Sophisticated Satin

8/4/05

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, this gown became a last minute substitute for a more complicated gown and, thus, became a much simpler gown. It could be argued that it became what it should have been all along...no fancy design or trim, no beading...just beautiful fabric put together in a very flattering style. Nope, I can't complain; I'm completely happy with the results. The bad part is that because I did this so quickly and had so much other stuff going on at the same time, I didn't document anything. Sorry.

At any rate, I ended up using Truly Victorian patterns since I know they fit without having too big of a struggle with them--an absolute necessity when working with a tight deadline for me. I had used the bodice pattern before (TV 490) for my red dress, which meant that I was familiar enough with it that I knew I could put it together quickly. Of course, I had to experiment with a completely different size than I had last made it up in since I've lost quite a bit of weight. Still, I only had to make one muslin, so I was very happy. For the skirt, I used TV292; it was a little more complicated than I had anticipated, but still a dream to work with. The difficult part was just in dealing with the lining and hem, and that only because my fashion fabric stretched in some rather odd, unexpected ways. In the end, it only meant that the hem took a little longer than expected, but it was well worth the effort.

I guess I should also mention my new undies here. I just had to make a new corset, due to the aforementioned weight loss. I decided to take a gamble and remake the Laughing Moon Silverado corset, which I hadn't been too thrilled with the last time. I absolutely adore it now. I made a few mistakes the last time around that resulted in a corset that didn't have a very pleasing shape and didn't really give me the right kind of support. A few quick changes helped that. First, I went up a cup size (that one was really my own fitting error last time around, which I was determined not to repeat). I used cotton twill instead of canvas, and added a third layer of cotton brocade; overall, this meant that I still ended up with the same weight of fabric as the first corset but with better strength. Oh, and I also cut one layer of twill on and one across the grain. (I vaguely remember hearing someone say that this was done in period corsets, but don't hold me to it. I didn't do any research by any stretch of the imagination!) Finally, I added a LOT more boning, 44 in all. The pictures here show the corset just before I bound the edges, so not quite finished, but you get the idea.

I also got to make another of the Truly Victorian petticoats (TV 170). I'd made one before to wear under my natural form ensemble and my red dress, but for this skirt I really needed the fuller 1890's version. There isn't really much else I can say about this one; the pattern is extremely straight-forward and pretty easy to put together aside from the time-consuming gathering. I had also wanted to wear my princess slip with this dress to give the skirt more body, but the neckline was too high; eventually, I'd really like to add another petticoat to get just a bit more fullness.

Finally, the jewels! I got lucky and found this necklace and earrings set at a department store. It reached out of the case it was in, grabbed me by the lapels, and literally begged to be worn with this dress. How could I, in all honesty, refuse such a plea.

Thus ends the rather abbreviated saga of the sophisticated satin gown. Granted, with this being so last minute, the bodice isn't quite complete. I didn't manage to have time to make the buttonholes, so it has just a few skirt hooks for now. Eventually, it will have little round "glass" buttons down the back. I'll just save that for the next event...