This time I didn’t follow any guides but the memory of making the Mamianqun, but now I can tell you what the heck I was doing because this time I wasn’t as lost and new as the first time!
Important: Don’t take this as a word to word guide, I’m no sewing expert and I’m very bad at following instructions myself. I’m only sharing what I did.
1. This time the fabric was lighter and crisper than the mamianqun one. So yay for that! I washed it and sun dried it first, because some fabrics tend to shrink after washing and better not risk any deformation after I’ve made the whole thing.
2. Then I considered the width I want the belt to be, and chopped a horizontal strip of that size off the fabric.
3. Then I decided to sew the hemlines. I thought it would be much easier to get that over with, than struggling to sew a consistent line after all the pleats are done and the skirt is unwieldy.
Now, don’t quote me on this, but I thought if the hems are wide, it’ll help the final result to be neater. Because I’ve had dresses with barely there hems get twisted and undone after multiple washes and wear. So I made all three (bottom and 2 sides) hems an inch wide each so they would remain flat and compliant of the numerous pleats to come.
4. Now onwards to the pleating hell! I got fed up with pinning one pleat after the other, and unlike a Mamianqun which only had two separate bundles of tiny pleats at the sides, a Baidiequn has tiny pleats throughout its length! And there was 2 and half meters of fabric to go so I just went ahead and started sewing, pushing the pleated fabric underneath the needle as I went with the help of a protractor I had nearby.
It went surprisingly well though! And the colors were SO SO BEAUTIFUL, it felt like a dream, incredibly satisfying to see it take form in front of my eyes.
5. Let me tell you, pleated skirts are a void of length! Before I knew it, the 2 and half meters had dissappeared and turned out it wasn’t enough! And I have a tiny waist to begin with! Initially I planned for a baidiequn with pleats throughout, but I had to unpleat the front lapel and the lapel beneath it to gain more volume. Very sad times. I had to give up on the pleat-pocket trick that I used for the mamianqun as well.
6. Pleats done, now the time to attach the belt. I attached the strip of fabric I initially cut off, first from the underside of the skirt, then folding it over on to the good side and closing it off. (I hope you understand what I’m saying haha)
The idiotic thing I did was though, as you can see I left a good portion of the skirt inside the belt.
I thought it would give strength to the belt lmao. Only later I realised “Hoo boy, it gonna be a pain to wash, dry and iron this belt” It’s CHUNKY now. Not recommended. However it’s quite cusion-like around my waist now?😆
7. Finally, the tie. I didn’t use a tie for mamianqun so I’ve been wanting to try it anyway, also I thought now the front portion of the skirt is flat due to unpleating, a tie-decoration would make it look nicer.
8. All done! It took like 4 hrs. With less idiocy and more planning, it would probably take even lesser time.
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If you promise to not judge, here’s me wearing it!🤭 Night had fallen when I finished it, and the artificial lighting only highlighted the imperfections. It doesn’t look as pretty as in the photos above! :(
Anyway, lessons learnt. So that’s something, right?
btw some shop could just lie through their teeth. they called the sleeveless top 仿黄昇墓背心 (beixin with pattern based on the artifact from Huang Sheng’s Tomb), but overally the
silhouette
was a Ming-style Bijia. On top of that, their product has a shoulder seam with an angled shoulder! That is NOT a hanfu characteristic.
