Due to unfortunate circumstances, Miss F and I were able to meet up in Mi for a fitting. Our grandma passed away last week and Mr. H and I made the drive over for the funeral. I forced my sister into a fitting session when we had some down time at the hotel. I’m pretty pleased with my hand sewing technique and how much it has improved since my other previous garments. Everything is coming along nicely and I’m glad I added extra length to the front and back skirt panels because my calculations were perfect.
Here are some photos. Please ignore any wrinkles as well as Miss F’s obnoxiously striped tank.
The sides seams are just pinned and the front bib part still needs to be made and sewn on.
The angled side gore is not very visible in this photo. I’m wondering if I should have made it larger. But then I looked at some photos on pinterest or some other blog (can’t remember where) and I saw that the 1815/18 silhouette is not all that poofy/angled but it is also not a column. I think mine works! 🙂 Success.
I’ve also been going back and forth in my mind about what type of bib front to add. So far, I’ve only done rectangular ones for myself because that’s what the pattern called for and it was easiest given my sewing skills at the time. However, now that I’m learning more and am more ambitious, I’ve been mulling over the options. (These are the things I think about at night).
I tried a little mock up on my dress form a few weeks back, saved the pieces and then tried them on Miss F. She was confused (mainly because she does not sew), and I had to tell her to keep standing still and be patient.
I’m not sure if it was my horrid first time draping ability or my crappy pinning job (because she was rushing me) or my cutting it on the wrong grain, but we were not entirely happy with the look. It could be the shape of her chest and this style just doe not suit her, or it could be my fault. But I made the executive decision to just go for a basic gathered bib front that will pin into place. I’m going to make the top a drawstring so that it is more adjustable for Miss F.
Also it may or may not be evident in the photos that she is not wearing any stays. We decided that because she is not a hard core living historian like I am that it was silly to force her into uncomfortable undergarments (she does not enjoy clothing that physically constricts her) for this event. I know all the purists out there are gasping because how can you make a historically accurate dress without proper foundations?!! Well I am and I’m really okay with that because it’s for someone else and I want her to have fun and feel comfortable.
*Update: since posting, the side seams are now halfway sewn.*
Wee Needle 