More on the Skirt and Train/Bustle

 I had to change the design of the train after making a few realizations about what I'm actually going to be doing with this dress:  wearing it in an elementary school all day long.  A school, for those who may not know, is a place where small people vomit on the carpet with surprising frequency.  They are also constantly spilling things, as do I, especially when eating lunch there.  Children also don't watch where they walk, and I have to navigate around a variety of obstacles and school items dropped on the floor, hence the decision not to have a big, beautiful train like the inspiration dress.  I probably should have thought more about this when I chose a dress--a walking dress would have been a much better choice for school.  Oh well, just changing the bustle/train a bit will make it more practical.  I did tie it up with ribbons and rings, so if I wanted, I could let the length of the train out for a special occasion.  I didn't make it nearly as large though, so it wouldn't quite have the same effect as the original anyway.

Draping the train.  I have a buckram-like material sewn in along the top to give extra stiffness.  Why not use regular buckram?  Because our fine city has only quilt stores, a Ben Franklins, and a JoAnns.  They didn't even know what buckram is.  I found a type of backed burlap that had a similar feel to it (think of burlap stuck to one of those plastic table clothes and that's about what it is).

Pulled up using six rings sewn to the underside of the train and tied to ribbons on the skirt.  The ribbons can be untied and the train let down.  I did leave it a little long though (the dress form is up a few inches taller than me to make it easier to work on at the moment), so that you at least get the idea of the train, without as much opportunity for damage.

Adding on the last big green piece.  I had just enough fabric left for this little addendum to the overskirt.  It was almost like I knew what I was doing and had measured correctly!  I had draped it in muslin first, then used that to cut out this last piece.  The muslin was then used to back it.  I added in a few pleats where the original was gathered slightly.  The thickness of this fabric laid more nicely that way.  The whole thing is in need of a good pressing at this point!  I still need to add the large swath of lace and the side panels to the front of the train.

I did finish off the closure for the bodice earlier.  I couldn't find smaller grommet anything in town (not a big surprise), and so went with the less-awesome eyelets instead.  The bonus is that I already had these, the down side is that they don't have a nice finished backside like the grommets do.  Oh well, so one will see the back-side but me.  I do plan on putting in some kind of placket behind so you can't see through; probably just a very simple flap.  There doesn't seem to be one in the original, so I'll wait and see if it is necessary once the lace layers have been added.  I also had taken the corset off the dress frame to use, so it's not quite laced up correctly in the photo.

Shoes!

I had (wrongfully) assumed it would not be too difficult to find reproduction shoes from this time period.  Turns out that there is a dry spell between shoes for Civil War reenactors and Downton Abbey fans.  I can find boots for this period, but not evening wear heels.
I was able to find this image online (with limited information, so sure, some of the facts could be incorrect).

1885 Burgandy Satin 

 I have decided to just assume (I know, I know, one should never assume!) that the attributed dates are correct, because I immediately thought of a pair of shoes I already own once I saw the photo of the satin shoes.  Mine are suede, not satin, the heel shape is straight, not curved, the bows are obviously different and there's no sequins.  But hey, I think they're close enough!!

So without a better, more accurate reproduction option, I'll be going with these vintage, but-not-that-vintage, option.  The big bonus is that I already have these in my collection.  Shoes are not featured prominently in this dress as the skirt is full-length, so I've decided not worry about it.  There will be just a little hint of Christmas with red and green--no need to be too matchy-matchy.  

More Bodice Fun!

Here's the next part for the upper portion of the dress.  I've been referring to it as a 'corselette' for lack of a better term.
Since I'm being a bit stingy with the green fabric (I bought what was left of the bolt, but it was on sale and apparently not being stocked anymore), I wanted to make sure I had all the important parts cut out with no mistakes.  Thus, the toile was extremely important!

I used parts of the corset/bodice pattern I had made earlier to draft out the original shapes, drawing directly on the muslin.

It took some adjusting and a bit of finesse to get the geometry right.  I didn't want any strange puckers and needed to leave plenty of room for a placket to cover the closure.  The nice thing about the muslin is that I can just write directly on it with pencil so I remember what's what and what I was thinking once I take it off Dress Form Dorcas.

Top:  First toile, then second toile to check adjustments and corrections, followed by final corselette.  The length expanded once I added in an additional section for a placket.  I also left the center pieces extra long so I had room to adjust once it was all constructed--a very good decision!

The two layers together.  There will be lace covering the bottom layer, which I am waiting to add until after I complete the train and lace swag for the skirt.  

All the seams have been reinforced with 1/4 inch spiral steel boning.  For each bone, a channel was sewn to the back side so the top-stitching won't be visible on the finished side.  Once the two sides were laid back together, they were quite nicely aligned and it didn't seem necessary to attempt making any attachments between the front and back layers other than the top-stitching along the top and the final binding on the bottom.  We'll see if that comes back to bite me.