Corrected Body Block--sort of

I sewed up a test for the body block I had drafted, and did need to adjust the bust darts fairly significantly (which I had expected).  I was pretty excited that all of the measurements we took worked well--only the derived generic measurements were a problem (i.e. the bust darts).

However, instead of just fixing the body block and trying a final version, I decided to make everything a whole lot more complicated for myself.  Surely, if the body block is correct, I can make something worth keeping.  If I make something I actually want to keep, I might as well go all out and make a full dress, right?  I didn't want to spend any money (per the norm), so I used all recycled materials I happened to have lying around, starting with our old duvet cover that had some stains and holes from the washing machine/dryer.  It was striped, so I thought I would add even more layers of difficulty by making the design more interesting with alternating sections in different directions.  Then I decided that the robe a la polonaise just wouldn't look right without some 18th century stays.  Which I also didn't have.

So after a side-track into making some jerry-rigged stays out of two old army coats and coat hangers (gasp, I know! Remember, I wanted to do all this for free, right?), I also had to change the measurements to the new stay-based dimensions.  Yeah, you're right, this is the worst possible way to check a body block.  But now I have a lovely, not really historically accurate dress I can pass off as Martha Custis Washington.  So it all worked out fine!

Hanging loosely on the dress form--I can't close the dress on the form since she's too stiff to put the stays on to get the right measurements.

I went back and forth between really proud of myself for how much more I know now and how well I was able to draft and create a workable pattern, and disappointed that I couldn't get everything quite perfect.  I still can't seem to figure out how to set a Colonial style sleeve.  I just defaulted to the set-in sleeve that I already know how to do--I didn't seem to have given myself enough fabric to work with and didn't want to start all over again on the sleeves.

In the paper today!

Click the link to read:  Helena Independent Record Article!

(Photos below by Eliza Wiley!)

Getting a lot of mileage out of my Dr. Montessori costume!

Some of the timeline cards that coincide with the costumes.

Gowns Galore!

I have been trolling the catalogue of Metropolitan Museum of Art looking for lovely evening gowns of the 1890s.  I put together my favorites, and you can go see them!  My plan is to ruminate on these designs, then  narrow down to a few that are both gorgeous and also possible.

My Met Collection of Evening Gowns

Ok, sure, this one is from 1902, I'm giving myself a little lee-way on the dates here...

Body Block!

If I measured everything correctly, and if I translated those measurements correctly with all the geometry accurate, and if I added in the seam allowance correctly, and if I adjusted Dress-form Dorcas correctly, then I should have a body block!  That's a lot of ifs.  

Yeah, I don't know why the picture is upside-down either.  It is correct elsewhere, just Blogger can't figure it out.  This is the front block all measured and drawn.

Back block done too!

A pretty, clean copy of the block.

Seam allowances added, all cut out and ready to test out!

I am really excited to get an accurate body block made--looking forward to making my own patterns and knowing how to adjust commercially made ones to fit better.  We'll see how the draping process goes.  I'm a little nervous about it since Dorcas isn't quite perfect.  I hope we'll match well enough to work.  If all goes according to plans, I'll make a sundress to practice all these new skills out on!

Measure twice, cut once!

I took a boatload of measurements today (thank you to my Personal Assistant, you are a great husband!) and adjusted my dress form.  She has already been a great tool, and now I'm figuring out how to use her more effectively.  I have decided to call her 'Dress-Form Dorcas', Dorcas for short.  Why yes, that is the name of the character played by Julie Newmar in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.  It's too bad she got stuck in the back of all the dance scenes since she's so tall.  While my Dorcas certainly doesn't have the same iconic figure, it will help me make fabulous costumes--just as Julie Newmar used to do some of her own sewing.  I can remember seeing her on a talk-show when I was a kid and she explained how she would take in the sides of her Cat-Woman costume to make it more flattering.  When the hostess (can't remember who) made a comment about sewing not being something women did much of anymore, Julie responded something to the effect that every woman should know how to sew at least enough to make sure her clothes fit well.  So thank you Ms. Newmar!  I will take your advice.  I also remember her telling the mostly female audience that women needed to be supportive of each other and never catty.  And now I really want to go watch To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.  One of the longest movie titles I know, and spectacular performances by Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo as drag queens on a cross-country adventure. 

Starting the hula-skirt approach to adding padding.  I was having a hard time getting everything to stay where I wanted so I could measure and adjust, so I decided to start with a width of fabric the length of my waist measurement and go from there.  This actually worked pretty well, although I ended up not needing all the stuffing on the back.  Sure, this isn't the usual method, but I didn't really have the right materials, so this will work fine enough for my purposes.

I started with the front and added in my mom-belly.  That extra bit of padding reminds me of the two wonderful little girls I am blessed with!

The bottom is all Franken-stiched together!

The dress form all padded out and ready to use.

Although our major measurements are the same, the shape is not.  My ribcage is more elliptical, while she is more circular.  That means I look narrower from the side and she is narrower from the front.  She has no shoulder blades and the padding is not affected by gravity (which affects some shapes!).  I am also resisting the urge to 'suck it in' for the side photo!

The only matching shirts I have are very old and stained undershirts.  Not my favorite outfits!

Historic fashion and dance combined!

I love this so, so much!  Apparently, I need to wrangle my dance partner into coming to school in coordinating fashion and demonstrating the period-appropriate steps as well!  Now, if only I can convince him, and find a whole lot of male costumes to boot...

So much reading!

I finished reading the Costume Technician's Handbook (3rd Edition) and really wish I would have gotten my hands on this book at the start of my costuming adventures!  So many really great hints and tips!  Now I'm on to actually trying out some of what I read.  Just as soon as I clean the Project Room.  That is my first big project in an of itself.  Ugh.  I was going to tackle that today, but it was hot upstairs and I lost my inertia after very little work was accomplished.  At least my Personal Assistant (husband) put the computer back, which then became my excuse to sit down and see what distractions the Internet could offer me today.  Learned about pyramids around the world.  Fascinating.