DRESSING FOR TWO MORE FASHION SHOWS

 My year has continued to be busy with two more fashion shows, only one of which I had to make a new dress. The first one was at the end of April, and the 2^nd one will be on May 10.

This year was the 175^th birthday of the founding of Port Townsend, WA, and the Victorian Festival committee asked our models if any of us could recreate a dress from the Jefferson County Historical Archives of their former prominent citizens for the fashion show. The problem with that was many of them didn’t show the dress very well but we found a few. I found one of Emma Littlefield Hastings in her c.1877 dress, that showed enough details to recreate it. I don’t know much about this time period of the dresses but I liked having a challenge and also making all those pleats.

 

The bodice was similar to the Truly Victorian #423 pattern, and I used #201 for the skirt. And since the original is in black & white, my choices of color was wide open. I chose one of my favorite colors, teal, and pulled two fabrics from my stash, a solid teal faux silk taffeta, and a lighter teal plaid polyester for the center vestee. I have plans later to make an apron from the plaid and convert the dress to more of a bustle dress. More on that later.

 

 

 Since I’d not made the bodice pattern before, I started with my fitting muslin while in a sewing workshop. I lucked out that Heather McNaughton-Stewart & Laura McNaughton of Truly Victorian patterns were there, and I got a personal fitting done by them. It was fantastic! And got a couple tips on placing of the bones. Again, more on that later.

The only difference I made in the bodice was needing to insert the pleated ruffles inbetween the body and the center vestee. I sewed the body together then started the long process of making the pleated trims.

I used my Quick Pleaters to make them in the 1/4 inch size. It was easier having to make yards of it rather than a pleating board which I did try but it limited me to only sections at a time, plus ironing in between. This time I remembered to save how I figured out how much fabric to tear into strips, and how many pleated strips would be needed to go around the bodice front and sides. Later I made more to go around the skirt hem. Rather than having to hem a finished edge I folded the fabric strip in half so one side was “finished”. It’s a lot less work than hemming it. 

 

I first pinned the pleats as I made them, then steam-pressed them, and sewed along the unfinished edge. Later when they were all done, I sprayed them with a 1/2 vinegar/ 1/2 water spray to set them permanently. 

 

From here I followed a hint that one of my antique bodices taught me. The seamstress had tacked the unsecured pleats to hold them neatly in place rather than having them flare open. It’s not fine sewing, just enough to tack them. It made them look so much neater.

 

From here I sewed them to all the edges of my bodice. They’re meant to stand up around the neckline and lay forward on the front, and then down around the bottom. It sounds complicated but once I pinned them on, it was easy.  By-the-way, I think the back looks so much prettier with my lobster bustle under it but sadly it would only need a bum pad to be accurate. But never say never. I have plans. Because the pattern itself has a facing around the neck, rather than this “collar” I made, I had to make a fake facing for it. It’s not pretty but no one sees it.

The skirt went together quickly, but I was running out of my teal fabric. I had to recut my sleeves because they were too short and I really wanted to do more to the skirt but ended up I just barely had enough to make the pleated trim for it. The original had three rows of pleats and “something” halfway down it but alas.  

 

I started shopping for buttons and found these on etsy. And then noticed there was a bit of lace peeking out from the neckline of the original. So I dug out some antique lace I bought in Port Townsend years ago and added that to the neckline and sleeve cuffs. I also noticed in other photos that often a lace ruff was added to the front of the neck to add a brooch to.

Now comes the bad part; when I put the bodice on to mark it for my buttonholes, I found it was too tight. Once again in my rush to finish this, I forgot that after putting in your flatlining and bones, it makes the bodice smaller. Also I was dealing with two health issues, plus trying to finish writing 20 descriptions of the models for the show, with only two weeks left before I would leave for WA.

Solution was to let out all the seams about 1/4 inch, and open the darts a bit. This time I closed it easily. So now I had to finish the skirt by hemming it so I could add the pleats to the hem, then figure out the narrow bustling in the back. I tried playing with it on my dress form and looking at photos of the backs of dresses, and came up with one just below my hips. I put two ties under the skirt on the side seams and pulled it into the center. I didn’t make a long train on it because I was going to be walking outdoors in it but it ended up a little shorter than I wanted. But that will work for me in the future.

So now it was finished, although I feel like it needs more on the skirt, and I started trimming a hat to wear with it. I used a ratty looking antique hat I had and added a big bow to it with a teal rose I had, and then a group of feathers I had with a black and iridescent green feather a crow in our backyard left for me one day. I used a large black glass antique button on the side of the hat to cover a hole there.

 

 

 

So with just two days to spare, I finished writing almost all the descriptions and sent them off to our narrator for the show so she could get them ready on her end. Then I was able to pack and get all my costume bits together. In hindsight, I should have tried the dress on after I finished it. It looked great on my dress form but, well, it ended up too big on me.

On the day of the show I put on the skirt but the ties kept me from getting it over my hips. I had to twist it around, pull it up to the inside, untie it and then tie it looser. But then I couldn’t get the bum pad under it. So I left that off. Then I put on my bodice, closed the stay belt inside it, and buttoned it closed. But it was too loose. And no time to do anything. In my rush to finish the bodice, I also hadn’t put the bones in the back seams, so I could see later in a photo that it wasn’t a nice smooth finish. And the back of the skirt was kind of messy.

What else? My hat. When I photographed it on my wig and stand, I had it straight in the middle, tilting slightly forward. But when I actually put it on, after watching The Forsyte Saga recently, it influenced me to wear it off to the side. I should have stuck to my original plan to have it centered. That’s how I added the trims to work for it. Yes, I know, we’re our worst critics, and I’ve had compliments on my entire outfit. But as I said, I have plans for it.

My plans are to use this for more of a bustle dress. I have plenty of the plaid fabric left to make an overskirt and will bustle the whole thing properly in the back and can wear my lobster tail with it. I will put those dang bones in where they should be, and I think I’ll be happier with wearing it again.

This has been a long read, so all you get about my upcoming show on May 10 is my plans. We’ve been asked to wear Regency & Colonial costume, and to make it easy on myself, I’m wearing something I already have, my 1800 white dress and black velvet open robe, part of which I wore at Costume College in 2018. I’m going to wear my more recent white dress from the Nehelenia pattern this time. The only thing I’m making for it right now is a white turban. So this will be much less stress for me.