For this sundress I used Butterick 5209, view B, with a fairly major alteration. I’d found a lovely burgundy cotton to do a contrast midriff, however the midriff section on the pattern does not go evenly around to the back. So I split the lower …
This sundress is McCall’s 6956, view A. The fabric was a lucky quilting cotton find on the clearance table at Joann’s. I originally got it with a Toulouse (Aristocats) outfit in mind – orange dress with blue bow. While the group outfit/outing never happened, I …
Part 2 Read Part 1 Skirts To start with I wanted pleated cotton skirts, since the original is clearly pleated. I found pleated chiffon skirts and pleated satin skirts in abundance, however, cotton, or even an opaque non-shiny pleated skirt, was nowhere to be found. …
Read Part 2 You may remember that a few years ago my department at work did Game of Thrones for Halloween. I did Margaery Tyrell. Well. The new employees since the move to Colorado found those photos, and wanted to do it again. So we …
I don’t often do holiday dresses because I don’t like that you can only wear them once or twice per year. However, since this dress is reversible, I get double the wear! I used Simplicity 8085 and novelty print cotton. The Christmas side is a …
I have been meaning to make myself some garment bags for ages, and got round to it at last. I used some old sheets in a lovely muted green. The reason I wanted to use sheets is to take advantage of the ready-hemmed edges. The …
Read part 1 and part 2. Once I had made the bodice and skirt, I tried them both on together and discovered a problem. As soon as I started to move, the bodice popped out of the skirt. I puzzled over how to fix this …
Read part 1 and part 3. The blue underskirt is the basic skirt from Simplicity 1728, gathered all around instead of pleating the front. The aubergine overskirt is 6.5 yards of chiffon with three deep tucks in the bottom third. I calculated the tucks so …
For my 1855 ball gown I chose a royal blue cotton percale with an aubergine chiffon for the overlay, which turned out to have the most wonderful iridescent, colour-shifting effect. I used the same base pattern as my 1860s ball gown: Simplicity 1728. I shortened …
For my first petticoat I used the free instructions from Truly Victorian, and 8 yards of white cotton broderie anglaise. It went together very easily, though I deviated from the instructions a bit. Instead of sewing each strip into a loop before gathering, I gathered …