The 1873 dress turned out exceptionally yummy. The poufy-ness. The gorgeous heliotrope/wisteria color. The kazillion yards of ruching….
Photo by V3 Cosplay Syndicate
It debuted at the Gala at Costume College 2011 and couldn’t have found a happier setting. Here are a few more photos and notes on the making of this delicious piece.
Remember, the inspiration came from the original dress held at the Victoria & Albert Musuem in London and also shown in Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detail. Don’t worry – I will be making a day bodice for the skirt like the original.
c.1873 V&A Purple Silk Dress
Here’s a look at those enormous back bustle poufs. They were flatlined with two layers of nylon netting. That, along with the natural stiffness of the silk taffeta, gave the poufs the 1870s silhouette I wanted.
Huge back bustle poufs. Photo by Deborah Borlase
Below is a close up of the gathering. I ran one machine basting stitch, pulled it up to my measured length (14″), then hand tacked the basting line to twill tape.
Skirt Back Pouf Gathers
The lower ruffle on the back panel was 18″ deep with three sets of three ruching lines and a 4″ ruffle at the hem.
Skirt Back Ruched Ruffle
Ruffle ruching detail
The bodice was designed from an idea (page 43) in Victorian & Edwardian Fashions from ”La Mode Illustree” by JoAnne Olian.
Evening bodice Front
The sleeve puffs were altered from the Truly Victorian’s #442 1860s Evening Gown Bodice. (yeah, really – Cool how the shape can translate for a decade into the future!)
Evening bodice Back
To not feel left out, the bodice, of course, needed its own bit of ruching too. So I made a separate ruched bertha collar and mounted it to the neckline which was then finished with bias. Both edges were piped with 1/8″ cotton cord.
Front Bertha
The bodice closed with simple buttons along the center front which was an historically accurate closure. The bertha area was fastened with three metal hooks and thread loops. It was finished with a quick matching bow.
Bodice front closure
The “official” photos by Richard Man who was the official photographer at Costume College 2011.
Photo by Richard Man
Photo by Richard Man
Let’s eat!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Yours was my favorite dress at Costume College this year. Just AMAZING. Bravo!
Wow! Thank you! I think your dresses are incredible and very inspiring too. I’d love to have your wardrobe.
I love the dress! Very well done! How many yards did it take?
Hard to tell. I purchased 13 yds. but there were lots of dirty spots and lines throughout the piece. Got a terrific deal on it though! I figure I have maybe 3 yds. left for the day bodice. So with cutting away the dirty area, maybe around 8 yds. Not sure exactly.
Oh – forgot to put in that the skirt and evening bodice took me 78 hours, over half of that was spent on the bodice – if you can believe.
Wow, I know all the ruching is hours and hours of grunt work, but don’t give that box-pleated lower skirt front short shrift- that section is SUPER fine!
Found your site through pinterest. Your sewing talent is AMAZING!
Why, thank you Texan! Welcome to our joyful community here.