Saturday, April 19, 2014

A very Easter-ey dress

Proving, to my surprise, that 1770s fashion is considerably more comfortable than 1860s.
Also, in which I need to remember to buy more hooks and eyes at some point because I ran out.  Please do excuse the resulting fitting issues...
Just the facts:
Fabric:  Gorgeous tropical weight wool from Vogue fabrics. It's as soft and sheer as cotton voile, and at first I was so reluctant to make it into a 1770s dress rather than a summer Civil War sheer.  But I'm glad I did, because it's insanely light and comfortable.
Pattern: JP Ryan, as usual, altered to make a jacket instead of a polonaise. 
Time: About two weeks. We're having our house painted and I have finals coming up, so it's been pretty hectic at home.
What I learned/would change:  I'm definitely going to put some pleated trim on this and bone the back (it's so wrinkly I don't dare show pictures of it.) Also, the jacket is short in the back so the ruffle sticks up like a duck butt. It's not very attractive.  And of course, I need some hem tape. And I think the sleeve pleats are a bit too far forward, but that's my fault for being to lazy to put it on my dress form.
Me tripping (thanks, dad.)
I think the colors are very Eastery.  I'm going to put linen ruffles on the sleeve and put the hooks and eyes on for real before I wear it, but I'm pretty happy with it now.