Violent Violet Neck Trim & Details

     I realized I didn't get into the details of the trim on my 1828 dress. Here's a little write-up.

     First, I had to make the trim pattern. I just fudged this. I traced the front and back shape of the neckline onto scrap fabric pieces, added seam allowances, sewed them together, traced the scallops on, and added seam allowances to them. It looked like this:

The part to the left is placed of the fold of the real fabric when cutting. 

I cut 1 of these in my plaid and 1 in the pink cotton, which serves as a lining to tack the hot pink piping to.

I carefully piped the scallops by hand, not trusting a machine with such tight corners. Then, I tacked the

piping down. Here it is mostly finished:

Underside. I had to piece the lining here, see that seam in the middle?

Front of trim.

Then, I piped the inside of the trim and sewed the whole thing to the neckline, folded it down to the inside and tacked the piping down to the lining.

   

Outside view.

Inside view. 

And I made a new bum pad! My old one (used for late 1830's through 1840's) was just too big for the earlier silhouette. The old one is on the bottom, new on the top. Both are stuffed with fabric scraps.

I only wore that little green bum pad and my corded petticoat under my dress, but I think I'll make at least one more petticoat for the next wearing. (Which will most likely be at Costume College!)

That's all for now!

Petti Project Continued

 
     I did actually do some work on my ruffled and corded petticoat. The cord is just some stuff from Joann's that is super cheap and gets the job done. Nothing fancy.

Cord.

Close-up of cord.

Pinning cords above a ruffle. Another ruffle went over these cords.

     I got a few ruffles and cords done, but have since decided I will be changing around my design. First, I need more cording rows and more ruffles. Second, a yoked waist. I drew the waistband up with a strong lace at first. I discovered that this left far too much gathered fabric at the waist. All bulky. Ew.

     I will cut up the top part of the petticoat to resemble the method of Truly Victorian's Free Petticoat Diagram. It's still gathered up at the waist, but with less fabric than the bottom, to avoid the bulky top. It also gives more froof to the bell shape we're trying to create with that era of skirts. 

Onward!

Petti Project

     What Little Moth has been working on...
   
1830's/40's Skirt Supports: I decided to ditch the idea of sporting hoops to Dickens Fair this year. Tried it out a couple weekends last season. Hated it. Fezzi's (the dancing guild I'm part of at Fair) backstage is too small and there are already too many goddamn hoops swinging about and crowding the space. So....PETTICOATS!
     Not the tulle-net-synthetic cr@p I wore my first season. It got weighed down by my skirts. And then last season I threw together my first corded petticoat (wow, I didn't know what I was doing when I started that). Problem was, I didn't put nearly enough rows on cording in it and didn't starch it, lacking knowledge of how. My skirts still looked saggy. As you can see...My Dickens Dress. Fail. But, you can see that the hips look a little fuller, which is because I padded the cartridge pleats a little bit to help with the bell-shape of the skirt on top of petticoats and avoid getting the dreaded cone-shaped silhouette. For example:

No.

(aliexpress.com)

Yes.

(Ballgown, ca 1855 France, KCI)

          See the difference of the bell? Well, that's what I'm going for with the petticoats I'm working on combined with my padded pleats. The plan:

-my (now-re-vamped and starched) corded petticoat

                 -made from stiff muslin and thick cotton cording

                         worn under

-ruffled AND corded petticoat (in progress) 

                -ruffles with several cords underneath them

                -made from minty-green King-sized bed sheet my momma gave me

                -100% Egyptian cotton

-both petticoats will have the living daylights starched out of them

     The final decision to go petti came from inspiration from a lovely post by the lady behind Frolicking Frocks. She shows the wonders of multiple layers and starching. I tried the bum-pad idea that she had, but the shape I created didn't quite work for me, so I think I'll try one that is more like hers. 

     Oh, and I think this chick is cute:

That's all for now, folks!

My Dickens Dress

     So, I participate in the Great Dickens Christmas Fair in the San Francisco Cow Palace. It's a bloody good time. This past season was my second and I had a new character, so I had to make a new costume. I was originally going for late 1830's, but it just ended up being a frickin mish-mash of eras and styles. The costume directors want us to keep our costumes to the bell-era (roughly 1842-1864). My deviating dress style kind of bothers me, but I'm proud of the learning experience and still had a great time.
     I found a decent bright red cotton sateen at Joann's and set to work. I had limited time and I hate working under pressure, but that's how it went. I got all this inspiration for the sleeves from late Regency fashion for the puff sleeves, but I wish I'd just stuck with the slopping shoulders of the mid-Victorian era. I used Laughing Moon's Early 1860's Day Dress for the bodice pattern, but altered it a lot, obviously. For the skirt-the basics. Just two panels of fabric cartridge pleated onto a waistband. I really do like cartridge pleats. I padded them a bit with just a layer of cotton folded under them. Dunno if I like the effect still. It does give me some nice hips, seeing as I lack in that department in actual anatomy.
     Through the run of Fair, I switched between wearing a weird modern crinoline-poufy-thing, a small hoop, and a corded petticoat under the skirt. The crinoline was crap, kept getting weighed down. I think my material is a little heavy, though. The hoop was nice, but I don't like how much room it takes up backstage and for sitting and such. I only got the corded petticoat done like halfway through the run, so it didn't get as much use, but I like the effect best. I didn't starch it, so it did cause my skirts to droop a little bit, but I plan to supplement that next year by making a bum pad and starching and maybe a ruffled petticoat in a stiff fabric on top of the corded. I really like the shape of skirts in the 1840's, so that's what I'll go for.
                            Enough talk, here are the photos. I decided to use this dress for my Concentration, because, what the hey, might as well. One less dress to make.

I fixed the hem shortness later.

Me want my skirt poufier...

Period-correct faux-button closure. Hooks and eyes!

What lies underneath...

                      That's all for this little dressy for now, folks. All in all, good learning experience!