The whole idea behind the Alice in Wonderland theme, was to use materialization, adding a textural element to my garments.  For dress #2, I chose to use 100% cotton (for the cotton competition); this being said, manipulating the fabric to add an 3d element was critical to my design.  The base is made out of 100% cotton sateen in an eggplant color and the textural elements are 100% cotton voile.  A very light weight almost “see through” cotton.

The bodice is constructed by fluting.  Not the music instrument but the overlapping of 1″ bias strips (Bias: the 45% angle of the grain line of the fabric).  The strips are all sew on by hand and the seams are all hidden.  Here is a pic of them just pinned on.  They still need to be sewn.

Fluted Bodice

The skirt of dress #2 is going to be mostly covered in a pleated materialization. I started with a 2# wide x 54″ long strip of cotton, ironed it and started pinning the fabric to paper for stability.  Pleating and pinning as I go along.  The end result is only 17″ long.  Then I take it to the sewing machine and stitch down the middle of the pleats.  Trim the edges with pinking sheers to prevent fraying.  Tear off the paper from the back and the piece is ready to be hand sew on to the base of the skirt.  Not that this whole process for 1 yd of fabric took about 7 hrs.