Opaline Frolic and Opaline Rose Dresses

Opaline Frolic  -  Charming holiday frock - easy fit sash tied linen and voile - hand printed panel

Inspired with ice blues coordinating with opaline-silver stretch fabric.  Upper collar and sleeves are in viscose voile.  Bust stretch is accomplished with stretch fabric, the inspiration for both dresses; here coordinating well with ice blue, white and grey. See MAKING Gallery below.

Front panel is hand printed design of medicine wheel on white linen (from an experimental Mac print workshop, using two screens) joined to lower skirt with white/grey linen print. The origins of this design seen in other garment 'medicine wheel' designs.

Opaline Rose - An adjustable fit tea party or wedding guest dress with hand silk painted panel layer

Inspiration for Opaline Rose started with silver stretch fabric.  Creamy-white viscose-voile rose print is featured in dress fullness and sleeves, where the blue rose is transparent voile 'devore' print technique ( burnt out).   Skirt middle layer has hand painted silk featuring abstract Hopi Bird design on grey with embroidered Native American quotations. See Hopi Bird Silk Painting.

Back skirt is charcoal polyester (to match front silk painted background).  A devore blue rose is appliqued on top. The cream frills echo the cream devore fabric with frivolity.

Opaline Rose - MAKING Guide

Stretch silver fabric allows for zig-zag machine stretch-stitching of first skirt layer - gold embroidered polyester strip. Both fabrics are thin and when pressed, look fine.   The 2nd white layer can then be machined normally to the 1st strip layer, giving flared dress width for hips.  For a slimmer fit dress style, cut the 1st strip only to required width for hip cover.

Embroidered Quotations by Native Americans

We shall be known forever by the tracks we leave - Dakota

Knowledge is of the past, wisdom is of the future - Lakota Sioux

All dreams spin out from the same web - Hopi Absaronka (Crow) Warriors

PRINTING:  The background texture of gold distress lines on grey was made by printing gutta resist with ocre dye added (before grey dye applied) with a print pad made from my own grown sweetcorn leaves, dried flat and glued to cereal cardboard.  The dried maize leaves form ridges when dried which make a good ridged 'relief' print.  The leaves are easily seen once known.  This was a small one-leaf experiment, but I've recently (2021) made a solid panel of multiple dried leaves relief cardboard print pad, (to be exampled).

MAKING Gallery: Opaline Frolic

  • Repurposing 2 dresses: grey voile spotted (top), stretch silver (bust stretch); Skirt: white linen; home printed front.
  • Dress top cut off, and skirt seam opened; arranged, pinned on dummy.
  • Stretch zig zag machining to join top, middle, and skirt, giving stretch for bust and putting on.
  • Re-using skirt waist welt as cavity for sash tie: adding extra band at front.
  • Cutting and inserting pocket in skirt side seam.

Note: lightweight fabrics good for tops, being cooler; with heavier fabrics such as linen, for lower skirt part.

Shamanic Nights background image
Images copyright Amelia Jane Hoskins Please email for use permission.