18th century Zone-Front gown (WIP)

[aimeekitty]

Hey Folks! Back in town but not caught up yet. Here's a quick snapshot of my work-in-progress 18th century zone-front gown from Burnley and Trowbridge's "“Quarter Back…Folded Front or Drawstring” An 18th century Gown of the Last Quarter" class.

What you see below is about 2 1/2 days' work,... starting from a pile of fabric. It's all handsewn! The gown still needs the rest of it's skirt, sleeves, petticoat and trim... and has a good deal of stitching left on it, but at least you can see how well the bodice is fit to my stays (corset) and can imagine how nice the final gown will look, right? :) The basic shape will look like this gown when it's done.

Fitting the bodice and sleeves (which we completed) is the hardest part to do (impossible) to do by yourself. So I'm really happy to have this done. Another weekend of work and I'll probably be done with it,... but not sure when I'll have time with Fanime next weekend and all.

My rough idea for the completion of it is a matching fabric petticoat, self-fabric buttons down the front of the bodice,... and am debating doing a self (frayed) gathered trim to show off the bright colors of the threads in the weave of the fabric... and maybe layer that trim with a dark metallic lace if I can find one.

It was a really really interesting class. The teacher, Janea Whitacre, taught us to drape (from scratch... no patterns) on each other to make our own gowns according to our taste and our body shape. And she taught us how to do this and finish the gowns in the historical way (ie construction like they did back then, hand stitching like they did, etc...) She brought a couple exact reproduction gowns to the class, too. It was really interesting to see the different methods of putting things together... and know that modification and mistakes were made back then, too... so we, as modern seamstresses can make mistakes and alter things..., and still be "historically correct"... knock this up in the "Call it battle damage" category of costume problem solving.
We learned A LOT and I'm gradually getting more comfortable with draping on the body from scratch. It's really just too bad that I can't drape -myself- without a second pair of hands.

Judy did a sherbet-colored stripe with a buttery yellow solid contrasting zone-front gown. She did the classic quarter-back style and I did mine en fourreau (where the back is cut as one solid piece and pleated to shape to the body).

Comments

[yume-ninja.livejournal.com]

wahhh so pretty, love the color.

[sakurae.livejournal.com]

Yay i wanna see XD Also you will teach me your wise ways, yes yes? I just got my costume guild booklet with all the upcoming events so I'm kinda excited to go and try out some of these if you'd be willing to come with (and Judy too of course!).

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

I can teach you how to drape, etc., but whatever dress you want to make, you'll need to start by getting a corset pattern appropriate to the dress and at least make a mockup in some relatively sturdy fabric (not muslin, it's too stretchy). I can help you check the fit of your corset mockup, kinda sorta. I'm not really smart about corset fit.
really busy through the summer, but I'm sure we can find some time here and there.

[sakurae.livejournal.com]

Sweet, I will look into that thanks! :D I must do some research here and there. Also I can come over and help you on the draping whenever you want!

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

if you figure out what gown you want to make, I'm sure Judy and I could help you figure out what corset you need to make! and thankyou! I might take you up on that. It'd probably help you learn, too.

[sakurae.livejournal.com]

Yeah yeah! Regardless of when I do make mine (still want to make the Victoria one first), I'm still willing to help so just let me know what your schedule is like and when you want the help!

[praedestinatio.livejournal.com]

This is soooo neat!

And yay, seeing you at Fanime!

[ashbet]

Gorgeous!! I can't wait to see it finished!

-- A :D

[applcheeks.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous! That workshop sounds amazing, I'm a very visual learner so I would love to see all the stitching up close. I can't wait to see the finished product.

I have so many bolts of fabric waiting to be made into 18th century garments. T_T I need to finish graduate school so I can have time to make more costumes. lol

[discofish.livejournal.com]

It's really just too bad that I can't drape -myself- without a second pair of hands.

Can you get someone to help you make a duct tape double of yourself? Then you could use that as your dressform of yourself and drape on it relentlessly. If I was going to do it again, I would use this tutorial for a paper tape form, because the stuffed duct tape form can stretch over time.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

I have a good dressform, I just need to pad it out, but... it's harder to corset a dressform the same as you would your real body.

[discofish.livejournal.com]

Ah okay, I mistakenly thought that exactness was the issue, not the intricacies of working with a corset :D

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I really want to take a class like that! Plus I love that style of zone front!

And as far as "mistakes" go - that's one of my favorite things about historical costumes. Period seamstresses weren't perfect either, so there is plenty of room for error that is still period. I almost feel like movie costumes aren't as forgiving in that respect.

[vanessa-lynne.livejournal.com]

Yay! Gorgeous fabric! It looks a little like the stuff I used for my Gala gown last year.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

actually I think it may be the same after looking back on photos! Hopefully I can trim it differently enough. Yours looked SO GORGEOUS though!

[vanessa-lynne.livejournal.com]

Pfft, no worries. Everyone trims everything differently. Yours is going to be gorgeous. Isn't it the best fabric?

I'm so jealous of everyone taking the B&T classes. *sigh*

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

haha, yeah, for a minute I was all "OH CRAP", but I'd already bought it so. :) Thanks!
Yes, the whole time I was working with it I was smiling because it's so pretty how it changes in the light. It's like a mermaid or something! :D

I just barely got to go to the BT class,... had to take a day off work that just happened to be at a good time for my job. Normally I wouldn't be able to.