White Ballgown - Finished!

Thank you for all your amazing compliments on my white ballgown. I am so pleased you all like it - I must admit, I do too. ;) It's a wonderful thrill to see a gown finally come into existence that you have dreamed about for many years.

David took some pics of the finished dress tonight - well, almost finished. I have about 6" more of ruching to make and apply to the back of the skirt hem. I thought I had hemmed enough ruching strips, but I guess not. I was a little bit short. I am so utterly sick of hemming little white strips but enough for 6" shouldn't be too bad to do.

After seeing the pictures David took, I have to say, I am now thinking that yes, he was right, and the neckline is too low. : / Hm. What looks like one thing in front of our dimly-lit bedroom mirror where I fit things, may look totally different outside. I, erm, look like I may pop out of my dress at any minute.

I assure you, I did bounce around and jump energetically up and down whilst outside to prove to David that yes, I stay securely in place and nothing is jarred loose with even the most acrobatic movements that are becoming to a lady.

I guess it's historically okay. . .I mean, we've all seen worse, right? I've seen plates where it looks like the nipples of the breast are resting exactly at the same level as the neckline, and mine are definitely below my neckline. It's not like I'm wearing no underwear and damping the dress on top of it! But, it just feels a bit indecent.

I really do like the finished dress though. It was so fun to make and to see it come together. Of course, now that I have worn it outside it already has a dusty mark around the hem so I will need to clean it before packing it away for the weekend. White dresses can be SO impractical! But that's what makes them so feminine and charming!

For the ball, I have my pearl necklace David gave me for Christmas that I may wear. I have a little green pendant that looks adorable hung in the middle of the string of pearls that goes well with the trim on the dress too. I need to make sure pearl necklace + pendant is okay. . .oh, and I have some long gloves but they are the shiny satin gloves from David's Bridal. David also got those for me, and was very proud of himself for doing so, poor sweet man. I think I WILL wear them though, to make him happy and let him know I appreciate the fact he thought of me!

Love,
Sarah

To Wear or Not To Wear; That Is the Question!

I posted my query on Facebook earlier today, but for my dear friends who may not be on Facebook, I seek your advice and opinions!

I finished the bertha earlier this afternoon and tried everything on for one last fitting before sewing on the hook and eyes down the back. The bertha sits on the shoulders like a big collar. And it just seems. . .so. . .loud.

I know berthas like this were worn. This big, yes. Lace was worn. It's just me, I think. I personally prefer plain and simple. So here is a picture of the dress with the bertha: (since this time I've taken off the lace trim around the bottom of the bertha and cut its width in about half, and narrowed the lace where the shoulders narrow, so its not as loose and flowy). In the finished version, if I use the bertha, I will have green leaves and blue flowers in a cluster at center front.

And here is a picture of the dress without:

How should I wear this on Saturday? :( I asked David, and, of course, he had no opinion. Or rather he absent-mindedly said that the lacey bertha picture looked "nice" and the plain one also looked "nice." How very helpful.

I guess I want to look right. I see so many dresses that are over trimmed or badly trimmed and I have a horror of appearing like that. But also many lovely dresses are made with no trim, and they could definitely be improved, and look more period correct, with the right kind of trim.

Alas! Alack! I think I'll go hide in my plainest and simplest homespun. :(

Sarah

Making Double-Puff Sleeves

For nice poufy sleeves, I have learned it is far more practical, and period correct, to construct them with a fitted sleeve lining. I have learned to Love the Lining. A fitted lining makes all the difference between something hanging limply and forlorn and something poufing out nice and perkily.

So yesterday I made the sleeves. For the fitted lining I measured my armscye and my upper arm where the end of the sleeve will be. I added an inch or two extra for ease. I drew out a shape on paper using these measurements, plus the width I wanted the sleeve to be at the longest point (my back arm) and the shortest point (just forward of the underarm). This was the lining pattern. I cut two in white cotton. Then using these same measurements reeeeallllly stretched out, I cut the poufs out. Two per sleeve. Here you can see the sleeve lining for one sleeve, plus the two puff pieces.

I drew a line on each lining piece in the middle, for placement of the top of the bottom puff/bottom of the top puff.

I ran gathering stitches around the top and bottom of each puff part. I gathered the bottom edge of one puff to match the bottom edge of the lining. Right sides together I sewed the puff to the lining.

Then I turned the puff to the outside, gathered the top to match the lining and pinned the top of the puff to the middle line drawn on the lining piece. I sewed it down and voila! One puff done.

The second puff was sewn on in the same way. I gathered the bottom edge of the upper puff to match the middle line of the lining. I sewed it to this line, right sides together.

The upper puff was then turned to the outside, and the top edge gathered to match the top edge of the lining. Voila! Second puff done!

Here is the sleeve sewn into the armscye of the bodice. A nice poufy puff sleeve. :)

I am currently working on the pleated bertha. So far I have the pleats sewn down on the front portion and the pleats laid out for the back. Hopefully the dress will be finished today! I'm using the instructions/photos from Katherine's page on her bertha as a guideline for mine. It will be complete seperate from the bodice, and right now the plan is to trim the bottom edge with lace as well as perhaps the bottom of the sleeves. This style is rather severe so I'm thinking the lace may soften the effect a bit. :) For now the lace is synthetic, from Jo-Anns, but when I get the money saved I plan to update the lace with cotton lace from an heirloom sewing supplier. I may add a flower or two at center front and at the sleeves.

Love,

Sarah

1860's Ballgown Progress

Not completely done - but almost! I should have this sucker finished tomorrow and then I can relax and breathe a sigh of relief as I lay it away for the Yule Ball.

I really had no idea how it was going to come out. A dear lady I made some gowns for earlier this year gifted me with this beautiful taffeta after I told her the blue-green color of the dresses I made for her reminded me of my Grammie. Unbeknownst to me, this dear woman searched high and low to find the same fabric to give to me since I had liked the color so much. She couldn't find the exact fabric, but this shade is very close. This was back in the summer - since then, I have wondered about how I ought to make this up and at last, with the ball coming up in a few weeks, I decided now was the time to do it.

I could have made it perfectly plain - but what fun is that? I drew lots of sketches and at last settled on what has always been my "dream gown" design. I always loved Disneys Cinderella. I watched it every day when I was little (just like my boys now love to watch Cars and Toy Story.) You know the dress the mice make for Cinderella so she can go to the ball? It is pink and whit eand has scallops and flounces. Very pretty and one dress I've always wanted. So I trimmed the skirt with two rows of ruching in a scalloped shape. To dress up the plain fabric, I added a fringe of clear beads between the rows of ruching. Although the bodice is not done yet, it will also have two rows of ruching and one of beads as well. The sleeves are trimmed with beads at the hem and will have one row of ruching just above the hem. I may make some poufy sheer white undersleeves but I haven't decided for sure yet. The trim on the bodice is just hastily pinned on for the pictures. I may move the position of the beaded fringe to a gentle curving horizontal line instead of the corset-like line it has. . .I think that may "go" with the skirt better.

For Christmas, the high points of the scallops are trimmed with a gold poinsettia. I have doubts as to the period-correctness of gold poinsettias, but this ball is not really a strict ball by any sense of the word and the gold looks pretty with the green. :) After Christmas, I can easily take off the tacked on flowers and replace them with other flowers, or bows, or ribbon clusters, etc. Or leave any trim there off altogether.

All that is left to do is to make and attach the bodice and sleeve ruching and attach the sleeves and sew on the hooks.

Right now it's lunch time! Time for soup and crackers and shutting windows. The whole area, outside and in, reeks strongly of ammonia. I'm hoping its just a standard thing that farmers put on their fields in the fall. Whew. It's awfully powerful.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Love,


Sarah

A Springtime Ball Gown Costume

Happy May!! :D

It is pleasant to sew in the afternoons, though with spring coming upon us it is getting harder and harder to stay indoors! Still, it is necessary to get projects finished up. And this week we have had a colder spell and what with that and the wind it has been no very great loss to spend a few hours each day in the sunshine of the west bedroom - a.k.a. the "office/sewing room".

The past few weeks I've been working with a lovely lady who came to me with a finished skirt, a bolt of fabric and a desire for a ballgown bodice to wear to dances. The person who made her skirt was not able to make her bodice also so we had a few sessions of fittings, sketching and deciding on styles. In the end, we made two bodices that can be worn with the same skirt. One has a shallow scoop neckline with puff sleeves and the other has a squared neckline with loose bell sleeves. The lady desired her sleeves to be about elbow length. The fabric is a beautiful teal colored material with satin stripes and a geometric pattern of fern-like sprigs. The finished bodices and the skirt are more "costume" than "reproduction clothing" but I have enjoyed making some of these types of gowns for several local ladies. There are several local dance performance groups where the goal is a lovely appearance and good dancing. Strict authenticity not required. :)

Believe it or not, I ended up using Sense and Sensibility's Romantic Era Gown pattern for these bodices. It is against copyright laws to use most commercial patterns in paid dressmaking but Mrs. Chancey has graciously given permission for home dressmakers to use her patterns to make clothing to sell without a licensing fee. Sense and Sensibilty patterns are usually pretty good with sizing (the only issues I've had before with their gown patterns is a gappy neckline, but I think that is a personal fitting issue rather than anything wrong with the pattern itself!) and are a good base to start from when you don't want to drape a pattern from scratch. I cut the pattern for a back closing bodice and added a lot of extra length the front bodice so we could make a pointed front. With a combination of draping and drafting and an hour or so of fitting we came up with a good base pattern. Instead of using darts to fit the bodice I drafted the darts into a single princess seam that comes from the neckline down across the point of the bust to the waist. This helps create a very smooth fitted line, helps accentuate the feminine curve of the bosom and helps give the fashionable appearance of a tiny waist. As usual the bodices are flatlined with white cotton and the fronts are boned.

The puff sleeve bodice is trimmed simply with an airy ruffling of lace around the sleeve cuffs and also around the neckline. A matching teal satin ribbon drawstring is run through eyelets in the neckline ruffle to draw it up against the skin to prevent accidental glimpses down the front of the bodice! This particular bodice is my favorite. It is so sweet and old fashioned and feminine.

The other bodice is more smooth and tailored in line. The sleeves fit rather closely around the upper arm and then flare out in a graceful curve at just below elbow level. The trim is also more sleek and tailored than the other bodice. Flat lace and braid trim is applied around the neckline, sleeve edges and along the front princess seam lines.
I think this lady will be quite eye catching in this lovely color! It is the perfect fabric and hue for springtime dances, I think.

Love,

Sarah