A long time ago (January 2009 to be precise), I completed a monstrosity of a project. Up to this point, I had only done a few beginner sewing classes and some small, simple projects. For a class project, I jumped into the costuming pool with both feet and made my first attempt at a historical dress.
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| 12th Night Ball 2009 |
I was so excited about what I had made. The years flew by, more costumes were added to the closet, and the burgundy behemoth was moved to the back of the clothes rack in favor of the newer dresses.
Fast-forward four years to November 2013. A masquerade ball was approaching, and I stood staring at all the dresses. Which one? I hadn't worn the gold and burgundy gown in a long time. It was time to pull it out again. But lo, with several more years of research under my belt, the dress was suddenly woefully costume-y. Painfully costume-y. The dress assembly, the placement of trims, the silhouette, the closure in the back (horrid zipper installation), aahhh!!! Everything...
I put the dress on Lady Catherine, the dress form, and sat back to soak in what needed to be done. Remove the lace and trim, change out the front panel of the bodice, rip out the zipper and but in a lace-up, etc.
Changing the closure was straight forward enough, so was ripping out the lace and trim. The front bodice panel was made from scrap fabric (Yay for fabric hoarding!). Yes, I held onto the scraps for four years. That just left the attachment of the lace on just the neckline. I didn't want to look like I was being eaten alive by lace. The result? I loved it. It still has a costume-y-ness about it because of the fabric selection, but it was vastly improved.
The next 'improvement' to this ensemble will probably involve completely redoing the underskirt. In due time, in due time.
Until next time!
SG
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