Analyzing my next project
Sep. 10th, 2007 01:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
msmcknittingtonSooo, spinning ever forward and having finished my current projects (Tudor kirtle, Elizabethan corset, and 18th century skirt (pictures forthcoming; loading them on dial-up take yonks), tonight I shall analyze my next sewing project.
First, the story: My friend Joan and I are both big history dorks. Which means that she is my inevitable accomplice when it comes to running around in anachronistic clothing outside of Renaissance fairs. One of the few good things about taking time off from school and coming back home is getting time to hang out with Joan and talk about velvet in ways that don't involve David Bowie and codpieces (although that can be a good thing, too).
We both wanted to do some sort of dress-up thing. The first idea was a 1920s picnic, but we both felt that just two girls dressed in flapper dresses having a picnic in the park lacked a certain panache. We were in my basement looking through my patterns, when we can across a bustle bodice pattern, and Joan said something to the effect of, "Man, I've always wanted a bustle dress!" So a new idea was born, which worked better with both our schedules.
Long story short, sometime in the first two weeks in January (we think), we'll be heading to the Pabst Mansion in Milwaukee in full Victorian regalia. We'll be able to catch the tail-end of their Christmas extravaganza. If anybody else is interested in meeting up there and maybe grabbing a meal, let me know, please. (Dreams of high tea flitting through my head.)
Here's the link to the gallery of pictures of I have of my inspiration dress. I snagged the photos off Vintage Textile a while ago, but the dress was originally on the Whitaker Auction site. It has since disappeared from both sites, so I'm glad I grabbed the photos when I did.
The dress is dated between 1875 and 1880, according to the text that accompanied it on Vintage Textile. It's likely of French origin. What drew me to it is the, as Vintage Textile said, "superb quality of design." It's very subdued for a bustle dress, and lacks the usual window drapery air. (Is it a dress or is it a set of drapes? The world may never know.)
I have my doubts about the date given by Vintage Textile, though I'm sure they'd know better than me. 1875-1880 is the Natural Form period, and this still has a pretty prominent backwards protrusion. I haven't seen anything like this silhouette in a brief perusal of fashion plates for the era, but anything's possible, I guess.
Here's how this puppy's gonna go down:
For underwear, I think I'm going to make a new corset using the same one I wore for my 1860s dress. Yeah, I know it's about 20 years out of date, but the shape is right, and I know what to do to make it fit right. I really want to make it out of printed cotton, a la this one on Whitaker Auctions. (Coincidentally, that's the same shape as my Simplicity corset.) I think I'm going to need a modest bustle pad, but nothing too crazy. On top of that, I need a petticoat. Luckily, I have probably five yards of pre-ruffled eyelet. Easy-peasy, there.
I have TV 420, which is a Natural Form bodice pattern. Basically, I'm going to modify the heck out of it. I'm predicting a great many muslins in my future.
For fabric, I'm going to use some burgundy velvet for the bodice and the skirt from my 1860s gown for the skirt/accent trim. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the micro-pleating on all the edges, since the silk faille is a tad heavy for that. I think I might also make an evening bodice for this, which means I'll also need an overskirt, but that's down the road a ways.
I love the embroidery, but it would take me years to get it done, so I'm going to limit it to the sleeve cuffs and around around the neck. It's not too complicated, and I am proficient at satin and stem stitch and French knots, which is all the embroidery is.
For headgear, I'm think I'll try to whip up a hat like the one on the lady in brown. I'm not a great fan of feathers on hats, and I find the little swag around that hat very pretty indeed. It also looks sufficiently wintery to me. Honestly, I may make the hat before I make the dress, just because I love millinery so much.
I'm already excited about having the perfect gloves -- white doeskin. I think I paid 75 cents for them at a garage sale. They have three little tucks on the back of the hand. They're probably from the 1950s or 1960s, but they look right for Victorian, too.
I've no idea what I'm going to do for shoes. I don't think my ballet slippers or black Mary Janes are gonna cut it. I do have some black velvet 1950s pumps that are the right shape, but the toes have cut-outs. Boo. I guess I could wear my character shoes, which are just simple black pumps with a strap.
Of course, the greatest question I have is how I'm going to stand a two-hour drive to Milwaukee in this get-up. If this really was the 1880s, then I'd just hop on the train in Livingston or Montfort in the morning, and be there before lunch. I'm not sure if that would be more comfortable than a compact car or not.
First, the story: My friend Joan and I are both big history dorks. Which means that she is my inevitable accomplice when it comes to running around in anachronistic clothing outside of Renaissance fairs. One of the few good things about taking time off from school and coming back home is getting time to hang out with Joan and talk about velvet in ways that don't involve David Bowie and codpieces (although that can be a good thing, too).
We both wanted to do some sort of dress-up thing. The first idea was a 1920s picnic, but we both felt that just two girls dressed in flapper dresses having a picnic in the park lacked a certain panache. We were in my basement looking through my patterns, when we can across a bustle bodice pattern, and Joan said something to the effect of, "Man, I've always wanted a bustle dress!" So a new idea was born, which worked better with both our schedules.
Long story short, sometime in the first two weeks in January (we think), we'll be heading to the Pabst Mansion in Milwaukee in full Victorian regalia. We'll be able to catch the tail-end of their Christmas extravaganza. If anybody else is interested in meeting up there and maybe grabbing a meal, let me know, please. (Dreams of high tea flitting through my head.)
Here's the link to the gallery of pictures of I have of my inspiration dress. I snagged the photos off Vintage Textile a while ago, but the dress was originally on the Whitaker Auction site. It has since disappeared from both sites, so I'm glad I grabbed the photos when I did.
The dress is dated between 1875 and 1880, according to the text that accompanied it on Vintage Textile. It's likely of French origin. What drew me to it is the, as Vintage Textile said, "superb quality of design." It's very subdued for a bustle dress, and lacks the usual window drapery air. (Is it a dress or is it a set of drapes? The world may never know.)
I have my doubts about the date given by Vintage Textile, though I'm sure they'd know better than me. 1875-1880 is the Natural Form period, and this still has a pretty prominent backwards protrusion. I haven't seen anything like this silhouette in a brief perusal of fashion plates for the era, but anything's possible, I guess.
Here's how this puppy's gonna go down:
For underwear, I think I'm going to make a new corset using the same one I wore for my 1860s dress. Yeah, I know it's about 20 years out of date, but the shape is right, and I know what to do to make it fit right. I really want to make it out of printed cotton, a la this one on Whitaker Auctions. (Coincidentally, that's the same shape as my Simplicity corset.) I think I'm going to need a modest bustle pad, but nothing too crazy. On top of that, I need a petticoat. Luckily, I have probably five yards of pre-ruffled eyelet. Easy-peasy, there.
I have TV 420, which is a Natural Form bodice pattern. Basically, I'm going to modify the heck out of it. I'm predicting a great many muslins in my future.
For fabric, I'm going to use some burgundy velvet for the bodice and the skirt from my 1860s gown for the skirt/accent trim. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the micro-pleating on all the edges, since the silk faille is a tad heavy for that. I think I might also make an evening bodice for this, which means I'll also need an overskirt, but that's down the road a ways.
I love the embroidery, but it would take me years to get it done, so I'm going to limit it to the sleeve cuffs and around around the neck. It's not too complicated, and I am proficient at satin and stem stitch and French knots, which is all the embroidery is.
For headgear, I'm think I'll try to whip up a hat like the one on the lady in brown. I'm not a great fan of feathers on hats, and I find the little swag around that hat very pretty indeed. It also looks sufficiently wintery to me. Honestly, I may make the hat before I make the dress, just because I love millinery so much.
I'm already excited about having the perfect gloves -- white doeskin. I think I paid 75 cents for them at a garage sale. They have three little tucks on the back of the hand. They're probably from the 1950s or 1960s, but they look right for Victorian, too.
I've no idea what I'm going to do for shoes. I don't think my ballet slippers or black Mary Janes are gonna cut it. I do have some black velvet 1950s pumps that are the right shape, but the toes have cut-outs. Boo. I guess I could wear my character shoes, which are just simple black pumps with a strap.
Of course, the greatest question I have is how I'm going to stand a two-hour drive to Milwaukee in this get-up. If this really was the 1880s, then I'd just hop on the train in Livingston or Montfort in the morning, and be there before lunch. I'm not sure if that would be more comfortable than a compact car or not.