Throwback Thursday: Damask Green Regency

It was 2009 and graduation was coming up. Being the off-beat, homeschooler that I was, I wanted a Regency dress for the event instead of a cute, trendy summer frock. No, I needed a Regency dress. It was my second 'big' sewing project, the first time I would be doing it on my own without much in the way of mentoring, and the first time I had worked with a pattern so... drapey. A friend of mine let me borrow her pattern from Sense and Sensibility Patterns. It looked pretty straight forward and simple enough, so, true to my style, I dived in without really knowing what I was getting myself into. But I wasn't ecstatic about the final results. It felt frumpy and baggy, and the closure on the front just wouldn't cooperate. I still wore it to the graduation, and I even wore it to a bachelorette tea party. I decided that crossover Regency gowns weren't my thing because of the kinks in the pattern that wouldn't seem to work themselves out. The dress landed in the farthest corner in the costume closet as more structured dresses were added to the collection.  

Fast forward to August 2013. I got my sister and myself tickets to a Regency ball. And I hadn't a clue what I was going to wear. Anything that I would choose would have to be altered (loosing 30 lbs. will make your entire wardrobe not fit anymore). It was an excellent time to see if there was any hope for that light green damask crossover dress. 

I checked out books from the library and scoured Pinterest for ideas. It didn't take much research to find bits and pieces that I wanted to incorporate. But first, fixing that darn closure and those funky sleeves. I wish I had a before and after picture of that closure. It was a mess before. Some ribbon here and some stitches there, I'm much more pleased with the final results. But, as a whole, it didn't seem complete. 

I had enough time to spare before the ball (it was still several days away) to make that something more that the dress needed. A spencer! I had the pattern, fabric, trim, buttons... everything already in the stash (and it was all given to me by different people at different times o_O) I did a mock-up, and somewhere along the line, I decided to make it sleeveless. There are sleeveless spencers out there; just check out this beauty. After doing a coat for my brother, this project went really quick. The only kink that I ran into along the process was the ribbon on the waist that I had on my dress - the spencer wasn't long enough to cover it up. A 1 1/2" waistband needed to be added in the front and 3" to the back. After drafting some pieces and adding a seam allowance, the problem disappeared. 

I took a step back. It was finished (long before the day-of). And I loved it. 

I just needed to figure out what to do with my hair for the ball. ;)

Want some pictures from the event? 

After lots of dancing

I ended up doing a turban up-do for my hair. It seemed rather pirate-y to me. 

The gorgeous venue

Until next time!

SG

Throwback-Thursday: Burgundy 'Rococo'

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.

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