Making progress on HSF #12, the "princess" dress...

This is going a lot slower than I had hoped; I'd wanted to have the bodice fully sewn, boned, and lined by now so that I could pin on the trim.  Ah well, will have to make to with a few teasers... :-)

Here's the sizing version of the bodice (the lining) (front, back) - the two piece version (technically three, since the front is one, the back is two because I measured it and then cut it in half) with sleeve strips.  I placed pins how I'm going to do the boning/seams for front and back on the actual outside of the bodice.

And here's the sizing version worn and (partially) pinned closed in the back, with the skirt and appropriate hoops, stays, and chemise.  Will also need to make a bit of padding around the hips to make the skirt lie properly, but that can wait.

I have the front of the bodice pinned together with bones, but am not going to post pictures of it until the whole thing is done.  It looks more than a little weird right now, doesn't lie flat (due to the rigilene, grr), and since it's only the front I can't wear it, so it's hard to visualize what the full bodice will look like.  It's a bit longer than the lining, with a definite 'V' to the front of the bodice (like the peach silk gown), so we'll see how that bit of creativity goes... Here's hoping I can finish it this weekend.

For now, here's the HSF info, for the progress so far (will update it when I'm done, in the final post):


The Challenge: HSF #12: Pretty, Pretty Princess (a gown for Princess Victoria Adelaide in 1865)

Fabric: midnight blue poly-something satin (light weight) - 5 yards total, is my estimate, once the bodice is complete; will also have a black voile (polyester, sorry) overskirt held up in drapes, with a black voile berthe and black undersleeves (have 5 yards of the fabric, doubt I'll need half that since the voile overskirt will essentially be a long rectangle gathered at the top into a waistband under the bodice)

Pattern: self-designed based on the peach evening gown from the Met; bodice construction guided by the 1861-1864 bodice of the evening dress in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion (modified the bodice point and ignored the sleeves; mostly for construction ideas and what the back looked like); and the 1867 skirt of the walking gown also in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion (essentially as-is, since making one square per inch resulted in the measurements I needed)

Year: 1865; American Civil War

Notions: thread (so far); will have satin ribbon for some trim, and also a thinner satin ribbon for the lacing

How historically accurate is it?  The dress pattern and silhouette (midnight satin) is 90% accurate (slight modification of the bodice front so far, and the front panel was a single width instead of two with a center seam).  The fabric, being synthetic, is entirely inaccurate, but the satin weave is accurate to a degree.  The coloring is also accurate for someone of my age; and there were overskirts of black voile for a lighter gown, if not a darker one.  It's entirely hand-sewn.  The boning is rigilene (also inaccurate), and (to my knowledge) construction of the skirt is 100% accurate, while the bodice is maybe 60% accurate since I'm not lining each piece separately.

Hours to complete: so far about 10

First worn: only for the above photos and fittings

Total cost: at present, I'm using stuff only from my stash, except for the voile which I didn't have enough of, so bought a Wal-mart "sash" curtain (taking a page from the curtain-along book) in black voile for all of $15 - 6 yards, 56" wide.  When I got the fabric, it was about $5-6 for the entire 5 yards.  So far, $20 for a (fabric-ly historically inaccurate) ball gown.  Not bad.