the two oldest are going to be in their high school's production of "Bah, Humbug" this saturday, a fund raiser for their spring musical of "Thoroughly Modern Millie'. tashi will be wearing the 1840s dress i made for her in august.
i have been wanting to make one for lexi too, and this is the perfect opportunity for it to be used. it will be her hand made christmas gift from me. a crazy time of year to be working on it, but i am enjoying it!
i love working with the intricately printed fabric, and discovering the ingenious and beautiful way that dresses were made in this era. with this dress i learned an amazing way of installing hooks and eyes:
it was difficult to photograph it so they could be seen... the hooks were sewn to the lining, and then pushed through the "fashion" fabric. the bases of the eyes are hidden between fabric and lining. so the sewing and the bases of the hooks and eyes are hidden away.
now for my mistake....not really "the" mistake, just one of many, but the most serious.
something about the bodice was bothering me, and for a while i didn't know what it was. can you see it?
look at the sleeves. they are cut on the bias, and this fabric, that i love, has a diagonal, or bias print. i cut one sleeve with the stripes running in one direction, and the other sleeve running in the other. i just finished removing and replacing the offending sleeve (barely had enough fabric left on the bolt - phew!), and now both sleeves run lengthwise like the one on the right. with the bodice complete, i am cartridge pleating the skirt so it can be attached. i love the cartridge pleating. it can be seen on the skirt of tashi's dress. it is a lot like hanging curtains.
during my studies of 1800s clothing over the last year, i have realized that although i have always idealized civil war era dresses as the loveliest, they really are surpassed by the grace and elegance of the 1840s fashions, which are also more flattering to the figure (especially a teenage figure).
![]( <a href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee180/juliewuliee/1-1.jpg"/></a>){kind=link}
Great job! I love how you did the hook and eyes.
Posted by: mary | December 09, 2009 at 08:08 PM
We thought you were perfect Julie. Just kidding-nobody is-we all make mistakes.
Posted by: Renee | December 10, 2009 at 06:54 AM
Oh, I agree! 1840s are one of my very favourite periods! And that is coming from someone who can find something to like in most centuries...
Posted by: SarahA | March 11, 2010 at 06:03 AM