Blue and silver

 Its all done, finished. It was a very intensive few weeks, and now that is over, and I also done catch up with work stuff that has been hanging over me, Maybe I can catch my breath and talk about it too. 

Its not just the sewing, though that is also very intense at times like these but developing a program, like we just did, also take time, energie, lots of reseach, studying and memorizing.

But for now, let's just stay with the dress. Once again, muse attacked from more than one different direction. One was obviously, that as women, and women who reenact 19th century we had our eyes on bustle dresses for many years... we thought that the 150th anniversary of uniting Pest and Buda to our beautiful capital ity will bring the opportunity to actually make them, but last year that opportunity didn't seem to come to us. 

On the other hand I had quite a few meters of blue taffeta with silver dots, which I got at the usual place, in that chain of stores, I Love Textile, that sells factory leftovers, rejects and whatnot. I got it because it was blue, and silver, and it was taffeta, but I did not know what I want to do with it for a long time...

Until about two years ago, I came across with this. Yeah, It was not blue, but a very blueish purple, also only looked like polka dots from afar, but it was love at first sight, and it was an inspiration. I saved those pictures, and kept returning to them from time to time, even though I had it in my head, that if I am going to make a firts bustle period dress, it is gonna be a summery-stripy one... 

But then, toward the end of last november the question was put up, would we be willing to do a program about the unification of Budapest in the second half of January, but if yes, that would mean, we should do those dresses we were talking about for years. The answer was a resounding yes, from all involved. But it was a winter-program, I couldn't make a summer-dress now, could I? So I was left to do the more difficult choice. 

Now, you've heard me whine about a creative block, and my masterful avoidance programe, but there came a point, I could not procrastinate any longer, 

I had underwear, I had bustle, I had a petticoat, all I needed the dress itself. Originally I planned to use a Black Snail pattern, as I thought, I could use that with minimal modification to do something similar than my inspiration dress. I printed it, taped it together, even made a mock up... 

And though it fitted as well as I thought it would (I made their west without needing any change in the pattern), but I didn't like it. I am not sure why, maybe the separately cut and sewn on peplum was not what I imagined. Also I really disliked the sleeves, as each was made from two identical piece, and a seam on the shoulder, at the top of the sleeve is just not the aestethic I was after. I asked the black snail group to show me pieces that were made from the pattern, and I did receive some pictures, and the dresses were pretty, but I was not convinced that I wanted that. So then I decided to look for some other solution. I looked the patterns Truly Victorian had, but did not want to spend more money on patterns just then. Then looked through Prior Attire's book on Victorian Dressmaker, and studied her diagrams. Also looked at some videos (yeah, I did stare at the stopped picture of one of Lady Rebecca's video, trying to figure out the hemline of her baby blue bodice), and Nora Vaughn's book. Then I used the part of the BS pattern, just between the waist and the shoulders as a basic body block, and drew around it. Made a mock up, and I liked it much better, then cut it apart, changed some stuff, made another one, and then another, and by then I said, okay, I do not hate this anymore. 

I was trying to take photos of the sewing process, but I got caught up with the flow, and pictures are rather sporadic, but here they are, maybe they do say something after all. 

I used the pieces of the mock up as pattern-pieces.

The bodice is flatlined, that means that the outer and the lining fabric is handled as one. To to so easily, I had to baste them together.

The inner seams are turned under and stitched down, the open seam at the back folds is covered with a piece of ribbon. If you follow my sewing, by now you probably know that for me it is important that the inside of a piece should look good just as good, and should be just as nicely finished, as its outside. 

I used cotton twill tape for boning channels, and they are sewn in by hand. 

Then I was in for a surprise...

I've tried it on, and it was....SMALL. 

I am not sure how that happened, but it did. Most probably the fact that the mock up was made a single layer fabric, and now this had not only the taffeta, but the lining of a cotton calico just as well. 

I thought of starting the whole thing again, but then I remembered that I wanted to do a decoration on the front anyway, and had the idea, what if I make a separate button band... and the seam would be covered with the trimming anyway. So that was what I did at the end. 

Made covered buttons too. The ruffled edge has a tini, machine sewn hem, but sewn on by hand. On both sides. I could have sewn it on by machine, but it would just not sit the same way.

For the skirt, I took the pattern for my petticoat (which was waaay to long, I had to put in a couple of extra tucks to make it shorter), and using that as a base, and looking at the schematics in the Victorian dressmaker books, and the schematics of the Black Snail pattern skirt, and drew up a mixture of the three. I flatlined lined the whole skirt (yes, that involved a TON of basting) with a curtain fabric. It was fairly thin, light enough, but still had a bit "hold", and I grew to love its pattern. Nobody ever will see it (unless I directly show), but I love secrets like this.

Added pockets and used a 12 cm wide strip cut on the bias to hem it. added a few rings (actually they are washers from grommets... I buy grommets in small packages, and somehow always end up with a few extra washer.). Since I left the back of the skirt longer to have a bit of train, with the help of those rings I can bustle the skirt up. 

As for the overskirt.. First I was thinking whether to use the same dotted fabric, or would it be too much... maybe a velvet overskirt would tone down all that polka dots a bit, and give the dress some extra elegance... I had a piece of blue velvet (yeah, what a chance... it was one of those off bits I tend to pick up at I love Textile... have no idea, what would I use iit for, but it is VELVET, and it is BLUE!

I did looked through a bunch of overskirt pattern, but have not found anything that looked remotely like the original, so I literally draped and folded the velvet on the mannequin. 

As to finish the whole set, (and as seen on the original) I added fringes and a ribbon borderie for trimming, on the bodice as well as on the overskirt. And a bunch of ribbon bows at the places the original also had them.

So here we go, the full set.

Here is a side-to-side comparison, where you can see my dress is not a direct copy, but more of an "inspired by" version.

Here is a close up of the back.

And here is a few picture in use, at the event, while I am telling stories...

"Come with me, I will tell you about...."

"You see, that's how it was..."

"Now, tell me, isn't that how it should have been???"

"If you looked out the window, back then, you would have seen..."

"And then, the papers wrote...."

(And this is my face thinking, I am almost done, what have I forgot to talk about?)

The ladies of the team, three of us in self made dresses...

I've learned a lot, and not only about the history of Budapest, but about sewing and myself as well. 

Like I should trust me more. I always say I don't like to draft patterns, but if something is not quite okay, it is possible to change things. Mock ups are important. They do lie, but still, they are important. 

All the while I am not saying the the Black Snail pattern is not good. It fitted me well enough, and probably, if I liked its style it would have made a great piece. The thing that I had something else in my head. And once again, happened, what happened so many times especially with historical clothes.I am sewing for about 40 years now. I know what I am doing and still, every time I finish something I am ever so surprised.... "Gosh, this is REALLY  LOOKING like it SHOULD. And that can bring such a joy.

And everyone in this event.

Work photos my phone, 

Modell and event photos by Norbert Varga @Bodeszphoto

P.s.: in the next post I will show you the accessories, and what is underneath.