Backstage at APT

As the draper for The Circle, my challenge was that I had a beautiful, light, drapey silk that I have to applique lace trim to, without destroying the hand. (If you don't know what "hand" means here, keep reading).

Hand is how a fabric moves and feels. The dress is for Kitty (Tracy Arnold) in Act II and it has this love boarder of lace around the hem and on the bodice. In the past I would have had the stitcher hand baste the lace into place and then use the sewing machine to make it permanent. This is very time consuming and you often have to fight with the fabric to keep it from shifting and bubbling. But this time I wanted to try some new products that could make the job easier and faster. With machine embroidery becoming so popular there are many stabilizers on the market to chose from and one of my favorites is an iron-on tear-away that I used on the back of the appliqué. To affix the lace to the skirt I used a temporary spray adhesive that is made for fabric. This stuff is great! It held the lace in place as we sewed. Then you just use the iron to press it away. The process was very successful and I think the dress turn out wonderful. I hope you agree.