Finally and fashionably (heh) late... HSF #21 - Green '30s glamour

Ok, finishing this gown took longer than I thought, and posting even more delayed than that... but it's done, so it deserves a post.

A little backstory on this dress, as it kinda happened as a result of another project/challenge that's in the works...  A while ago (June), I'd posted about the upcoming projects I wanted to do...  On that list, at the very bottom, is a "Mirkwood elf gown" in - you called it - green.  Lo and behold, more recently, an HSF challenge was announced for a Masquerade costume.  And an idea was born... I decided that the Masquerade costume would be the elf gown, but have some historical origins (1920s or '30s, due to the fabrics).  

Since the whole thing would be a bit much to make in two weeks, I decided to split it into two projects: the underdress (which could be historically accurate to an era) and the overdress (which could be pure fantasy with historical references/techniques such as an en fourreau back, and some sewn down pleats like the dresses from The Hobbit).  

So, I needed to find an appropriately historical gown to make (in green) for the undergown.  Initially, I thought this would have to be a '20s gown (or a purely medieval gown) due to the typical "elven" silhouette of long lines and draping from the shoulders, which I wasn't too happy about since '20s doesn't work well for me and I have plenty of medieval stuff already.  But... watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey again, I paid special attention to the elves' gowns to see what the undergowns looked like, and had a pleasant surprise.  My original recollections were mistaken - the undergowns (female elven musicians, in that Rivendell dinner scene) were closer to the '30s in their silhouette/gown draping than medieval (barring the overrobes).  And if there's one "modern" historical era that I like the clothes for (and that the clothes actually look good on me for), it's the '30s.  So, now I just had to find an appropriate designer whose necklines and drapings were sufficiently "LOTR"/"fantasy"/"medieval"-ish that could pull off being the undergown for a (completely fabricated, since I haven't seen any previews of elven finery for H2) Hobbit-era elven gown from Mirkwood (assuming they all don't dress in leather and fighting gear all the time). 

And in my searches, I stumbled across Madeleine Vionnet, one of the designers known for bias-cut, bias-draping, and the more simple, elegant styles (with a mix/match of grecian and A-line silhouettes).  So, found two dresses that I'll be combining together into one: a 1936 gown that will be the chiffon overdress, and a 1936-38 gown that will be the model for the underdress (slight modification to the neckline of the bodice). 

I also found (on sale/clearance) a taffeta curtain of just the right shade of green to match the metallic leaf fabric for the Mirkwood dress.  The only issue: it was sewn into one of those valences that were all folds, so I had to take all of the stitches out.  Thankfully, it was all one sheet of fabric (instead of a bunch of strips, which would have stopped this project cold), and was a good size, too.  I also had some sage green chiffon in my stash that was originally intended for a reproduction Arwen coronation gown (yes, I was that LOTR-crazy at one point) but thankfully never got around to using.  So, that'll be the overdress for this and sewn in the style of the peach chiffon 1936 gown, while the underdress will be a halter top and bodice shape like the white-black 1936-38 gown but not covered with chiffon (and with a slightly different neckline due to how the fabric gathers).  I also happened to have in my stash this gorgeously heavy satin ribbon that was (I kid you not) the EXACT shade of pale green as the taffeta curtain.  I seriously could not have found the same shade had I gone out and searched for it, or dyed it myself.

So, here is the final product:  (taffeta pinned / taffeta sewn )

(full ensemble)

Just the facts!

Challenge: #21 - Color Challenge Green - 1936-38 evening gown, à la Madeleine Vionnet

Fabric: green taffeta valence curtain from Wal-mart red-tag clearance section (2yd by 2yd); sage green chiffon (stash) - 2yd of 54" fabric

Pattern: none; draped based on photos of extant gowns (linked above), with a few modifications for fit

Year: 1936-38

Notions: sage green polyester thread (from stash); 3yd satin ribbon (for taffeta dress sash, chiffon dress halter strap and edge binding on sides/back, and chiffon dress belt); silver florists' wire artistically twirled for the belt "buckle" of the chiffon overdress.

How historically accurate is it: hand-sewn (not that accurate for the '30s), polyester taffeta (pushing it), chiffon (ok, that works); based on a plausible combination of two actual dresses (could pull it off).  Overall, accurate enough to pass muster.  

Hours to complete: All told: 11-12 hours spaced over multiple weeks:
... the taffeta underdress took about 1.5 hours to drape/pin/sew, once the fabric was no longer a curtain (that prep work took another hour and a half), so total 3 hours;
... the taffeta bodice took about 3 hours (mostly draping and pinning to get it to fit right);
... the chiffon overdress took 5 hours (hemming chiffon, that is frustration), and then I hemmed the rectangle left over for a "wrap" like the matching one in the photo.
... the satin ribbon was too wide for both the tie at the neck and to edge the chiffon, so I cut it in half (width) and hemmed an entire side of it (for the tie) and sewed it onto the chiffon (as a border), which took a couple hours.

First worn: for these photos

Total cost: $10 for the curtain.  The rest came from my stash, thus "free" for this project.  But, in actuality... the chiffon was probably $3/yard (red-tag at Joann's years ago), and the thread was probably $3; the ribbon was a 3yd spool for about $3 (clearance); so, $12.  Not bad. 

And the making of...

I didn't take too many photos of the "in-progress" shots while sewing, so I'll be relatively brief with the "how-to" piece...

The materials:
The chiffon looks gray-brown in this picture, but it's really a nice sage green.

The curtain into fabric and sewn/shaped (the triangle folded over is the top of the bodice; the back ends approximately where the scissors are pointing in the left photo):
Pretty simple... remove the thread holding the curtain together (folds clearly seen in the photos), fold in half, sew the back seam and back sides together and pin the top in a fold, measure the length and cut in a scoop (where the tape measure is for the photo on the right), hem, and done with underdress.

The bodice and underdress (sewn together):
First, I took the largish piece left over from above and cut off the corner of it to form the two pieces of the halter bodice.  Then I pinned them like crazy (pinning under the edges so they wouldn't fray and would make two ties at the top), then pinned them to the underdress. Then, I sewed a running stitch along the bottom of them both (leaving it loose) to make each piece gather properly/evenly, then pinned it in place and tied off the thread.  This part is where the underdress looks closest to its inspiration.

Full dress before the ribbon 'sash' was added; a detail of the seam in the center front; dress back.

The taffeta dress with ribbon sash (pinned):
I wasn't too happy with the neckline and top, so I changed it from the original to be less of a V and more "chiton style".  Then I pinned the satin ribbon as a waistband/sash and sewed it on, leaving the bottom edge hanging (the dress is fitted and has no zippers).

The chiffon overdress (with ribbon edging):
This was fairly straightforward.  Fold chiffon piece in half and pin as a French seam (selvege edges)...

Measure to mid-back height from the hem (in the picture above, the pink tape side), mark it with a pin, then from there cut out a quarter-circle/quarter-ovalish shape from the top (right, in this case) corner (with the center fold, shown by the yellow tape, staying the full length) to the middle of the panel (the middle fold in the above picture, since the fabric was oh so conveniently divided into quarters, so I didn't do much measuring for that).  The half of the folded fabric that is still full length will be the gathered front...
Then sew the back shut (to mid-back height) and hem it so it's a tube with an uneven top edge.  Fold over the center top edge into a tube for the neck ribbon and sew it.  Then take the half-width satin ribbon and (measuring from the back seam of the chiffon) pin it so that its ends meet up with the edges of the folded tube at the top edge (some box pleating at the center back was necessary since the chiffon was wider than the ribbon).  Then French seam that so the cut edge of the ribbon is folded under alongside the cut edge of the chiffon.  Hem the neck ribbon's edges, thread it through the tube, and all set.  (The side edges of the ribbon aren't seen as much from the front; with the volume of chiffon being folded, they tend to tuck under.)

The satin ribbon belt:
I cut the ribbon to the right length, then just turned each end over to make a tube (for the belt ring/buckle) that was a half-inch wide.  Then I took that ubiquitous florist's wire (still in its coil) and threaded one end through one loop, put the belt on, then threaded it through the next loop and made the remaining coil artistically swirly.  There is no clasp - to secure it, I just threaded the free end around into the design and it stayed there.

It came out well, overall, I think.

Now... on to the masquerade dress (better late than never).