Giant Turquoise Ballgown of Doom - Phase One

[theladyrebecca]

I wore the giant turquoise ballgown on Saturday night for the Victorian Festival ball in Port Townsend. Overall, it was a success, but it definitely wasn't perfect.

For one thing, I'm really glad I made a modesty panel - I don't know if my corset was not laced down enough or what, but I had about .5" gap in most of the lacing. And then the weirdest thing is that from the waist down, it couldn't lace closed at all. I think there was a good 2" open at the very bottom. I'm not sure why that is - I took the pattern from my old ballgown, which is worn over the same cage crinoline (though I was wearing it with one less petticoat). Anyway, I don't really think there's any way to fix that, even for version 2, but if anyone has any suggestions, please send them my way!

The only other weird thing was that the top of the bodice kept trying to ride down in front. I know it wasn't the waist shifting, and I had bones in the CF that went up to the bottom of the bust, but above that, the bodice wanted to scrunch down, which showed my chemise a little on top. Again, not sure how to fix that. The scrunching will be hidden by the bertha, and I do plan to add more bones in the seam allowances, but I don't think that will solve it riding down.

Other than that, though, I loved it. It was very comfortable, and despite the small sweep in back, it was just fine to dance in. I'm excited to see what all version 2 will hold, though I'm probably going to take a small break, and make Designer Disney Snow White before I go back to it.

Here's pics!

Comments

[starlightmasque.livejournal.com]

LOOOOOOOOOOVE

[theladyrebecca.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Looks incredible!

Re: the sliding down bodice, do you find that it's because the shoulders are off the shoulder and it likes to slide down because of that? Because that's something that I've noticed with my bodice too. Maybe padding right in front of the arm over the bust will help. (I'm planning to add padding there on mine.) In theory it would add more stability to that area.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

That's a really good idea. Not something that had occurred to me before.

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Lots of ballgown bodices from the era have padding there. It makes sense because, at the very least, it would definitely get rid of the underarm crease.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

I always figured it was for that purpose. I've just never made one that's actually off the shoulder, so it never occurred to me that there could be additional creasing. It makes sense, though. Proper strapless gowns have boning all the way over the bust, at a minimum, and in the 1950s when they were first really done there was a lot of padding as well.

[theladyrebecca.livejournal.com]

I don't think that's the issue. Or at least, it didn't seem like the straps were sliding down - just the front (from the outer edge of the bust to the center). That said, padding might still help that.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

It really is SO lovely! The fit and shape is beautiful, and that color is excellent on you.

For the closure, maybe try comparing it to your other bodice? Sometimes there are inexplicable differences from one garment to the other, when they should be identical. It would at least explain the mystery of why it fits differently, if not why it ended up that way. ;)

[theladyrebecca.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I mean, the main differences are that this is silk, whereas that is some cotton-blend home dec fabric. I don't think that has any stretch either, but I suppose it could. It's also several years old, so maybe at this point, it's just been broken in? It does have boning on every seam, so maybe even something as small as that would help...