Hooray for quick bustle dresses! My newest completed (or nearly completed) historical costume is an easy bustle dress made while teaching the online Victorian Bustle Day Dress class. I kept the design pretty basic as I needed something I could actually finish in about six weeks. Below is the fashion plate I used for inspiration. Read More...
Tag: Bones & Boning
Being Safe in the Wilds of the Sewing Room
Do Not Try This At Home The deadline was approaching. The annual Costume College was the next weekend, and I was desperately trying to finish my costume for the Gala. You know the panic. I had a narrow ¼” seam allowance with several fat layers of fabric under my presser foot to stitch on the Read More...
How to Apply Boning to Darts
You may have read a recent article I wrote on boning in bustle bodices. How you HAVE to have boning to keep the shape of bodice in place. Yes. You do. Well, Frank asked the question about just how one applies boning to the front waist darts. “Do you encase the bone in the dart, Read More...
Boning in Bustle Bodices
It wasn’t only the corsets in the late 19th Century that had boning in them. No, women’s bodices did too. You might be thinking: Why? Well, corset boning helps hold the body in a fashionable silhouette, whereas boning in a bodice holds the bodice in place. The two garments each have their place for a Read More...
Modern Shortcuts for Historical Sewing (or how I cheat)
You know the routine – you didn’t allow enough time to finish your dress and now you’re having to cut corners to get it even *wearable.* I’ve been there. Early on in my costume sewing. Not so bad that I had to be sewn into my dress, but still pushing the clock til it was Read More...
Should You Sew Side Seams Last?
A current idea floating around to aid in getting closures lined up properly is to do them first. In other words, you finish the center front or center back fastenings first, then in your bodice construction you leave the side seams open until the very end. This allows you to fit at the side seams Read More...
The Victorians Did Love Pink! – Original 1860s Bodice
Several years ago I acquired this original bodice that I date to the 1860s. It’s very well made by both hand and machine. Here are some highlights of this darling, but unusual garment. And yes, it is PINK. Read More...
Can’t get those buttons closed? Ease-y does it – Part 2
Ever have that moment when you’re dressing for an event only to put on your bodice and the front doesn’t close? And you’re cinched down in your corset as far as you can go? Yeah, me too. You know the mockup was perfect. You spent hours fine tuning the darts and armhole. Now it Read More...