Sunday, July 20, 2008

Bodiced Petticoat Complete

Here is my finished Regency Bodiced Petticoat:
It's not hemmed yet: I'll do that at the same time I hem my gown. Check out the great Regency silhouette from the side! I was a bit concerned about how the stays were pushing up my cleavage, but with the petticoat over it, I can really start to see how this is going to look with the dress. Very period!
Compare my silhouette to this print by James Gillray entitled "Stays" (it's one from his series titled "The Progress of the Toilette). Not bad, eh?I went ahead and made up a muslin toile of my ball gown. The back fits beautifully:
I'm not so sure about the front. It looks a bit big. Too poofy and too long on bottom. Any opinions? I may cut out one cup size smaller and see if that improves the fit...but one cup smaller will also shorten the back which I think is perfect. It's sort of hard to tell at this point how the fit is...according to the pattern for my size, I'll add a drawstring waistband to the dress so that I can make sure the bottom edge of the Empire waist fits like a glove. Hmm...
I want to make sure I get my toile right before I touch my fashion fabric. There's no more where it came from (handwoven in India), and I've been safeguarding this one-of-a-kind beauty. Here it is draped over Mini so you can get an idea of what the gown will look like. The gold border is only going to be used around the hem, and possibly for the waistband and sleeve bands.

2 comments:

Carolyn said...

How much would you charge to make a bustle dress for someone? Namely, me?

I'm trying to think of an anonymous way for you to contact me. How about use this email?

sale-802624328@craigslist.org

Anonymous said...

Can I make a suggestion? I do love your gowns. If you notice all the women who wore those gowns though had long hair. I think when taking the pictures putting on a wig or extentions, or just growing your hair out. I think the long hair is part of what makes the gowns beautiful. Keep up the great work!