madamemodiste

Whoa...I never shared the Madeline dress I talked about this past winter/spring! I wore it to Costume Con 29 and SPWF.



I haven't gotten any great photos of me wearing the dress, but I promise the back is huuuuge.

Here it is when it was almost done. I love it!

Well, I finally did it! I made a single layer Victorian corset.

I'm taking a pattern and drafting class at Temple University. Hey, I might as well take advantage of the costume/theatre department and learn sewing skills while I get my degree. Where else can I learn from professionals twice a week and have access to amazing tools and supplies? It's like Project Runway in there!

Anyway, our latest project was to draft and build a corset from scratch. We could pick any era we wanted from the 1500s to the 1950s. I went with 1890s. I picked a pattern I liked from Robert Doyle's Waisted Efforts: an 1892 corset with hip gores. I chose a fancy white coutil for my fabric.

First I had to grid out the pattern because it wasn't printed on a grid. I measured the corset pattern front and back length and measured my own front and back length. When I scaled up the pattern, it had to match my measurements, not the ones on the original, which is too small. With the help of my classmates who have taken math classes much more recently than I have, we figured out the grid so the pattern would draft up closer to my measurements. No, I couldn't repeat that process again if you put a gun to my head.

Once the grid was figured out, I grabbed real life grid paper and started drawing. By hand I drew out each piece in life size, cut them out, transferred them to muslin (with a generous 1 inch seam allowance), cut out the muslin, sewed them together, cut spiral steel, taped them to the places I wanted boning with masking tape, basted on pre-made boned lacing panels, and tried it on.

From there, my professor marked where I needed changes. The bust and hips were too big and the curve from my rib cage to my bust needed to be sharper. It was also longer than I felt was comfortable, so we marked where I wanted the bottom hem to sit (so I could sit without getting poked in the no-no place).

I went back to my paper pattern and, using the "slash and spread" method (or in my case, "slash and squish"), made changes to the pattern pieces that needed them and trued up my edges.

Then I transferred my new pattern to the coutil, sewed them up, put on the boning channels using boning tape, set the busk, altered the previous boning to fit and tipped the bones, made and sewed on self fabric bias binding (by hand inside and outside), and hammered on nearly 3 dozen size 00 two piece grommets. At this point my hands were throbbing!!

and here she is! Of course she fits me better than my dress form, so ignore the fit.



( see more here )
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I've been sewing up a storm, but they are secret projects for the Steampunk World's Fair, so I can't reveal them until May. Anyway, The Croc dress and the Madeline dress are just about finished. I found myself with Judy over at Jomar yesterday and came across a lovely black cotton with white stripes for only $2/yd. I picked up 7 yards and looked through my "striped dress" photos to see if any spoke to me. This one did:

From The Age of Innocence, this is a gown May wears on two occasions while "visiting."



( another view )

Since I wanted to make the underskirt out of plain black cotton to save the striped fabric, and I was out of plain black cotton, I started on the overskirt. Here it is shown over an old petticoat that has seen better days.

( click here to see my progress )

So I wasn't able to say much about the summer Victorian gown project until the party was over, but now I can post about it.

I became enraptured with a white gown that Tissot painted several times. Then I saw this fashion plate that was very like the Tissot gown, but fancier. Perfect!! It's definitely much girlier than what I usually make.

Beth had many yards of a white stripe cotton gauze she gave me for the project. The gown was made from Truly Victorian patterns. The overgown is the Tea gown pattern...modified. It's flatlined in pink cotton. The gauze skirt is the fan skirt (without the fan or train) and the pink cotton underskirt is the tie back skirt.



( ...and here I am wearing it )

I got two rows of pleats and two rows of double ruffles onto the gown. I made the pleats and the ruffles were pre-purchased trim. Then I put satin bias tape over the join of the pleats/ruffles.

Progress photos:

making the pleats with Beth's antique pleater. I used 22 yards of 60" fabric. The pleats are 5" wide.



( More this way... )

Yesterday evening I made an underskirt from the TV 225 Fantail skirt. Today I put on trim! Here it is:



I had to lighten the photos to show detail, but it's jet black.

( Wanna see more? )

As previously mentioned, instead of a proper coat, I want this as a "jacket bodice", so I cut it out from the TV tea gown pattern, cutting it off at the hem where it said "lengthen or shorten here" since I want the underskirt to be seen.



Anyway, when LL came over on Sunday, we held up the trim to the partially made garment and realized it needed something. It was too plain. We looked at the fashion plate and saw that there was a silver-grey trim underneath the braid, so off to Jomar we went! I got 8 yards of this really lovely medium weight satin for $1/yd

( see the photo here if you want to )

Since I am waiting to choose buttons, I decided to play with the pleaty thingies. Here they are done and sewn down. I had two 3/4" black satin buttons in my button bag and pinned them to the pleat points to see how it might look. I LOVE it! Looks like 3/4" is the right size for the pleat tips. I fear any smaller and the pleat tips will show. I held up my usual 5/8" and it seemed too small - didn't look right. So here are some 3/4" buttons pinned on:

Since we last visited this bodice, it needed to be lifted up at the shoulders because an unsightly horizontal wrinkle appeared over my bust when I wore it. (http://madamemodiste.livejournal.com/107735.html see 2nd photo for unsightly wrinkle) Done!

Then it desperately needed some trim. I poked through my Jomar trim finds and picked a matte sequin trim braid to be placed over black net lace ruffles. I also decided to fill in the open sleeve with a double ruffle of the net lace.

Just need to tack down the sleeve ruffles! Should I add the sequin trim around the hem of the sleeve, too?

Not much time for sewing since we moved and I miss you guys!! However, I did mostly finish the bodice to the 1884 reception gown (if you forget, it's here: http://madamemodiste.livejournal.com/107909.html)

It still needs sleeve cuff trim and some lace at the bust, but it's generally done. I wore it to Linsey and Duncan's wedding a week and a half ago.



No plans to make anything until the semester is over next month, so I'll have to live vicariously through you ladies!