12 in 12: March - Regency Evening Gown
It's March! Wow, it's quite a ways into March. Where did my month go?
February was mostly successful, though not to the extent I had hoped. I did finish the jacket and overskirt and have obtained fabric for the underskirt, but it still sits in my fabric cabinet. So, I'll call February a partial win with the potential for improvement during one of the slower months. No reason to stop now.
But on to March!
I've been trying for multiple years at this point to make it to a PEERS Regency event. For whatever reason, after three years of trying, I have yet to make it to a single one. But this year I *will* go! I'm even willing to give up going to WonderCon on Saturday evening to make it.
Which means it's time to dig out the fabric I bought in LA last year specifically for this dress.
4 yards of 120" wide fabric. I'm mostly certain the base is cotton, though it's a little stiff (possible because it hasn't been washed). What it definitely is, however, is a bit sheer.
But as long as I have a petticoat underneath there shouldn't be any problems.
I've always had this dress in my mind as I searched for fabric and although the stripes are much farther apart, I think I can still get a decent effect.
Better late than never, I started tracing the pattern pieces and cutting the dress fabric tonight. I'm using the Regency Wardrobe package I purchased from Lacis and I'll be making Dress D with the shorter sleeves from Dress C as well as the bodiced petticoat (A). I tried working on this dress once before last year, but had a really difficult time with the instructions. There aren't always enough pictures for me and trying to figure out what the hell this one long strip of bias fabric the pattern had me cut was supposed to be for made it difficult to visualize the final dress. At the time, I was so frustrated with the fact that the smallest size bodice they had was so ridiculously large in the bust (I'm small, but not *that* small) that I spent the better part of the afternoon pinning, trimming, and fitting the top on me until it fit perfectly, only to find that that long random strip of fabric was meant to be a casing for a drawstring. So the bodice could be adjusted to fit correctly. At which point I set everything aside rather than rip my hair out and hadn't touched it since.
Fast forward to tonight and unfortunately it looks like I'm missing a piece. I don't know if it's just the one piece or a full sheet, but I'm missing the back of my bodice So I guess I'll break out the muslin next and see about getting the shape and fit from the inspiration picture (with the alteration of having a line of buttons down the back).
I wasn't really worried about jumping right to cutting the final fabric for most of the pieces rather than making a muslin first for two reasons: 1) The bodice is going to be too big on me and I'll be pinning and recutting it as I go anyway, 2) even after setting aside fabric for the skirt, I have enough fabric to make another dress. Yes, there's that much of it left. I'll possibly make a (lined) sundress out of the extra.
Pictures of the cut pattern pieces to come when I have better light!
February was mostly successful, though not to the extent I had hoped. I did finish the jacket and overskirt and have obtained fabric for the underskirt, but it still sits in my fabric cabinet. So, I'll call February a partial win with the potential for improvement during one of the slower months. No reason to stop now.
But on to March!
I've been trying for multiple years at this point to make it to a PEERS Regency event. For whatever reason, after three years of trying, I have yet to make it to a single one. But this year I *will* go! I'm even willing to give up going to WonderCon on Saturday evening to make it.
Which means it's time to dig out the fabric I bought in LA last year specifically for this dress.
4 yards of 120" wide fabric. I'm mostly certain the base is cotton, though it's a little stiff (possible because it hasn't been washed). What it definitely is, however, is a bit sheer.
But as long as I have a petticoat underneath there shouldn't be any problems.
I've always had this dress in my mind as I searched for fabric and although the stripes are much farther apart, I think I can still get a decent effect.
Better late than never, I started tracing the pattern pieces and cutting the dress fabric tonight. I'm using the Regency Wardrobe package I purchased from Lacis and I'll be making Dress D with the shorter sleeves from Dress C as well as the bodiced petticoat (A). I tried working on this dress once before last year, but had a really difficult time with the instructions. There aren't always enough pictures for me and trying to figure out what the hell this one long strip of bias fabric the pattern had me cut was supposed to be for made it difficult to visualize the final dress. At the time, I was so frustrated with the fact that the smallest size bodice they had was so ridiculously large in the bust (I'm small, but not *that* small) that I spent the better part of the afternoon pinning, trimming, and fitting the top on me until it fit perfectly, only to find that that long random strip of fabric was meant to be a casing for a drawstring. So the bodice could be adjusted to fit correctly. At which point I set everything aside rather than rip my hair out and hadn't touched it since.
Fast forward to tonight and unfortunately it looks like I'm missing a piece. I don't know if it's just the one piece or a full sheet, but I'm missing the back of my bodice So I guess I'll break out the muslin next and see about getting the shape and fit from the inspiration picture (with the alteration of having a line of buttons down the back).
I wasn't really worried about jumping right to cutting the final fabric for most of the pieces rather than making a muslin first for two reasons: 1) The bodice is going to be too big on me and I'll be pinning and recutting it as I go anyway, 2) even after setting aside fabric for the skirt, I have enough fabric to make another dress. Yes, there's that much of it left. I'll possibly make a (lined) sundress out of the extra.
Pictures of the cut pattern pieces to come when I have better light!