The rest of the 1845 dress
May. 28th, 2018 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mala_14I sort of documented the rest of the making of my 1845 white striped dress and, in the process, my 18th c. style quilted petticoat. My quilted petticoat is doing double duty as an 1840s quilted petticoat. Here it's worn with a horsehair ruffled bustle underneath and my tucked petticoat on top. This was when I was measuring for skirt length and wanting to see what sort of shape I'd get with these skirt supports. I was pretty pleased with the silhouette.
This was what my pattern ended up looking like. I ultimately made a couple more really minor adjustments as I went along, but they're nothing significant. From left to right: back, front lining, front fan-front overlay.
I used a running stitch in a diagonal line running from the armhole to just outside the bottom of the dart to connect the overlay to the lining. Then I used a running stitch to gather up 4 sets of 2 parallel lines of gathering for the fan front bottom. Then I sewed the side seams and gathered up the shoulders by machine, pinned the heck out of them, and tried on the bodice multiple times to see where the gathers lay. I kept the lining and outer layer pinned together at the neckline and armholes. It looked like a fan front! And I was relieved. The back should have had corresponding gathers at the waist, but I didn't want to bother, so it's just plain.
And then I stopped taking pictures of what I was doing for a long time. This portion included sewing the sleeves together and gathering them to a cuff. (The sleeves should have been cut on the bias to be accurate, but I didn't have enough fabric for that and the cuffs should probably have been piped, but I didn't want to bother, nor did I really have enough fabric for that either. I squeaked out just enough piping for the more essential parts.) Then sewing the sleeves into the armscye by hand to get them in nicely with the piping. The waist and neckline were both also piped, with the piping sewn on by hand, turned under inside for a nice finish, and sewn down by hand inside. The skirt was turned down at the top the appropriate amounts, cartridge pleated, and attached to the piping on the waist. I'd already put together the skirt prior to this by sewing together 3 widths of fabric, hemming the bottom using a hem facing machine sewn to the bottom and turned up and running stitched at the top.
Once I got the hooks and eyes on the cuffs, the dress was ready to wear for a living history event. Bonus: I also sewed one hook and eye at the waist. ;p I pinned the rest of the CF opening, which has a slight underlap of the lining on the eye/left side. On the right side the overlay and lining meet at the edge. I tried a hairstyle, having never done this era before. I was pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out, especially considering that I have bangs and my hair is only just past my shoulders. The back hair is just clipped up because it would be covered by the bonnet I borrowed from a friend, but the front hair is centre parted and braided and looped on each side.
Interestingly, once on, the pointed waist doesn't look very pointed anymore. I guess the pattern needs a REALLY dramatic V shape to make a good point at the front of the waist. Good to know!
When I got back that evening, I figured I should take some pictures of the whole thing while I was dressed. I like this dress a lot, but I think my corset is the wrong style for it, which makes sense since I wanted this corset to be good for c.1860-1885. This earlier style of dress should really have a corset that pushes the boobs up and almost flattens them. If you check out 1840s photographs you can see some really unflattering corsets at work.
I didn't bother finishing any of the inside seams, although I will probably go back and whip the seam allowances at the armhole and stitch them to the bodice so that they don't sit in the semi-sheer sleeve. At this point the dress now has all its eyes and half of the front hooks done. It's not completely done, but done enough that I'm not going to worry about it too much anymore. :)
This was what my pattern ended up looking like. I ultimately made a couple more really minor adjustments as I went along, but they're nothing significant. From left to right: back, front lining, front fan-front overlay.
I used a running stitch in a diagonal line running from the armhole to just outside the bottom of the dart to connect the overlay to the lining. Then I used a running stitch to gather up 4 sets of 2 parallel lines of gathering for the fan front bottom. Then I sewed the side seams and gathered up the shoulders by machine, pinned the heck out of them, and tried on the bodice multiple times to see where the gathers lay. I kept the lining and outer layer pinned together at the neckline and armholes. It looked like a fan front! And I was relieved. The back should have had corresponding gathers at the waist, but I didn't want to bother, so it's just plain.
And then I stopped taking pictures of what I was doing for a long time. This portion included sewing the sleeves together and gathering them to a cuff. (The sleeves should have been cut on the bias to be accurate, but I didn't have enough fabric for that and the cuffs should probably have been piped, but I didn't want to bother, nor did I really have enough fabric for that either. I squeaked out just enough piping for the more essential parts.) Then sewing the sleeves into the armscye by hand to get them in nicely with the piping. The waist and neckline were both also piped, with the piping sewn on by hand, turned under inside for a nice finish, and sewn down by hand inside. The skirt was turned down at the top the appropriate amounts, cartridge pleated, and attached to the piping on the waist. I'd already put together the skirt prior to this by sewing together 3 widths of fabric, hemming the bottom using a hem facing machine sewn to the bottom and turned up and running stitched at the top.
Once I got the hooks and eyes on the cuffs, the dress was ready to wear for a living history event. Bonus: I also sewed one hook and eye at the waist. ;p I pinned the rest of the CF opening, which has a slight underlap of the lining on the eye/left side. On the right side the overlay and lining meet at the edge. I tried a hairstyle, having never done this era before. I was pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out, especially considering that I have bangs and my hair is only just past my shoulders. The back hair is just clipped up because it would be covered by the bonnet I borrowed from a friend, but the front hair is centre parted and braided and looped on each side.
Interestingly, once on, the pointed waist doesn't look very pointed anymore. I guess the pattern needs a REALLY dramatic V shape to make a good point at the front of the waist. Good to know!
When I got back that evening, I figured I should take some pictures of the whole thing while I was dressed. I like this dress a lot, but I think my corset is the wrong style for it, which makes sense since I wanted this corset to be good for c.1860-1885. This earlier style of dress should really have a corset that pushes the boobs up and almost flattens them. If you check out 1840s photographs you can see some really unflattering corsets at work.
I didn't bother finishing any of the inside seams, although I will probably go back and whip the seam allowances at the armhole and stitch them to the bodice so that they don't sit in the semi-sheer sleeve. At this point the dress now has all its eyes and half of the front hooks done. It's not completely done, but done enough that I'm not going to worry about it too much anymore. :)
