HSF #12 - 1865 midnight evening gown - the skirt

One good thing about a three-day weekend: there was more time than a typical weekend to not only get everything you need to get done accomplished (cleaning, laundry, homework), but also to get ahead on some sewing. (Though of course it's a couple days later before I can actually post about it...)

I'm almost done with the skirt for the 1865 midnight evening gown (except for hemming and the waistband fastening) - pictures below.

The next part will be to measure and cut/pin the bodice after I make an 1865 cotton chemise so I get the bodice neckline right (for the HSF #11 - squares, etc. challenge.  I have found a way to make a Victorian chemise without using curved edges and to still have it look like a chemise from 1865 that I found via the Met Museum's web site... and that is also based on a historical pattern... I've started on it and so far it looks reasonable).

Skirt pictures below...

HSF... the indienne adventure continues...

So, I spent a few hours sewing the gown over the past few days, and was able to finish it at 11:54 (or :56)pm on May 6, so technically within the deadline.

Here's a few more progress photos...

First, pinning and then sewing the en fourreau back (THAT was a challenge, to get the stripes right, since as it turned out I had sewed about an inch too much toward the center on one side and hadn't lined the pleats up properly for the skirt when I first sewed that, so it was a tad lopsided).  It still looks fine, but one of the side stripe pleats (I'll let you guess which one) has a significantly narrower fold to it than the other.

...on the dress form the next day

Then, deciding whether to sew two stripes of self-trim down the center to break up the bodice at all... and, once I did decide to do it, figuring out HOW I was going to do it since I didn't have two strips of stripe that were the same size AND the same pattern for symmetry.  (That's the problem with making something from a tablecloth, I suppose.)  So, each stripe is pieced together from at least two (the one on my left is three) pieces (some of them small/weird angles for sewing) other pieces of stripe.  It worked better than I thought, actually, though it took longer to first pin and then sew.  

Pinned on the dress form - somehow managed to get it to shut this time...  And added the cranberry petticoat I'd made for that anglaise...

Can you tell where the seams are on the stripes?  

When I pinned and sewed it, I left about 1/8" over the front fabric (which in turn was 1/8" further than the lining) to cover the hooks/eyes and have a flat (yet fully closed) opening.  I also was on the last yard of cream thread when I was sewing these on, so had to switch to a red to sew the inner edges of the trim... not ideal, but better (I think) than pure white.  Then I sewed 11 pairs of hooks/eyes, evenly spaced, to the front center closure.

On the dress form...

DONE!!  Final photos wearing it, and official write-up for HSF in the next post... :-)

Cranberry 1770s anglaise - part 1 - finishing the bodice and skirt

Since the fabric was so thin, I decided that I needed to line the bodice (not the sleeves, since I'd be wearing this with a chemise anyway) so it would wear better (and also give an extra layer between the boned stays and the exterior of the dress).

Bodice, lining pinned in place:

Then, once the lining was pinned, I created a sleeve mock-up out of the lining fabric.

Cranberry 1770s anglaise - part 1 - skirt and bodice

The skirt was relatively easy (though time-consuming for the waistband and pleating).  I decided to cut the skirt (110 inches hem) as one long piece, so I would only have to do one side hem as a rolled seam.  The fold I edge I cheated a bit and just pinned it and sewed to make it look like a seam.  I used the selvege edge of the fabric (since it was nice and clean) as the hem of the skirt, and then measured the length from there and cut off what I didn't need from the other selvege edge (to become the top of the skirt under a waistband and therefore not seen).  I used most of that strip that was cut off as the sleeve flounces (see the next post) with the selvege edge again as the 'hem'.

At the top, I used even (equidistant) knife pleats for both the front and back, facing away from the center; the front center had a flat space where the point of the bodice will go.

Skirt pictures...