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theladyrebeccaBut I have been sewing!
The Ariel skirt is fully assembled except the hems, and now that the waistband is on, I'm leaving it on the form overnight to see if the hem length will stretch before I actually go and sew the hems of the three layers. The bodice fabric has also arrived, so I also need to start on that.
I've also been working on the sheer dress. The skirt is done except the hem, and I'm trying to decide if I really want to wear hoops with this or not. Antoinette is wearing it over my old Ren farthingale (which, let's face it, is really more of a hoopskirt anyway) plus one additional petticoat. But it's just... big. I'm going to be wearing this on a beach/at a fort, and probably at CoCo, and I don't want it to be cumbersome! However, I tried it with just my corded and two other petticoats, and it didn't have enough oomph at all. Plus, it's a late 1850s dress, so it does make sense that it would have hoops. I'll decide tomorrow (hopefully).
And then today, I mocked up the bodice. I started with Simplicity 4551, which has the widest shoulders ever. Other than the shoulders, and my normal CB and length adjustments, it wasn't too horrible of a pattern, though - I fixed the neckline/shoulders and took about 2.5" out of the width, and it works. I'm doing a muslin inner bodice, with a lower scooped neckline, and then the sheer shirred bodice on top. I'm about halfway through the construction of the bodice at this point. One thing I'm trying to figure out, though, is if the underbodice and overbodice share the same side seam, or if the two layers stay separate except at the top, bottom, and CF. Any ideas?
The Ariel skirt is fully assembled except the hems, and now that the waistband is on, I'm leaving it on the form overnight to see if the hem length will stretch before I actually go and sew the hems of the three layers. The bodice fabric has also arrived, so I also need to start on that.
I've also been working on the sheer dress. The skirt is done except the hem, and I'm trying to decide if I really want to wear hoops with this or not. Antoinette is wearing it over my old Ren farthingale (which, let's face it, is really more of a hoopskirt anyway) plus one additional petticoat. But it's just... big. I'm going to be wearing this on a beach/at a fort, and probably at CoCo, and I don't want it to be cumbersome! However, I tried it with just my corded and two other petticoats, and it didn't have enough oomph at all. Plus, it's a late 1850s dress, so it does make sense that it would have hoops. I'll decide tomorrow (hopefully).
And then today, I mocked up the bodice. I started with Simplicity 4551, which has the widest shoulders ever. Other than the shoulders, and my normal CB and length adjustments, it wasn't too horrible of a pattern, though - I fixed the neckline/shoulders and took about 2.5" out of the width, and it works. I'm doing a muslin inner bodice, with a lower scooped neckline, and then the sheer shirred bodice on top. I'm about halfway through the construction of the bodice at this point. One thing I'm trying to figure out, though, is if the underbodice and overbodice share the same side seam, or if the two layers stay separate except at the top, bottom, and CF. Any ideas?
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Date: 2016-03-05 02:22 pm (UTC)I think I've always put the side seams together. It simplifies construction a bit, and there's really no good reason to do them separate. Both the waist and the armhole are together. You don't want any blousing there anyway; it's important to preserve the clean line/visual separation between the sleeve and body.
You know, I have a hard time getting enough oomph in my skirts, too. I think it's part of being tall; the extra skirt length really weighs things down. I've worn a 90" hoop at CoCo and it's really a pretty good size. It's enough to be clearly a hoop, and with petticoats over it looks nice. But it really isn't that big. 90" is considered a "working size" hoop for the time (and for average-height women).