Belle's Dress Diary

So, I've made a little progress.

I've finished my red wool petticoat, and it goes to a little above my ankles.

I went to Joann’s and got a bunch of white cotton for my new undies and some nice plaid cotton for my other underhoop petti, which is pretty much done also.

But so anyways, I made the plaid petti big enough to be usable as a skirt too, so it fits over the hoop. The problem is: the hoop is not quite as dome-shaped as I thought. So I was like, we need more size near the top, to get the right shape. My original thought was to use the last bit of my hooping leftover from my bustle, and make an overlay cage to fill out the shape, but I contacted Jennifer from Historical Sewing, and she said that I could make a short-ish, flounced piece to fill out the shape. Also, she suggested goodwill for cheap old sheets to cut up. :)

So I'll be going to pick that up later, and I still need to get over to the big SAS to get some blue fabric. (I'll explain why later.) I'm also thinking maybe for the flounces I could gather them over a cord, and hem them with some nylon crinoline? I don't know, I'll probably end up just going with it.

Anyways, so I've a bit more things to go buy, and I still need to pester mom about corset stays. Oh! I also got my muslin for my skirt-ruching base! So I can start working on that. And I got a whole bunch of button-covering materials, and now have 14 medium yellow buttons, 3 biggish ones, and six tiny little gold-ish buttons. Also, I hadn't realized at the time, but my gold fabric is less stiff than my yellow material. So I'll probably have to use some of my leftover twill to flatline that.

In other news, I'm planning another project for after this one! I'm going to make an 18th century gown similar to this:

 

It’s Felicity’s blue Christmas Gown from the American Girl series, and I’m making it, appropriately, for Christmas. I’ve been planning it for a bit, and I have a few of the undergarments to go with it. I’m also working to make it a more historical representation of the dress than a cosplay, but I’m still going to maintain the main look of it. Also, I’m making to be like, the same style for someone of my age, as opposed to the flat-chested style of Felicity and her youth, etc etc. So I need stays, hoops, and at least one petti, for my colonial undies. Shift and pocket would be nice, but I’ve a makeshift pocket and I’ll use a chemise for now. Hoops are done. Stays are a WIP. Petti is done too. Pics later.

Also, my plan is to hand sew the dress. I’m insane. Don’t diss, just deal.

So yeah. That’s why I need blue frabrics. And yeah, I meant to write that. I used to call it frabric as a child.

And finally, I’m going to start LPing! For those of you who don’t know, LP equals Let’s Play. I’m doing Wii Music, so yeah. I’ll link my YouTube once I get my first video up. And I’ll take pictures. Of everything. YAY.

So that’s all for now. I’ve got one minute left on the computer, so I gotta run. BYE!!!

I'm still alive!

No, I didn't die.
I'm just a terrible person.
I start a dress diary, and never finish?
Sounds like me. Terrible, but SO like me.

Okay, well this time, it'll be different!
I ended up finishing both my frilly pink bustle gown, and my friends yellow prom dress.
They turned out well, but I don't have pictures right now, so meh.
If I feel like making the effort to find them and post them, I'll do so later. But probably not.

ANYWAYS, onto more important things.
I'm starting a new dress for halloween! It's semi-historical, but more just a costume of a character that I love.
I'm going to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast!

So, a while ago I did a mock-up for a skirt panel (long, tapered triangle-shaped thingy, with miles of gathers on either side, to form the ruche) and figured out the amount of fabric I need. Approx. 10 yards of pale yellow for the skirt and the shoulder thing, and then around 5 yards of a bit darker for the skirt loops, bodice, and hopefully gloves.

I'm using my own skirt pattern, basically this:

The long one is the ruching panel. The short one is the base for the ruching. And the little crescent is what I'll use for the loops on the skirt.
For the bodice, I'm using the Truly Victorian 1860's ballgown bodice as a base, but without the bertha or the sleeves, and I'm making my own neckline thing.

As for the Belle bertha, I'll probably make my own patter roughly in the shape of a long, wide fish-like thing.

Then, for the gloves I'll be trying out the historical gloves pattern by Butterick, pictured here:

I haven't worked with this pattern before, but it's stashed away in my little drawer, so I should be able to test it out. the only thing is, I would LOVE to make the long gloves, and be all cool and have the three little wrist-buttons, but that doesn't come with the pattern. So I'd be a bit nervous to try it out. But, isn't that the fun of sewing? Maybe if it's too loose I can just make a little dart and tack on three little buttons. <3

So there's the plan. I'm also hoping to make two-underhoop petticoats, because despite that fact that I'm in AZ and it gets balls hot in the summer, late October can be pretty cool.

And I still need to finish my corset, and I want to make a new chemise and drawers. I'm ready to order boning though, so we'll probably do that at the end of the week.

So here's my Outfit plan.

1. Chemise
2. Drawers
3. Corset
4. Wool Petticoat
5. Cotton Petticoat
6. Hoopskirt
7. Gown Skirt
8. Bodice
9. Gloves

I went to SAS yesterday, and bought my fashion fabric, too, so I have my two shades of yellow and I actually got a yard of wool/polyester blend for my petticoat. It's red! And all those sixteen yards of fabric cost less than sixty dollars! Woot woot!

All I need now is to get some nice white cotton for my new undies, I'd like to have enough for my cotton petticoat to go over OR under the hoop, and I'd like it in plaid. TONS of muslin also needs to be bought, to serve as a base for the ruching, and a lining for the skirt (and let's not even mention mockups... that goes without saying), and I'd like a bit of cotton to line and flatline my bodice. We're going to a different SAS on Sat. morning, and I'm hoping to get some of it there. But if not, I'll be getting the rest at joanns. (And now we shudder at the astronomical price difference)

So yeah. We've got a lot to do, (Is it one lump, or two?)

But be our(my) guest!

That is, to follow this dress diary. Maybe for real, now.

Oh yeah, and I actually already finished my wool petti. It broke my machine's needle, but it was a couple projects old, so it was time for a new one anyways. And it's so soft! Check one thing off the list, now. :)

See you all ater!