FINISHED AT LAST!- 1911 Blue Embroidered Dress

 

This is yet another dress out of the “Black Hole” of my closet that I’ve been talking about for a couple years. The bodice was done and waiting for its skirt. I had tried to finish it in 2024 at the last minute for a tea I was going to the week after Costume College in August, but I was just too tired after that. So I went to Plan B and put together another outfit, as Edwardians might have done. Having a couple of different skirts, blouses and sweaters to choose from made it easy, and I wondered why I don’t do that more often.

I also thought then I could try and finish it for a fashion show in October for a fundraiser tea at the Fred Harvey (Harvey Girls) Museum, at the Southern CA Railroad Museum in Perris, CA. Except about a month before, it was cancelled due to a couple members’ illnesses. So back it went into the “Black Hole”.

The fundraiser was resurrected for a Mother's Day Tea & Fashion Show in May this year, and I swore I would finish it but again had a couple backups, just in case. All this was going on just before I started working on the Port Townsend fashion show and finishing the almost completed dress for that, which had priority. *See my previous post*. So here is my post on the skirt completion part of it. And yes, I did finish it in time.

When I last shared my plans for the skirt, I had decided I wanted an A-line shape one and used Butterick 6610 for it. In looking for ideas of how to add interest to the skirt, I came across this 1910 pattern by Wearing History. I liked the diagonal panels in front, so I drafted a couple of them along with a center front one to see what I liked best. I stayed with only the two panels and the pointed edges turned to the outside.

 

I also wanted a belt to combine the bodice and skirt together and keep with the high waist look of the period. This dress sample from a Folkwear pattern gave me my idea and I used a waistband pattern and enlarged it. I covered four buttons with my dress fabric and just put buttonholes for two of them on the end that closed.

I had lined the skirt with white cotton because it was very lightweight and sheer and didn’t need a petticoat for it then. But I wanted to have a “slippery” finish so it didn’t catch and pull on anything so I wore a pair of modern petti-pants as my slip.

My accessories were the stretchy polyester lace blouse I’d bought on Amazon to wear as my under blouse, and thought I would end up cutting my throat as the temperatures that day rose to 95d. But fortunately with the a/c in my car for the hour-long drive, and the museum cranking up their a/c, I was very comfortable. I decided to wear the hat I had purchased from my friend, Jeanette, a few years ago, and she had included a matching reticule. I loved the shape of the hat, and I felt great wearing it. She used a Lynne McMaster’s pattern for it.  

We’re still waiting for photos from the photographer who took them during the show but I took these backstage as we were waiting to go on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was our “stage” during the tea where we walked down the side and around the tables so everyone got a close look at us. Later we heard comments that it was so much better than the previous year one had been done, and another said it was the best show she’d ever seen. 😊

After all the guests had gone to take a ride on one of the trolleys, the tables were cleaned up and then we were served an excellent afternoon tea ourselves. By this time we were all very hungry. There were even leftovers we were encouraged to bag up and take home. 

 

 

 

 

If you’re interested in learning more about the Harvey restaurants and hotels along the railroads across America and the Harvey Girls, this has a good history. Also look for the Harvey Girls movie that Judy Garland was in. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-harvey-girls-increasing-opportunity.htm#:~:text=As%20part%20of%20the%20hotel,the%20Fred%20Harvey%20Company's%20establishments

One of the restaurants used to be in the Santa Fe Train Depot in San Diego, CA, and another is the El Tovar Hotel in the Grand Canyon, where I’ve stayed before.