise I felt that it would have looked unfinished. 

Finally, although I mentioned that I wanted it to look soft, I also wanted it to have an element of surprise! Therefore, I added on a length of spearmint coloured spot tulle onto the back so that it could be tied into a bow, or let loose.