mala_14 | Sheer Bustle Dress Complete (Sort of)

I got my sheer bustle dress totally done enough for my trip to Minnesota. It was completely wearable. The only thing that (I thought) needed doing was to add some metal rings inside the overskirt for bustling with the tape ties. This was a very froofy dress, which was totally the point. It is two parts, a bodice and overskirt with peplum, made out of cotton voile. It has a ton of ruffles, gathered 1.5, that I made in a not very historically accurate, but I thought clever, way, illustrated below.

First the lace and voile edges were serged together, right sides together.

Then the lace and voile were opened out and ironed, with the serging facing the voile. (This is the wrong side of the ruffle.)

Lastly, the voile was top-stitched right on the edge to hold the serging down. It gives a nice clean finish and is WAY less labour than actual hemming and attaching lace.

elizabeth_mn planned a bustle picnic at the Conservatory. It was a really beautiful setting.

We also had some cute kids with us. Clearly they enjoyed the parasols.

It was nice to re-meet Laura. I didn't realize that I had met her before at CoCo last year! But she was smart and knew exactly who I was. It's great to find another costumer who is not super far away. Here are Laura, Elizabeth, and I (right to left). (I wanted to name everyone left to right, but the grammatical construction of that sentence just wouldn't work properly. ;p)

There ended up being some snafus with this dress. It's really difficult to see, but part of the front of the overskirt got caught in the seam when I applied the ruffle. It's mostly hidden behind the ruffle, and I didn't even notice until I was ironing the thing in the hotel. That's something I need to fix. Also, I need to re-sew one of the ties. The boyfriend sat beside me and when I got up, turned out he was sitting on part of my overskirt, and the tie ripped out of the waistband and ripped one of the safety pins out. Luckily, that safety pin was in the seam allowance that was felled, so the few ripped threads aren't damaging the structure or any of the visible fabric. And the tie was just sewn in with a couple of stitches that ripped the tie, not the stitches, so I just need a new tie. Anyways, that happened before we took this picture:

The boyfriend got a dapper bow tie and a thrift store vest to blend in some. He doesn't costume, but doesn't mind dressing up. This worked.

I LOVE the back of my dress! It's SO ruffly with the peplum. This picture was taken near the end of our time at the Conservatory, and it looks like my bodice has pulled out a little, causing the wrinkling in the back. I'm pretty sure that's not usually there. Ugh, annoying, but you get the idea. Lots of fluffles! And the corset cover worked a treat, too.

Anyways, I was super pleased with how my dress turned out. It was light, summery, floofy, and looked how I wanted it to. It's always such a great feeling when something matches your vision. I need to get some really good pictures of this once it's all fixed up.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

elizabeth_mn

You looked wonderful! So light and fresh and summery!

mala_14

You looked awesome too! We were sooooo froofy. Mission accomplished!

starlightmasque

what a beautiful event! Kudos to Elizabeth!

It really was lovely! (We are also *secretly* trying to encourage more folks to come up north for costume-y things by posting alluring pictures!)

Yes, definitely secret!

danabren

It's so FOOFY!

Mission accomplished!

mandie_rw

So fluffy and summery! Like a meringue! And what a pretty, perfect place for a bustle event, too.

Thanks! Makes me think I need a yellow skirt for this now, so I can be a lemon meringue pie!

YESSSSS

koshka_the_cat

What a pretty, fluffy, dress!

You all look wonderful :)

Thank you! :) I think I've wanted a sheer bustle dress ever since I saw yours probably like a decade ago. lol

atherleisure

So pretty and such a lovely venue. It sounds like a good time.

Thank you! It really was. :) There was a beautiful Japanese garden with a tea house, but I unfortunately neglected to get pics of that. I hope Elizabeth did.