When Sami left us for Michigan in August, I remember standing out on the street saying a tearful goodbye at 2 a.m. "Don't worry," she said, "you have a dress and a bonnet to finish before we see each other in Gettsyburg in November. The time will fly by!"
Boy, was she right!
I had finished two 1860s dresses before this one - a green work dress that was unlined and only slightly fitted, and a cotton ball-gown with a lined, fitted bodice. So, having done it once, I figured I had it down.
Hah.
After an evening mostly spent cutting-out my navy wool and my cotton twill lining and then crying when I couldn't figure out how to get the right "fit," (and missing Sami-My-Sensei immensely), I made a pair of undersleeves and embroidered them 'cause, dammit, I'm good at SOME things.
Then I gave a call to good ole' Niamh O'Conlon. She had me fitted in no-time, though truth be told we were probably a little too enthusiastic getting a snug fit. More on that later.
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| My problem, of course, being that whenever I need help sewing, the person helping me ends up doing most of it, and I just end up making the same mistakes later . . . |
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My wonky by-hand running stitch on the darts . . . Had to restitch the day before the Gettysburg event b/c the wool had pulled out of the seam. I backstiched it that time around . . .
With the piping added, it takes shape!
That done, I decided I wanted to line the sleeves with this lovely rose silk I found at Joanne's. From there I figured it would be nice to make some silk-covered buttons and a matching belt as well. Luckily, I didn't take any pictures of the how wonky the wrist-edges of the sleeves ended up. And the trim (finished in the car on the way to Gettysburg) covers it up pretty well . . . ;-)
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| Next time I'm going to ignore the pattern and make the sleeve, modified pagoda-or-not, much roomier. |
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| You know, one of these days, I'm gonna learn how to effing sew . . . |
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Once I procure more ribbon, I'll be doing this same idea around and then up the side-seam of the sleeve to the shoulder.
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It took a couple more
sewing sessions with Niamh before the sleeves were attached well (it took me a
couple tries) and we'd figured out the waist treatment. I decided to defy
historical accuracy and go for large, dramatic box-pleats, a distinctly late-60s
style. At that point it was starting to actually look like a dress,
though the closure, as you can see, was ominously snug! I think this
pattern needs some serious re-adjustment next time I make it. I think
I'll go for the B-cup pattern, the C was too baggy, and tightening the darts
didn't seem to help much.
I put my hand to the
details, and came up with a collar, belt, and buttons. Pinned-in, I could
feel the excitement/panic rising!
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I made the collar from scratch -
I'd like to find a good pattern to work with next time, because it really
does fold weird around the curve. I should have cut it out on the bias,
methinks. Live & Learn.
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Embroidery
to match the undersleeves - just for the fun heck of it and it to make me
feel better for being incompetent with the larger concepts of seamstress-ry.
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I
don't think it was 'til I took this picture that I believed I could finish
the thing on my own.
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A hop, skip, and some
frantic car-sewing later, and I had finished the belt, bow, and minimal trim on
the sleeves. I'd also managed to make some hat-pins, a matching reticule,
and trim a straw bonnet Samantha bought for me last summer, which I think I
will put in a different post. It's amazing what an immovable deadline can
do for a project!
Gettysburg was
fantastic! An amazing time-traveling adventure with Samantha and her lovely friends - so much inspiration for later! My
dress was definitely not in the same league as those of the costuming-geniuses
I got to hang with, but I was proud of it, and proud that I'd paid attention to
period construction and trim tips so that I could hold my head high and help
contribute to the 1863 atmosphere with the best of them :-) All thanks to Sami's inspiration!
