Cartridge Pleating for the Sheer Stripe Dress

I've finished off the last few touches on my bodice and one of these led me to make a few changes on my finished dress. When I attached my waistband to the bodice, it did this weird thing and shrunk about 2 inches (?). As a result, I wasn't going to be able to attach the skirt portion of the dress directly to the bodice because none of the edges lined up the way they were supposed to. On to plan B.

In the instructions for the dress (TV447), Heather does provide alternate instructions for creating the skirt and bodice as separate pieces. So I got everything cut and sewed according to the instructions, and then stood back and looked at the amount of fabric I would be working with.

Yeah, that's a lot of fabric!

At 60" wide with 4 panels to work with, I found I would have to somehow attach 20 feet of material to about 34 inches of waistband.

Death of a Schoolgirl review

In case it has never been mentioned, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is probably my favorite piece of classical literature. I've read the book a couple of times, and have seen almost every single film adaptation. Jane Eyre is one of those pieces that is well-loved by many, as evidenced by the numerous spin-offs or "sequels" that other authors have written over the years that continue Jane's story

Note: Some spoilers included in case you have yet to read the book or see a film version.

amazon.com

HSF #3 Stashbusting

This is no April Fool's joke, I'm getting up a second post AND finished two small projects today. Hooray! And just in time for it to qualify for a 2015 Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge. I'm trying to make all my projects from my fabric stash this year, so I wasn't following the challenges too much. Challenge #3 was stash busting though, so hooray!

What it is - Young girl's bonnet and apron
Fabric - Reproduction cotton fabric from a leftover project for the bonnet, cotton/poly broadcloth for the apron
Pattern - Simplicity 3725
Year - 1870s through 1890s -ish. I wasn't worried about accuracy because they're for play.
Notions - Satin ribbon, bias tape, iron on interfacing for the bonnet, thread
How historically accurate is it? - See above, I wasn't too worried about their accuracy since they're play items for a young girl.
Hours to complete - About 2 hours to cut out, 6 hours to sew both items.
First worn - Not until her birthday in June
Total cost - $0, it's all from the stash!

Back at Christmas I made a calico dress for the beau's younger sister, Lexie. She loved the dress so much that I pulled out the pattern again and made a couple accessories for the dress using stash materials.

Bodice Bustin for the 1863 Dress

Well things are progressing nicely with my sheer dress. While I have been taking my time with it to make sure fittings are going well, I'm also making sure to correct a few areas where my last dress was rushed.

For the collar, I had just cut a bias strip and sewed it in. Yeah, it looks poorly planned and executed as a result. This time, I decided to draft out a collar using the existing pattern pieces.

Drafting a collar off the original pattern

Final collar to line the inside

Cutting it to match the neckline definitely makes things lay flatter and it covers the fabric and piping edges.

New Sheer Civil War Dress

So for my second sewing project of the year, I have decided to redo the early 1860s dress I wear for Civil War events. My blue bud calico dress was made back in 2012 for a tea event at the local historical society. When I had put it together, I used a quilting calico which makes for a cool dress even during the summer (yay for cotton!) but the dress itself is very heavy because it's a quilting fabric. In addition, this was one of the last dresses I made before I started fanagaling fitting techniques so the bodice is a little big on me.

Denver Fabrics was holding a sale at the beginning of the year and while had I told myself I would NOT buy any more fabric this year, I caved when I found a pretty blue and brown striped cotton lawn. It is definitely much lighter than the quilting calico.