An idea...

[Fannie Kikinshoot]

I made both these dresses with fabric I already had in my stash. I actually had bought these fabrics to make dresses for LAST December, so I didn't have to buy anything to make these. Yea!!!

[Greeneyed Gypsy]

Fannie... quit showing off!! Girls don't mind her ... she could prolly outfit the Queen from her stash...( teasing Fannie teasing!! )
Well after that my progress will be very humble... Im doing the vested basque I couldnt decide on the collar lines vertical or horizontal...they are vertical...sleeves have cuffs... I will attach them tomorrow... then its on to lining, bias, buttons ...I still have to assemble the over skirt and underskirt...I am trying not to cheat...but I'm running quickly short on the maroon fabric....

[m d b]

Well... I've had a length of fabric in stash since Jan 2001. Actually I got this fabric from Sweden when I visited.

I had always intended on making another version of the blue dress in Pahntom of the Opera seeing as my original one faded so heavily (which happens to the stage dresses as well naturally )

In May I cut the bodice, but It needs to be over printed and next year this will be my main Victorian Project:
http://costumes.glitterswett.com/phantom/wishing.htm



There will be scrolling flowers between the main stripes, and there is a false vest in front of dark blue velvet.

And little embroidered flowers ....

I can't wait to stamp all the flowers on the bodice, skirt, apron, panniers and bustle drapery;)

Hey it's stach, I've started it.. just because I can't get it finished this month....

[costume kay]

I looked at your other dresses and I really like the black Phantom dress. Could you post it here with construction explanations, like the patterns used and such???
Costume Kay

[Sara P]

You ladies are making wonderful progress! I, on the other hand, haven't even started anything. Unless you count making every day clothes to wear while teaching, that is. I've made a skirt for that, since I was quickly getting tired of the 3 pairs of pants and one dress I had that were appropriate for teaching. I've been doing long term substitute work, and it's SO much work I haven't had any time left over.

Keep up the good work! I'll have two weeks starting Saturday, so maybe I can catch up . I'm planning 3 more skirts and at least 5 tops before school starts again in January.

[m d b]

Certainly Kay, but I'm not sure what Phantom dress you mean.. my Black dress is from Portrait of a Lady....

I also feel a bit awkward as I didn't use any patterns, I do a mix of direct draping and drafting from basic slopers.

I'm also thinking of overdyeing the fabric to make the existing stripes more subtle....

yay, lots of techniques to use on this baby;)

[costume kay]

Sorry about that Phantom thing, its the Bella Manningham one from Gas Light. Black with the Bolero Vest with gold fringe and trim. The Pleated underskirt looked like quite an undertaking. Anyway, tell us about that one.
Costume Kay

[m d b]

Sure Kay:)

Actually the pleated skirt was mostly just a PITA to try and get the pleats to all match up;)

I pleated about 10m wideof fabric down to just over three, each pleat being about 7cm wide (so that's about 10yards of fabric down to just over three using pleats of about... 2 1/2 inches wide.
I used a nice large table to go pleat by pleat, trying to match the two edges up as much as possible, pinning along each pleat in about 6 places then pressing several times. The pleats were sewn down at intervals of between 14 and 20cm, using some fancy stitches as they were most likely to be string enough to keep from ripping when the skirt was worn, yet still look better than close zig zag;)

Then I treated the entire piece as regular fabric to shape to the waist and pleat at the back. Which got pretty bulky;) So it creates a bit of support at the back as well;) So if you can imagine using a straight width of heavy fabric to create a reasonably shaped skirt (with no darts), you can imagne how to make the skirt:) So the waist is cut in a bit of a steep curve.

The over skirt is a 5 gored skirt, based on the sketch at the front of Patterns of Fashion 2, where you top and tail pieces to get gores with a ctraight and a bias edge. Also adapted into the Endless gores pattern someone has written about... somewhere;)

It was just caught up asymetrically for pouffs;) It's so I can have an adaptable skirt;)

Same with the bodice, the cuffs and ruffles come off to be just a plain fitted sleeved, high necked gown. And then the bolero over it was like the one in Harper's Bazaar, and trimmed with antique metal fringeing:)

I probably hsould put a mini tutorial on the pleated skirt of doom. I know I've seen patterns for kilted skirts in the Butterick pattern catalogue, and there are a few patterns/diagrams in various books. They are different in that they have a yoke or other plain fabric support that helps with the shaping over the hips to the waist, which is the biggest hurdle when making a fully pleated (or kilted) skirt.

They feel extremely extravagent I must admit;) The weight of them is pretty impressive as well;)

Oh, and I made mine hook on the side, as the bulk of the pleats in the back were just too difficult for myself to try and work some sort of fastening system there. Basically I used a join in the fabric (that coincided with the back edge of a pleat) and opened the pleat to hip level. This disguises the opening very nicely:)

The bolero was a nightmare.

But then a luch velvet pile will get me everytime;) There are just two darts in the bodice, and they were a killer to get right and not twist and distort. I'm still not completely thrilled with them, but they were steamed and trimmed into submission;)

There were sticth marks all over the front from the several attempts to get the darts right (I should have hand sewed them, it was feeding the fabric through the machine that made the most mess) and using steam on a high setting, hovering the iron about half an inch from the pile, erased them completely.

Oh the dress is all cotton:) The skirt from cotton "muslin" (though a rather sturdy muslin) at $1m due to "imperfections" in the dye.. which washed out;)
The bodice and overskirt from a very fine twilled cotton, that was $4 for a whole bolt (2nd hand store can have great bargins;).)
The bolero was from a cotton velvet skirt with the most wonderful pile. Extremely soft and full.
I think there are 22 sets of hooks and eyes up the front of the bodice. Speaking of which, I need to replace them as I used the eyes for another project;) Luckily I can use the eyes I couldn't use for that other project...

That's probably more than you wanted to know;) But I hope some of it was useful;) And if you want to know more just ask:)

Oh I did have fun with the boning:) Each seam is boned, and I made separate casing for the all. As I was putting them in, I had to think of the quickest easiest way due to hand sewing no longer being y friend. So I used my favourite stitch in the whole world: herringbone.

And lo and behold on ebay there are and have been examples of this very stitch used for that very purpose:)

[clanmac]

Okay ladies, Fannie has shown us hers and a few other ladies, but let's see the rest of yours! I just found this topic, otherwise I would have joined in! I have just been reading the board and never participating, but I had to register just to ask to see your creations!

[m d b]

Well.. the one I'm going to get finished in a couple of weeks is this one:

http://costumes.glittersweet.com/histor ... le1850.htm

1848 or so cotton voille dress from mostly stash...

OK so I've had the voille in storage for ages I was going to make shifts out of it, ack! Yay for discovering the joys of light linen for shifts instead;)

I did have to buy the lining fabric, but that was also used for the outside of my bonnet. The boning will be left over from my Effigy stays (100 bones in that thing ), lining of the bonnet will be some silk taffeta left over from a project in 2000, and all the trimmings will be from stash. Except possibly some flowers to frame my face...

The blue dress is on hold as I have this gown and a lot of SCA gear to make (a cuerpo baxo y vasquina aka a kirtle and bodice, two shifts and a fitted gown worn in Denmark in about 1570) before the middle od February.

But that will be from the monster green curtain... just not Victorian;)

[clanmac]

Thanks for posting, it looks beautiful. Is that smocking?

[Greeneyed Gypsy]

Really beautiful ...I think it is smocking...

[m d b]

Thanks Yep it's smocking.

If you click the link below the image, I list all my inspirations and the site I learnt to honeycomb from:) *not* using magic dots and not using a pleater:)