A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Ironed my 18thc caps and kerchiefs that I washed yesterday, and then decided it might be beneficial to iron my regency mourning dress while I was at it. Pro tip for not having to do a ton of ironing: don't wear your dress in a downpour and then wad it up in a bag and leave it overnight. (I hung it up the next day so it dried out just fine...but hello wrinkles!) And then shove it in the closet and leave it for two years. The organza layer still has a couple wrinkles but it's much less horrible now!

I also tried it on to see if there was anything that really needed to be fixed. Well...pinking the organza and hoping it wouldn't fray too much was a very optimistic thing to do, first of all. Nothing to be done about the gathered organza trim at this point other than continue giving it haircuts, but I really ought to finish the organza scallops at the hem. I'm not going to right now, because I know I'd get it half done and then run out of time, and that wouldn't be a great look. Just...for future reference.

I ended up slightly shifting/replacing the back fastenings. For unfathomable reasons, I'd used hooks & eyes that didn't actually match. Interesting choice, Past Me. So I sewed bars that matched the hooks on, re-tried it on, and the back gapped a whole lot less. Magic! The fit of the shoulders is still not super - one is looser than the other so it ends up drooping further and making my shoulders look even more crooked than they already are - but again, not something I can really fix at this point.

But it's quite wearable! I feel very good about myself for checking all this out before Saturday afternoon...

For now, anyway. Between the wrists (they feel much better, but not being able to sew last night set me back) the time crunch, and having the nagging feeling that the gathered trim looked kind of dumb...I made the executive decision to take the trim off the 4 scallops I had trimmed. (Out of 16! too damn many scallops)

I pinned on both some velvet ribbon and lace I had in the stash, and neither of them looked great. I think I may try pleating the organza instead of gathering it, as I usually like that much better, in general. But I am not starting that today, because I fully intend to sleep tonight.

So I'll be scandalously under-trimmed tomorrow. At least I'll have a Dramatic Veil!

At least the veil is hemed. That would just be impossible to do in a moving car.

Also am belatedly thinking that this is going to look way dumpier than one would wish, but one must soldier through and finish-the-damn-dress-because-you-don't-have-anything-else-you-can-wear.

Good news: The skirt panels are all sewn together, and I attached the skirt to the bodice today. Am hemming the taffeta skirt layer at the moment.

Bad news: Bodice doesn't fit as intended (that is, slightly off-shoulder). Gaaaaah. Have to put a piece in the back, which isn't happening tonight. Also, am very very tired of black already.

Right, I was going to show you some pics of the bodice, wasn't I? The bodice is all finished except for the line of trim under the bust, which obviously will go on after the skirt.

Enjoy these extremely detailed pictures of a black garment in indoor light. They show up really well. (But it does at least look like a Thing now!)


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Speaking of fiddly... I did tear the piece of gauze to the length I want, and was going to start hemming tonight, but...hmm, maybe not.

My package of fabric was in San Francisco last night, so I was surprised to see it was out for delivery when I checked the tracking number this afternoon! Hooray for airplanes! And we even got our mail delivered earlier than usual today, so I got to play with my fabric before work.

Pre-package-arrival, I winkled out the lengths and widths and such of my taffeta skirt panels. They seem right, so hopefully they won't suddenly become wrong when I sew them together. Also figured out that I didn't cut the side-back bodice pieces (why does this bodice seem so small...OH WAIT), did so, and sewed them to the back pieces.

When my package o'fabric fun arrived, I cut out the organza skirt panels. They're a bit wiggly, 'specially the hems, but the hems will be scalloped after it's all put together, so it's ok. And the silk gauze for the veil is perfectly light and floaty, perfect veil fabric - I almost want to make an actual dress of some sort out of it...but then I remember I'd actually have to pin it and sew it...no thanks. Two hems will be quite enough. (I'm leaving the selvedges. Sue me.)

With the organza and gauze ordered, I figured I might as well get started! To that end, I cut out the pieces for the bodice and sleeves today. Have to wait to put the bodice together til the organza shows up, but I'll get as far as I can. I sewed the sleeves together today - they're unlined (the better to be mournfully droopy) and the silk's a little fray-happy, so I flat felled them. Good thing they only have one seam each.

Tomorrow I'll do the sleeve cuffs and front darts (ew darts), and maybe figure out the skirt panels (ew gored skirts).

Today I tried cutting the interlining for the K Parr gown skirt panels, discovered I didn't have enough fabric, and gave it up for a bad job. Cut out a reticule of black velveteen instead, and got one of the pieces hemmed. What? I need a reticule to go with my mourning dress. *looks innocent*

And here is the painted tiara, as promised. I painted it with outdoor acrylic paint, because it seemed like it would hold up well (and because we didn't have very many options in black paint! Restock, people!). The back's not as, uh, carefully done as the front, but it'll be behind the veil, so whatever.