Project: Victorian Bustle Gown

I spent much of last weekend working on my Victorian undergarments. I've completed the chemise and drawers. Both were fairly simple, and I thought they turned out rather nicely. The pattern suggested sewing six decorative tucks near the hem of both the chemise and each leg of the drawers, which you can certainly skip, but I thought they added a bit of charm. I also added lace around the shoulders and arms, and the hem of the chemise, but I think the lace on the hem looks funny with the tucks, and may end up taking it out.







I've also begun work on the corset. The Laughing Moon #100 (Ladies Victorian Underwear) pattern I'm using includes patterns for two corsets: The Dore straight seem, and the Silverado, which includes bust gores. Since I'm rather blessed (or cursed) in that area, I'm using the Silverado pattern. They also suggest making a mock-up of the corset to ensure sizing before cutting up your expensive fabric. This is a very good idea, as I found I had to make several adjustments. I'm doing a single layer mock-up out of an old curtain I found in a thrift store.

The pattern consists of 5 pieces. Keep yourself organized, because it's very easy to forget which piece is which. It's also a good idea to mark the size you're cutting with a marker or colored pen, as there are a lot of lines, and it's very easy to get confused. I found that the pattern runs a little large. I initially cut it to my measurements, but the ends met in the back - there is supposed to be a 2 inch gap for lacing. The bust gores were also way too big. I ended up cutting them two sizes smaller than my bra size, but I think that will work out okay. With corsets, it seems that too small is better than too big.





My coutil and the rest of my corset hardware should come in this next week, so hopefully I'll be able to start of the actual corset soon. I'm planning to seem rip my mock-up apart and just use it as the pattern. Also, as you can see, my dress form came in this week, about which I am very excited. I'm mostly happy with it, but it has a couple of issues. I'll do a review of it later.

Past Projects: Maryland Renaissance Festival, September 2009

While doing my internship in Washington, DC, I saw an add about the Maryland Renaissance Festival, and decided I had to go. And of course, the whole point is going in costume, so I had to make a costume. And I didn’t want to go in costume by myself, so I persuaded my at-the-time roommate that she needed to come with me, and let me make her a costume as well.

And so, I made two costumes, completely by hand (as I didn’t have a machine with me in DC), in two weeks. That was the first and only time in my life I’ve ever gotten blisters on my fingertips from sewing. I sewed for probably 5-6 hours each night and most of the weekends. I even stayed up all night finishing the night before we went. This project, was perhaps overly ambitious to do without a sewing machine in such a limited time frame, but it was a lot of fun.

I drew my inspiration primarily from a website called The Very Merry Seamstress (http://www.verymerryseamstress.com/catalog.htm). They sell a variety of faire and reproduction clothing. I particularly liked their Merchant class Renaissance gowns, and ended up making something very similar to these. They consist of a blouse with poufy sleeves, a full skirt, a laced bodice, and arm bracers. I also added a shawl and hat to mine. The details of the arm bracers and hat really make the ensemble pop, in my opinion.

I took two different routes on fabric. For my costume, I went to an amazing fabric store in the DC area called G Street Fabrics. I got my fabric primarily from the remnants table, but still paid a lot of money for it. Madeline’s costume came later, and I ended up salvaging fabric from some thrift store finds. The skirt was made of two curtains, the shirt from a pair of king-sized pillow cases, and the bodice and arm bracers from placemats. Fabric from the whole costume cost just over $17. Color choices were probably a little more limited that I would have liked, but I thought it turned out well. Most fabric stores these days carry such cheep, thin fabric. Thrift stores are a good way to stretch your budget, while still finding some good, well-made fabric. And, it’s like recycling!

I didn’t get any in-progress pictures from this project. No patterns were used. The bodices are boned, mine with spring steel, and Madeline’s with plastic boning, because I ran out of the steel, plus she’s small and the plastic worked okay with her. It was a bit of a learning project. My bodice ended up being a bit too big, and I didn’t have time to take it in. Also, a word to the wise, setting grommets takes longer than you think it will; leave extra time. My landlady probably thought I was crazy, hammering away in her basement all day. And it did take almost an entire Saturday. In the future, I might wear the skirt over a hoop-petticoat and add a bumroll to get the fullness in the skirt I was looking for. All in all, I think this was one of my better projects. In the future, I’d like to go up a class level and try a Tudor nobility gown.

Let's get this show on the road...

My big, exciting plans were temporarily postponed due to money reasons, but I finally put my foot down. Though I've near depleted my account, I have some fun new toys to play with.




I drove myself down the hill this morning and purchased a shiny, brand new, mid-range Brother sewing machine. It has about 40 different stitches, and does one-step buttonholes. I hope it will be a good little workhorse machine. And the best part: it's much faster than sewing by hand with a needle and thread. It's a bit pink, but that's my only complaint thus far. So now, I have no excuses to keep me from sewing.

My first project will hopefully begin tomorrow. My fabric is pre-washing in the washing machine right now. I've wanted to make Victorian clothing for quite some time, so I'm starting out with a set of Victorian foundation garments.

Though I'm not good with patterns, I decided that getting the correct shape for a historically correct Victorian corset was beyond me, so I purchased a pattern. The most highly-reviewed pattern I found online was the #100 Ladies Victorian Underwear pattern from Laughing Moon Mercantile. It comes with patterns for the Chemise and Drawers, as well two separate corset patterns, and the one pattern includes sizes 6-26 and bust sizes A-4D. And it cost only $14. If it turns out well, it should be a very good buy. A full review will come later, after I've had a chance to try it out. From the same company, I've also purchased a pattern which includes six different types of hoops and supports, roughly covering years 1856-1889, which in my opinion, certainly covers all the fun stuff.




While away, I also purchased about 15 yards of white cotton muslin and broadcloth for the chemise, drawers, and petticoats, along with all the requisite trim, notions, boning, lacing, grommets, and tapes. This is going to be a very expensive project. Pictures to follow, as soon as I get started. Happy sewing!