Day 14: Dream Project

            I have always loved flowy, poofy dresses that use way too much fabric and are completely impractical. Therefore, my dream project is Scarlett’s Prayer Dress from Gone with the Wind. I do have a corset and a shift that are from the correct era, but my hoop skirt needs work (or I just need to sew another one entirely, I’m not sure), and I don’t have the right shoes. Even worse, the gown itself uses a ridiculous amount of fabric, and I don’t have a single occasion to wear it! However, I want to sew this ensemble something awful.

            I’m hoping that some ridiculous costume party or a crazy costumed ball will come up in the future so I have an excuse to finally toss my hair and say “fiddle-dee-dee” in the right clothing, but until then I’ll just stick to sketching the pattern and guestimating yardages in my notebooks!

Just look at how this dress moves, of course I want it!

A Civil War Ball Gown! a.k.a. My Blue Dress

For my Sweet 16 a few years ago, I desperately wanted to go to Colonial Williamsburg, and I really wanted to go in a completely historically accurate dress. I couldn't find a pattern that I was happy with that corresponded with the 1770's, but I did stumble upon Simplicity's Museum Curator collection, and I fell in love with this one. Even better, it was on sale for a dollar at our local Jo-Ann Fabric, so Mommy let me get it. This was in September, my birthday was in February, and the trip (which I didn't know about yet) would be in April.

Since most of what I sew is entered as a 4-H project, we decided that the dress could be entered under the category of 'formal wear' (they don't have a history category...), and I was ready to start. Because it called for so much fabric, and expensive fabric at that, we drove out a little farther than usual and discovered the sewing section of Surplus City. It was incredible! They had so much material, hundreds of trims, and everything else you can imagine. The employees were also really nice, and once we explained what we were looking for, we all spent the afternoon finding trims and fabrics, and just generally having fun. Everything cost so much less than it would have at Jo-Ann's, and it was also much less expensive!

When I started sewing, I knew that this dress was going to be the hardest thing I had ever sewn. I was fifteen, and had only started sewing historical things a few years ago, mostly doing costumes that had zippers and weren't that difficult. I had to learn how to make my own bias tape out of velvet, which was challenging, but really cool once it worked. I got to hand sew 72 rosettes, most of which I worked on during school when I didn't need to be taking notes. :)  I learned about different ways to attach trim, and discovered what a nightmare trim can be sometimes. I worked with boning for the first time (although certainly not the last!), and I learned that when gathering a big skirt, it's always a good idea to have multiple lines of basting, in case one breaks.

Finally, the dress was done. It laced up the back and fit perfectly; it never itched and it looked good. I was extremely excited to wear it to Williamsburg, and even more excited because my dance teacher had loaned me a ton petticoats to wear under it, as I didn't have a hoop skirt (we had fooled around with different ideas of how to make one cheaply, but none of those came to fruition). My best friend came with us to Williamsburg, and wore the dress that I had made her a few years before for wearing in Williamsburg (my first Williamsburg dress was the same pattern as her's, although different material). It was one of the best trips ever! We ate at the King's Arms Tavern, and our server told us that in colonial times they would have extra-long tablecloths that tied around their necks like bibs, and at the end of the meal the tablecloth would just be gathered into the center and taken off - and then he went and got us a special tablecloth, and did just that for us! That was the first time I can remember thinking - I want to be able to do this for someone someday; take an already special experience and just make it as amazing as possible. I felt like a true colonial lady, and I can't wait until I am able to help someone have the same experience. We also went on a carriage ride, and visited all of my favorite places. Everyone treated me like I belonged in the time period, and a lot of tourists thought that I worked there!

Even though the dress was from a time period 90 years later than CW, I still felt radiant the entire time that I was there, and I know I'll always love that dress. I have a lot of pictures of myself in the gown, but this is one of my favorites, taken in the DeWitt Wallace Museum in Williamsburg during my birthday trip.

The back of the dress, it laces up

Just TJ and Me

Patrick Henry!

My favorite founding father, Thomas Jefferson

A carriage ride through Williamsburg :)

Meeting the Marquis de Lafayette for the first time - he said we were clearly intelligent, as we both knew that blue was a superior color!

Ta-da!

Some Other Pretty Stuff to Look At

So, I've been doing historical costuming for multiple years now, although I have only recently started documenting the process. I thought that maybe I would post some of my other creations, so that you can just see some other things that I've made, and ask any questions/discuss similar things. So, here are a few of my other projects!

This is a pair of gloves that I recreated from a pair of 1770's Quaker mitts from the book Fitting and Proper. I am hoping to embroider them someday soon, but for now they are just plain white. They come up to my elbow, and have an opening for the thumb and the fingers. This is my sixth try, as the first couple mock-ups didn't work out that well. However, I am really happy with them, and I wear them often!

This is the best picture I have of my cape, although hopefully I will have another excuse to put it on and take more pictures soon! This was in Williamsburg, posing with my favorite Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson. The cape is dark gray felt with a silk lining, hood, and collar, as well as a silver clasp (I'll post pictures of it later, it's really beautiful). The purple dress under my cape is not historically accurate, but was my first step into historical costuming, and as it is easier to wash than my other things, it was what I chose to wear for a rainy day. My bonnet was made by someone else, but is historically accurate.

Finally, my dress! This dress is Civil War era, and is my pride and joy. It took four months to make, but was totally worth it. It's blue silk, purple velvet, and over a hundred yards of trim with 72 hand-sewn rosettes.

Just the skirt...

...a close-up on one of the panels (six hand-sew rosettes and a covered button, with three different trims)...

...the back...

...with TJ...

...with another TJ...

...and with accessories!

The nice thing about this dress is the versatility of it. Technically, it is 1860's. However, depending on what type of hoops and underskirts I wear with it, I don't look that out of place in other time periods. I used Simplicity pattern 2881 for this dress, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice Civil War era dress to make. Happy sewing!

Something a Little Different... The Making of a Corset!

Being the history nerd that I am, it was inevitable that I would eventually sew a corset. I already have a plethora of historically accurate colonial garb, and I absolutely had to have a corset added to my collection.

I thought it would be cool to show how I made my corset, as it at first seemed like a daunting task, but actually turned out to be a fun project! Hopefully this can be used as a reference for anyone else who wants to make a corset, and if you have any questions, feel free to comment!

I sewed everything on the family sewing machine, circa 1940. I also had two helpers, who were always willing to bat around pattern pieces or get tangled up in the lacing.

Tigger, watching over his yard outside

Dusty Rose, waiting patiently for lunch

I used Butterick pattern B4254 for my corset, and I used view C. (It's the one on the bottom right)

I used three different fabrics; a light muslin for the lining, white duck cloth for the middle, and white linen for the outside.

I cut out all of the pieces...

...and sewed them together, so that I had four half corsets, and then sewed the halves together. At this point in time I had a good idea how the corset would fit me, as I could hold it up around me. It should be noted that I did make a mock-up out of muslin ahead of time, since pattern sizes can be fickle. I found that I made the size corresponding with my measurements, but that I had generous seam allowances for the best fit.

 
While cutting out all of the pieces and trying to piece everything together, I found it helpful to use sticky notes to keep straight which pieces were which, what sides were the right and wrong sides, and which way was up.

At this point, I was ready to add the corset busk. I had to punch holes in the fabric, so I used an awl, and applied Fray Block to keep the holes clean.

Half of the busk, the awl that I used, and some of my sticky notes to keep track of my pattern pieces

It's important to make sure that the busk is snug in the holes, because it won't be sewn in right away.

Now comes the fun part - sewing in the boning! I have used boning before, and so I opted to make some alterations to the pattern at this point. I always leave the boning in its fabric casing, and from past experience, I know that the stitches will not be the prettiest thing ever. So, instead of sewing on the inside and outside, so that the stitches will be seen when I wear it, I only sewed the boning to the inside lining. When the corset is worn it will fit snugly, and this will not look strange. It's always a good idea to test out ideas like this on scraps first though!

Some of the boning, cut to the proper lengths

After the boning was put in, I sewed the entire thing together, and put bias tape around the edges. DO NOT use 1/4 inch bias tape like the pattern instructs, use at least 1/2 inch. There is a lot of fabric here, as well as the boning, and 1/4 inch will not work well.

 At this point, my corset really looked like a corset, and the only thing it was missing was the laces! So, using the awl and my seam ripper, I punched the holes where they were marked, and then applied Fray Block again. After that dried, I got to break out my (pink!) tool kit, to hammer in the Dritz eyelets. All that was left to do then was lace it up, and put it on!

Always test things on scraps before doing it to your garment!

Ta-da!

My finished corset, worn with my shift