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Hello everyone! This is my first time posting in the TV forums, so greetings to everybody. There's a lot of great advice here, so I was wondering if you could help me out.

First of all, here is the inspiration dress:

http://www.kci.or.jp/photo/collection/010343aa.jpg

It's dated at 1883 and has is described as follows: Purple silk cut velvet with floral pattern; set of bodice, skirt and train; bustle style; fringes of ribbon and chenille; metal buttons; pleated decoration at hem of skirt.

It's from the Kyoto Costume Institute, and though I don't really like the pattern on the fabric, I am totally in love with the silhouette and draping of this dress. It's so crisp and clean. I've only made one other Victorian gown before, but it was so fun and easy that I think I caught the bug. I can't wait to do it again.

I've never drafted my own patterns, or even really modified existing ones, so that's where I was hoping that you gals (or guys) could help me.

Unfortunately the photo is not very big and there is only one angle. The description is not very helpful either... but...

I've tried to break down the sections and find TV patterns that were close or could be adjusted.

Bodice - It looks just like the TV460 1885 Cuirass Bodice, but maybe with an added pleat or 'fan' affect in the back. I'm not sure, it's hard to see from the photo...

Underskirt - Very simple pleated underskirt. The TV261 1885 Four-Gore Underskirt should work fine. My only question is how far the underskirt extends in the back. I can't tell if it is trained or not.

Overskirt - It is hard to tell if the overskirt and train are separate pieces, but I'm going to assume they're just one piece, since the Institute’s description said there were only three pieces to the dress.

This is where I get a little confused. The front panel of the overskirt is flat, not draped, and I haven't seen many overskirt patterns hear that are like that. It appears to be in a few layers: the silky fabric underneath is pleated and then held in place by bands of the overlaying velvet fabric, which seems to be cut into rectangular tabs at the bottom.

There are drapes on the sides, starting where the front panel ends and then meeting the train. The composition of the overskirt/train actually reminds me a bit of the TV216 1875 Parisian Trained Skirt, which is a pattern I've worked with before.

The train is where I really get sort of stuck. I think I could improvise the front and side panels of the overskirt, but I have no idea how to drape or modify a train.

I know this is a lot of info, but I'm doing this for a school project and would like to really do this gorgeous dress justice. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Heather]

I love this dress. I am actually surprised to hear it is in 3 pieces. I would make it in only 2, with the entire skirt together in one. This should be fairly easy to put together really. I twould use patterns TV261 for skirt base, TV381 for the drapery, and 460 for the bodice. I found a bigger picture of this dress in the Kyoto book "Fashion", which is fabulous and not very expensive, so everyone should have it.

As I always make the skirts first, let's start there:
261 for the skirt is perfect. Start with a muslin (or any lining) shell of the front/side. Add the knife pleating to the hem. Next add the center front pleated panel, and the tabs across to hold them down. Cover to just past the side/front seam. Sew this directly to the skirt lining. Also add a ruffle at the sides for under the tabs. Next take the side panels from 381, lengthen if needed and cut the tabs at the bottom. The pics show them piped edged. Place the side panel over the muslin, and tack it down at the front edge where the stripes across are. Now you need to add panniers. You can use the ones in 381, left longer and in wide pleats at the sides, and most likely shorter gathers/pleats at the front (hard to tell as the arm is in the way.) In the pic it kinda looks like a different ind of pannier, more like a pleated sash, the the top edge showing a bit at the back. So you could also use a 22" wide strip of fabric and pleat the back edge and then pleat the front edge in any way you like.

For the back of the skirt, you can start with a piece of the dress fabric. Add the knife pleats at the bottom. The pic shows no real poufs, just several layers of fabric. Very similar in build to the TV216 skirt actually, with the narrower top, and the bottom gathered on. There are 2 layers to the bottom section, the flat under train, and then a shorter fringed section pleated up on the sides. The upper section is hard to see, but it looks to be flat, but with heavy fringe and maybe bows falling down, either from the bodice, or the waistband not sure which. After completing the front and back sections, sew them together at the sideback seam and your done.

For the bodice, TV460 should be great. A slimmer sleeve would be better, so you can use one form 420, 462, 422, 428. The bottom looks to be cut in many tabs just like the front panels, about 1 1/2" square. at least in the side back section that I can see.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for your quick response and great advice! Doing the whole dress in one piece will save me a lot of time, fabric and money

I'll see if I can get a copy of that book, it sounds great; but Amazon and Barns and Noble are out of stock. I'll hunt around, I'm sure I can find it somewhere.

Now I've just got to hunt down some affordable fabric and I'm on my way!

whee!! I can't wait!

Okay, I think I've settled on colors at least. The fabrics have been somewhat determined by my budget. I've posted a link of my digital 'mock-up'. It's not a very good drawing, but it outlines what I need to get done.

http://www.olanaiia.com/lj/walkingdress.jpg

I chose a brown cotton velvet for my fashion fabric. I've never sewn on velvet, but I hear it's not that fun. Does anybody have any advice for how to make it easier to work with? Or better yet, are there any alternative fabrics that won't break my budget?

Edit: I've also found this:
Brown Damask
Will that work, or does it look too... curtain-y?

The blue accent fabric will be a silk dupioni (taffeta works better, but is too expensive). I'll probably have to dye the silk to get that nice slate-blue color.

I'm so excited! I ordered my patterns and muslin today, and I've got one of those nice new 'uniquely you' dressforms on the way!

*jumps up and down with excitement*

I love your ideas Opal Lynn, your choice of material and colours sounds great, I really like the brown fabric you found on ebay. Good luck to you!

Opal Lynn,

I have a hard time envisioning projects I want to make and was wondering how you made your digital 'mock up'? What software did you use?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Kelsey Rose

I chose a brown cotton velvet for my fashion fabric. I've never sewn on velvet, but I hear it's not that fun. Does anybody have any advice for how to make it easier to work with?

Oh gosh, patience and LOTS OF PINS! Also, use a walking foot. If you don't have a walking foot the price is going to make you go "gurk" but the investment is well worth it. If you have the time and are really obsessive you can hand baste the velvet seams first and then machine sew them. Velvet can get away from you in a heartbeat, it's like sewing on ball bearings.

You might want to go find some scraps of velvet - real velvet NOT valour - and try it before you invest. As a matter of fact, if you PM me an address I'd be happy to send you some rayon velvet scraps. Actually, my husband would be very pleased if I did - anything to reduce the amount of fabric in our garage!

I really love your color choices! Have fun.

[Heather]

I am worried about the ebay fabric. That pattern is huge!! Did you see the little ruler thingy? Love the color though. it could still work, but the larger the pattern, the more difficult it is to make it look good, and the more fabric you need for matching.

Kelsey Rose,

I used Photoshop CS. Photoshop is fantastic, but the problem is that it's pretty expensive and can be hard to use if you've never used an image editor before.

For a more affordable alternative, look for Photoshop Elements on eBay, or Paint Shop Pro 7. I would recommend Paint Shop; it's slightly easier to use and is an older program, so you can get it really cheap. If you're running windows, both of these will work, but if you have a Mac you'll have to use Photoshop.

I also use a tablet, which is like a digital pad and pen. That way I can draw on the computer. You can get a simple version of a tablet for a fairly reasonable price these days. The cheapest place to find one is probably ebay again: here's a sample search Drawing Tablet. But if you want a new one, I would recommend browsing around shopzilla for the best deal.

Tablets are really useful, even if you're not a good 'artist'. It's much easier to draw with a pen than it is with a mouse.

If any of this is confusing, let me know. I'm glad to help!


Heather,

I worried about that gigantic pattern too. I like that fabric more, since it's more interesting (and cheaper), but I really don't think I can make that crazy huge pattern work.




I'm thinking about embossing some acetate velvet. It might take some time, but it wold be much cheaper than buying a chenille or brocade. Does anybody have any experience with this?

For embossing velvet you need a special chemical that litterally burns the plush fibers out of the weave, oh, waitaminute that's burned out velvet... I think embossing is done with a special heated iron with the pattern made into it then kinda branded into it? I dunno, I know burn out velvet, but not embossed....

Opal Lynn,

Thank you for all of your useful information. I will check into the software you suggest and that tablet & pen is pretty cool.

Thanks again,
Kelsey Rose

Embossed velvet can be easily made with a stamp and a household iron. You just put the fabric over the face up stamp and iron. Not much more to it than that.

If you want a bit more information on embossed velvet, check out this Threads article:

http://www.taunton.com/threads/pages/t00072.asp
Cheers
PB

I'm still looking for the right fabric, so I was wondering what some people thought of this one:
[url=http://warehousefabricsinc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WFI&Product_Code=LXSBZ&Category_Code=JACQBROWN]
click[/url]


I like it, because is sort reflects the 'dot' pattern on the original dress and it has a small repeat, but I'm afraid it might be too upolstry-ish.

Also, it's cheap...

[Heather]

Ooo... I like it!!

me too

I got [url=http://warehousefabricsinc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WFI&Product_Code=LXSBZ&Category_Code=JACQBROWN]
this fabric [/url], and it has a 2" Vertical repeat and a 1.5" Horizontal repeat.

I was wondering, what is the best way to match patterned fabric pieces? The place where this would really be an issue is the bodice.

Other than that, my drafting is going quite well, the only problem I am having is with the tabs on the bottom of the bodice; I'm not sure how wide to make them without having the seams run down the middle of some of them... it's a little confusing.

My progress on the dress can be seen here:

http://shatteredopalstudios.com/wp-gallery2.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=496

[Heather]

You can treat this pattern as you would a plaid. Which means it is most important to match everything vertically. The width-wise lines should be on the same level with each other so the pattern does not slide up or down. The other direction won't matter much, as the bodice pieces and darts will cut up the pattern anyway.

I've just finished my second Victorian corset (it's much better than my first: pictures here: http://acook.livejournal.com/44782.html) Anyway, now I can really start putting this dress together since I have all the proper undergarments. (I had to make a second petticoat as well).

I think I've got it mostly figured out, except I'm still a little wary about cutting out my brown fabric. For matching patterned fabric, is it easier to cut every piece out in one layer rather than trying to fold the fabric over and match it? It seems like it would be... but I have no clue.

Also, is I'm sure it must be possible to make your own pipe edging, but I'm not sure how. I would assume you would just take a strip of fabric and sew it to the edge and then turn it and sew it to the interlining... sort of the way you bind a corset edge. Does it have to be cut on the bias so as to bend around the tabs and edges? And do you have to double the thickness or stuff it with something to get it to have that nice round shape? Plus, the blue fabric I am working with frays horribly, and I would have to finish off all the edges... it would take a lifetime. But pleats take a lifetime too... everything takes a lifetime. As long as it's free, I'm willing to take a lifetime making pipe edging. Anybody have any advice?

[Heather]

Piping is not like a binding. You should only see the tiny round part. To make a piping cut strips of fabric 1 1/4" wide (1 3/4" wide if you are finishing the edges with it) bias is best, but straight will work if you are using full lining to hide your seams. Sew them together end to end as long as you need. Then get a narrow cord, you can buy this at Joanns or any other sewign store (ask for piping cord). With a zipper foot, sew the cord into the folded over fabric. (the middle for plain piping, or 1/2" in from one edge for edging piping.) Then sew the piping to the fashion side of your bodice, with the cording just inside the seam allowance, using your zipper foot sew it down. Now turn your edges to the wrong side along the stitching line, and all you should see is the corded edge.