Update: Edwardian Tea Dress, Purple Regency Dress, Petticoats and more!

This is going to be a long post, because I haven't posted in awhile, but bear with me.  :)

Of course, because no costumer ever works on just one thing at a time, since my last post I've been working on things like mad!  Yes, I should have posted another update sooner, but have been busy.

(I feel like I should retitle my blog "A Costumer's Journey", so that with each update I can call it "My Journey So Far."  What fun!)

Aqua Edwardian Teens Dress
A continuation from this post.

Sadly, I didn't finish this dress in time for the tea that I was going to attend.  While I would have LOVED to have gone, it really didn't work out anyway, so I didn't end up going.  :(

The weekend after the tea, I got so excited about having a "free" weekend, I ended up picking up and working on three other things that I didn't need to.  But, that's the way it goes.  :)

(I'm participating in a fashion show this weekend, and apparently the person wearing Edwardian fell through, and so the organizer asked me if I had an Edwardian dress.  I told her about this one, and she told me I didn't need to worry about finishing it, she'll do something else.  I would have LOVED to be able to finish this, but I am so glad I don't HAVE to!)

But here's the status:

The orange makes all the colors very off.  Note to self: get new tablecloth!  Perhaps a cream.  Hmmm.

Cute little piping!

These are the closest to the true colors.  Oh, the shiny!

The unfinished inside.

Above you can see the status of the bodice, which is almost done, it just needs a little bit of hand sewing along the edges of the front.  But you can see I added some piping along the edges in the seafoam green, just to add a little bit of color, and to keep the edges neat.  :)

Inspired by one of my favorite Downton Abbey dresses, worn by Lady Mary, I added a bit of lace to the front, and let the edge stick up in the middle.  

Yummy, right?

Just for reference, here are the layers of skirt:

Next steps: finish the bodice, sew it to the skirt, and then add the band around the middle, and then add the hook and eye tape to the back.  DONE!  Easy, right?  Sigh.

Purple Regency Dress:

This weekend (ack! so soon!), I am attending the Jane Austen tea!  Yes!  A friend of mine is staying with me, and joining me in attending, and she was so excited about the tea that I needed to make a dress too!  Because of course I have the underthings, the hat (which I forgot to take a picture of), the shoes, the fabric and the pattern, but haven't had a chance to start it.  Of course.

The dress pattern I am using.

Starting with the pattern, I am using the "Regency Gown Pattern" from Sense and Sensibility.  I had always intended to use this pattern for this dress, just because it seems relatively simple.

Of course, I started with making the skirts.  I don't know why I do this, I think so that I can get them neatly done and folded away before my fluffy one has a chance to decide to crush the fabric.  :)

Pretty purple fabric!  As you can see, it's also a sheer fabric.

Closeup of skirt placket and fabric.  So pretty!

The fabric I have had for years in planning this dress.  It's a purple (and brown) stripe pattern on a white background that I got at the LA Fabric District, in downtown Los Angeles.  I'm pretty sure it's 100% cotton, but it's lightweight, and sheer, and soft.

The only change I made to the skirt was to lengthen it 2", based on where the pattern pieces hit.

Note on skirt lengths:

Historical sewing skirt lengths are very interesting, and you can spend a lot of time arguing with people about where a "full length skirt" should hit.  I generally have two considerations: front poofiness of skirt, and heel height.  A good rule of thumb is to make your skirts 2" above the ground at all times.

For Civil War skirts, the general idea is between 2-4" off of the ground.  Anything less, and you're essentially just getting a dirty hem, and a hem you are likely to step on.  Of course, when you sit, those hems will hit the ground, but when you're standing or walking, they shouldn't.  My Civil War shoes have about 1/2" heel, so the heel doesn't really factor in.

For Bustle, I keep to the 2" above the ground rule.  My Bustle boots are about 2.5" tall, so I make my skirts about .5" longer when I am standing in bare feet.

For Regency and Edwardian, since there is no skirt structure (other than a petticoat or two), it is essential that skirts be on the longer side, so that they don't show ankle.  (Oh, no!)  2" is still a good length, but you can make them longer.

Note also that this just applies to the exterior skirt lengths.  Petticoats can be a bit shorter (and should be- we don't want to see those things on the exterior!)  Structured garments such as hoop skirts and bustles should go down to about 6" off the ground, petticoats should go down to about 4" off the ground (or, as a rule of thumb, 2" shorter than your skirt).  Underhoop petticoats can be 6" off the ground.

But I digress.

Bodice:

Unlike my Edwardian dress bodice (made up of less pieces, but with a middle piece, and darts, and that whole mess), this is actually going fairly fast.  

Bodice lining.

Piping at the neckhole edge.

Closeup of piping from inside.  Hand sewing- wheeeee!

In looking at the 1996 A & E Miniseries "Pride and Prejudice", they gave Elizabeth Bennet a fair number of sheer dresses.  This is one of the things I love about Regency- short sleeves, and low necklines, and frothy fabrics in the daytime!  Swooon!  So different from the stiff boned bodices of the Victorian era!

See how her skirt is separate from the underskirt, and her sleeves are not lined at all!  LOVE THIS!

In keeping with these sheer dresses, I decided to treat the sheer layer as the exterior, and treat the lining as a sort of separate piece.  I made the sheer bodice a little higher in the front and back around the neckline, and kept the lining shorter.

Bodice with the two layers attached at backs and armholes.

Front from the inside.  You can see where the sheer layer ends.

More piping!

Pretty buttons for the back!  Yay!

Next steps: Finish the sheer layer piping, add the sleeves, add the buttons, adjust the bodice to match the skirt width, and sew on the skirt layers,  And DONE!

But wait, there's more . . .

Did I mention petticoats?

In my weekend of "I'm free!" madness, I started working on a few "quick" projects that I had hanging over my head.

I had made a "quick and easy" Edwardian petticoat, and I decided, "I can't possibly leave this untrimmed!  Heaven forbid!"  Hence, a little bit of lace at the bottom.  The scalloped lace I HATE to try to machine sew on because of the curves, so lots of hand sewing.  But at least it's done!

Quick and easy!

And the fluffy one asks: "Why aren't you petting me?"

Backstitch hand sewing.  Because I'm that level of anal.

Since I had a Civil War reenactment coming up, I decided to work on a petticoat that needed a new waistband (unpictured), start a new underpetticoat that I had been meaning to work on since I retired my old one (also unpictured), and get my Edwardian corset cover to a place where I could work on the hand sewing at the reenactment.  Hence, I was sewing like mad that week to get everything to a "hand sewing" stage.

FLUFFY!!!

Closeup of fluffy!!  With buttonholes!

Next step: add buttons.  And then I'll be done!

What comes next after this weekend?  No real plans yet.  Next year I have a Colonial dress I need to make, and need to finish my lavender and black Natural Form dress, and maybe start my peacock and black Natural Form beaded dress.

What would you like to see get made next???  Take a look at my Project List and let me know!

I'm thinking I'll do another post with all the various projects where I have a hat and fabric, and decide based on a consensus.  :)  Vote early, vote often!!