23. Godet: Fabric & Lace

I cut the godet base fabric first. Why? Well, mostly because it is some of the cheapest and most easily replaceable fabric in this dress. ;)

The first question was, of course, was the fabric grained correctly?

The first answer: not too bad...

Here's the godet pattern on the gold fabric. The straight seam is actually aligned on a fold so that it will open out symmetrically.

The next logical thing to cut was the lace - unfortunately for my nerves, this being a jump from the least expensive and most easily replaceable to the most expensive and least replaceable material in the dress.

The next picture shows the godet pattern laid out on the lace. Right away, you notice a problem. The bottom of the lace has a nicely scalloped, finished edge. The bottom of the godet pattern is rounded and if I were to cut out the pattern exactly, the majority of that nice finishing would be lost.

In a stroke of serendipity, an experienced seamstress happened to be at the store where we bought this lace and noticed this problem when we were measuring it. She recommended the outline of a plan. (There are still a few details that I'm going to have to fill in for myself.) First, she told me to extend the cut down to the edge of the fabric.
Then, somehow (and this is the bit I'm vague on), I am supposed to do a kind of dart in the lace to make the finished edge of the lace line up with the hem of the godet. It's like a dart shape, but of course the extra fabric will be cut away and the resulting raw edges of the lace sewn together.

I know that Susan Khalje talks about this in her wedding dress book, so I'll go back and re-read that section carefully. I can already see one thing that I shouldn't have done - cut the side seam of the lace exactly on top of the side seam of the godet. This limits the extent to which I can fold up the lace along the side. I should have given myself extra width (an inch or two) in the lace along the side of the godet for wiggle room. I'm reasonably certain that I can still make it work (fingers crossed), but I think it would have been easier with that extra width.