Yellow Sheer Civil War Dress

I am finally getting around to posting some photos from my most recent project: My cotton sheer Civil War dress!








Layers 1, 2 and 3:

I made a new chemise from the Simplicity Fashion Historian 9769 Pattern and reused my corset and drawers (from the same pattern) that I originally made for my Victorian 1840s dress.

All the glorious LAYERS!

5 layers in the photo... add in 3+ more for chemise, drawers and corset (and stockings of course)!

Layer 4:
I can finally say I started a project the right way (from the ground up) as I constructed my very own Cage Crinoline using the KayFig 7-tier 108" hoop kit! That was loads of fun hammering and awl-ing the thing together; It felt like using heavy machinery compared to what I'm used to. I completed this while I was 9 months pregnant, so it was the perfect project for me while lying in wait!






Layer 5:
I already had my "Wedding Cake" Petticoat made from the free Truly Victorian Pattern but I made another one for good measure to ensure my hoop rings would not show through. Oddly enough, I have never bought fabric for my petticoats, I just use a combination of bedskirts and sheets from thrift stores. I just LOVE ruffled bedskirts for undergarments!

Layer 6:
I had made another simple flat petticoat (with a cute bedskirt yellow eyelet ruffle) but this still didn't smooth thing over enough for my liking.

Layer 7:
To completely smooth things over I made a very flat simple petticoat. This helped immensely since my starched bedskirt ruffles get a little crazy.


Layer 8 (Top):
My dress pattern is Peachtree Mercantile Day Dress, ca.1860 which I have to say, was completely worth the crazy price $35+!!. I have never paid so much for a pattern before, but the photos and history and in-depth sewing instructions (with variations!) was almost overwhelming and taught me so much about the construction of this garment.

The fabric:
I bought 10 yards of this yellow windowpane fabric at a thrift store in Modesto for $8!!! (Please don't hate me... I had no idea it was quite so much fabric when I bought it, but could tell the unmarked quantity was a steal anyways! I didn't know I'd be making it into a Civil War dress at the time, but I soon started to question my ability to pull this dress off and didn't want to invest a huge amount of money into buying fabric. Then I got the idea to use my thrift store find (even tough I can tell it probably has a small percentage of synthetic fibers in it). I'm happy I went the "cheap" route because the final fit is not what I'd like it to be. Too blousy! At least I know that... I'm slowly but sure understanding that I cannot skip the multiple toile fittings. :-(

My glorious hand-stitched cartridge pleats!

The trim:
I bought some cotton eyelet trim and replaced all the white ribbon with yellow. It was a bit of a pain, but worth it... I think.



The Details:

Look at that hand gathered shoulder!

Ah.. and all the prettiness of the sleeves!

The shoes:
I finally splurged and got some American Duchess "Renoir" $190 shoes! They were so fun to put on with the victorian button hook! I FINALLY didn't have to hide my ballet flat feet!

Fun! Fun! Fun! I hope to make a better bodice one day so I can solve the blousy fit problems *I created* when I decided to add more gathers to the Peachtree Bodice. Ugh. I promise I'll check to see if I like it first next time.  :-)

It's as easy as one, two, three!

I recently went to my second JASNA Regency sewing group meeting and buckled down to complete the Regency Chemise to wear underneath my bodiced petticoat! So, here are the layers of my Regency dress:

Step 1: Chemise


So the purpose of my chemise was to eliminate the gap between my bodiced petticoat and my sheer regency gown (my skin showed through the sheer part where the bodice didn't meet the top of the gown).  Unfortunately, I cut my chemise too low, so the sole purpose of the chemise fell through. Oh well, at least I will keep some of the sweat off my bodice and dress.

I cut the chemise a little longer than was typical during this time period. I hemmed it at my calf so that it wouldn't be distracting when seen through the sheer dress. It will end a little above the top cord/tuck on my petticoat and will be another nice horizontal line to complement that.

Step 2: Bodiced Petticoat

So, as you can see, my dress form is a little differently-shaped than I am, so the bodice doesn't meet exactly in the back. The front is also a little bunchy because the mannequin's hips are a little fuller. It fits perfectly on me, I swear! Oh, well... that's what the chemise is for, I guess!




Step 3: Regency Sheer Gown

The dress looks SO GREAT with all three layers put together! The corded petticoat gives such an amazing fullness, that the dress hangs like a dream!

The best part? Seeing my amazing tucked petticoat through the gown! Huzzah!






Step 4: The Spencer!!!  (To be continued!)

Cording the Petticoat and Hemming the Gown

Remember my Regency To-Do List? I finished a few things (see strike-outs below):

1. I need to create a simple chemise to go under the bodiced petticoat so that the petticoat doesn't show through. My finished chemise is here.
2. I need to press the rolled hems on the bodice and sleeves so they sit properly. I really hope this eliminates the funkiness you see in the pictures. Done!
3. I need to hem the bottom of the petticoat and dress. For some reason the petticoat is longer in front than the back. I wonder if I sewed it on backwards?  Doing any sort of hemming is an absolute impossibility in my household. I happen to have a little Basset Hound who thinks that anytime I get down on the floor it is for the sheer purpose of petting her. She doesn't understand why I must push her away every two seconds. Ugh. This process also leaves quite a bit of hair on my dress.  Geesh.
4. I am wondering if I should cord the petticoat at all to give it some body.  As you can see below, I didn't actually cord it, mostly because I don't like the way my bodiced petticoat is coming out and I don't want to dedicate much more time and money to this lost cause.  However, when hemming my sheer gown, I realized it is much too short, and my petticoat is much too long. Therefore, I needed to either cut off a TON from my petticoat or pretend I added the length on purpose just so I could add some "tucks" and give it a nice shape under my dress.  I opted for the latter.  

   

   Can you BELIEVE THIS....

..turned into THIS?

Do you think I should sew down the flaps?  I'm not really sure what I'm doing here.  Also, as you can see I randomly spaced the tucks (and randomly choose the depth of the tucks).  Really, I'm just making this stuff up as I go.

Here is the pretty interior of the petticoat. I like it.

So, here's the sheer Regency dress so far (without the petticoat underneath... so immodest!). As you can see, I still need to attach the buttons onto the back of the dress *and attempt to use the buttonholer... YIKES!*:

Edit: I finished the buttonholes!

Regency Bodiced Petticoat

Since I already own the Sense and Sensibility Regency dress pattern, I figured I might as well ease into corset-making by creating a bodiced petticoat with plastic boning inside. Instead of using S&S's online instructions, I have been sewing up my Regency Bodiced Petticoat from ZipZip's online tutorial.  

Here is me holding the back of the bodice closed because I haven't created the eyelets yet.

Frankly, I've been having loads of trouble figuring out where to put the boning in order to maximize the push-up qualities of the bodice.  And, may I mention, that I completely understand now why men are a little squeamish sometimes about zippers being so close to their *ahems*, because pinning needles in order to correctly place darts near *you-know-whats* ranks up there a one of the most scary and painful experiences of my life!  OUCH!

In addition, I have been having meltdowns in regards to hand-sewing eyelets on the back of the bodice.  Mine do not looks anywhere near as nice as ZipZip's.  I used this method for spacing (where the first two holes are 1/2 inch apart, but the rest are 1inch) so that only one lace is required. I've learned that this is the more period correct pattern for lacing rather that the modern Xs method.

 

However, I was NOT able to use the "don't break a single thread method" of pushing progressively larger awls through the fabric in order to create a large enough hole. My fabric is very tightly woven, not to mention it is also four layers thick, so I mistakingly used a seam ripper. 

See? UG-LY.

Whoops!  I sliced right through the fabric side!  I had to sew on bias tape in order to repair the damage caused by the seam-ripper.  Some holes are irregularly shaped because of the ripper as well. Ugh.  I am fairly confident I will not be trying the hand-sewn approach again in the future. What a mess.

The holes SHOULD line up correctly, but I had my husband help lace me up, and I didn't ask him to line up the holes while lacing. My fault.

1840s Dickens Fair Chemise and Drawers

In September 2010, I decided to make a dress for Dickens Fair (due to some gentle encouragement from a friend).  Keep in mind this would be the second thing I had ever sewn (and this design seemed slightly more complicated than a regency gown).   

So, I bought Simplicity 3727's Civil War Pattern:

and made the chemise and bloomers from Simplicity 9769: