So, then I stomped around the house for a while in a huff, trying to figure out what to do. I dug through all my costumes trying to pull something together, and then I finally remembered that I had half a gown in the clothes racks...somewhere.
I found the overskirt easily enough, but the bodice turned out to be in less than ideal shape. I had taken all the trim off of it so I could do some alterations, and then I had set the whole shebang aside in pieces and forgotten about it.And the trim was missing.
Time for more digging. That lasted another hour or so before I decided to break down and buy more. But, once I got to Joann's, I discovered that they had replaced the lovely filigree gimp braid that I had originally used with this horrendous metallic braid. Horrible! I sighed in defeat and headed home, where I hemmed and hawed for another hour, trying to decide whether or not to use a different braid from my fabric stash on the bodice.
Then, victory! The trim I had removed from the bodice reappeared in a linen closet! So, I reattached the trim, altered the bodice in the shoulders for a better fit, and reattached the sleeves.I'm quite pleased with how it looks. There are still some alterations I want to make...in fact, I still want to remake the entire bodice. It has almost no structure to it whatsoever. Ah, to be 16 and want a bustle dress! But, it's presentable, and I still think it's pretty after all this time, so that's a good thing. I particularly like the way the trim looks in the back.
And yes, I originally made this dress when I was 16. I wish I could find the fashion plate I was copying, but I cannot, for the life of me, track it down again. I could have sworn I had it in one of my books, but it has yet to show itself. Anyway, it was a time before I knew much about proper construction, and I would just dive into projects head first and just beat the fabric into submission. Hehe. ^^; Still, not bad for a beginner. I actually never finished the underskirt for this gown. The underskirt I have with it now is the one for the 1874 Black Taffeta gown. You can see in the picture above that I still had the ruffles on the hem, but that I've removed them below. Don't worry, they were only pinned on, so I didn't do any seam ripping to remove them! If they had been actually sewn down, they would have stayed there!
I'm looking forward to wearing this gown to the DFW Costumer's Guild meetup tomorrow for Frontier Days in the Fort Worth Stockyards. We'll have all sorts of fun shenanigans, riding the Tarantula Train, enjoying the festival, and browsing the shops in the stockyards. And, of course, hamming it up for the cameras. I'll post pics after the festival so you can see all the costume-y goodness!
Oh, and a side note....last night, when Blogger was 'unavailable', it seems to have eaten some of comments that had recently been left on other posts. I promise, it was not me, Blogger at my comments! I did see them, though, and they are much appreciated! I always love to hear from my readers, and I love knowing that my blog is being enjoyed!
Oh, and a side note....last night, when Blogger was 'unavailable', it seems to have eaten some of comments that had recently been left on other posts. I promise, it was not me, Blogger at my comments! I did see them, though, and they are much appreciated! I always love to hear from my readers, and I love knowing that my blog is being enjoyed!
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