Adventures With Undies, or What Am I Even Doing?

An issue that is presented when jumping in with both feet into a new era of costuming is that I just don't know anything. I've read the books, looked at the pictures, stalked the blogs, and practiced hand-sewing my seamstress fingers into an early grave, but I am oblivious to whether or not its all in vain.

But enough self-loathing. Onto the Flaming Sacque-Back Gown Undies update.

I ordered some linen a while ago that has yet to arrive, so I decided to skip making the shift for now and start with the stays. I tried to be like all the cool kids and use the 1776 stays from Corsets and Crinolines and even managed to scale it up and piece it together

YEAH..!

But when I attempted to adjust the pattern to my measurements...

NO...!

I'm a strictly 'by-the-pattern' type seamstress as I've been blessed with proportions that have never called for the need to adjust patterns. So I'm bad at that on top of just not knowing about stays.

I figured I'd done all that work I may as well
go for it. 

Ya see, I was introduced to the world of historical costuming from the world of tight-lacing and goth-rock, PVC, waist cinchers. So I know where the bones are supposed to be placed in a corset to achieve the support and shape of the Victorian Hourglass and even the Edwardian S. But the Georgian Cone is a strange set up of interweaving channels to me. (Don't even get me started on the Regency Uplift or Elizabethan Box.) I needed a bit more of a push in the right direction- or any direction would have helped.

I couldn't find any reviews for J. P. Ryan's Half-Boned Stays, but their strapless ones have gotten a fair bit of praise, so I figured they would be just as good. I made a quick machine mock-up with some stiff organdy I had laying around and as far I know they fit me pretty well. Then again, they could had wrapped around my entire body twice and reached down to my shins and they still would have fit well for all I know.

I fished out some wool gabardine, cotton canvas interlining and unbleached muslin from my fabric horde to create what I will dub The Stash Stays. 

The pattern calls for the front panel of fashion fabric to be partially constructed, boned, then flat lined onto a similarly shaped piece of canvas as oppose to flat lining and boning each piece separately before being sewn together like most stays instructions I've heard of. Is it because these are half-boned instead of fully boned? 

The front of the front panel with two steel bones inserted 

The back of the front panel. All those raw edges
will be covered by a big canvas piece 

My god awful hand stitching with contrasting cotton
thread. I'll get better, I promise.

So, what do you all think? Any advice for someone stumbling blindly into a new era? Stop by The Dowager Dame Facebook page and leave some words of 18th Century costuming wisdom.

Flaming Sacque-Back Gown

So with today being the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg, all the cool, big-time costumers are talking about making 4 or 5 brand new civil war dresses each or wearing one of their hundreds of already finished dresses to cool events or the infamous battlefield itself.

And I'm just sitting here making a costume for the sugar-plum fairy.


Well, that and I'm FINALLY getting to work on the Adventure Time Princess project.

But instead of starting off with Marcy's ball gown, I'm stepping out of my

19th Century comfort zone and beginning Flame Princess's robe à la française(we'll call it a sacque from now on, shall we?) 

I love the look of sacque-back gowns. A dress so amazing that not only does the skirt train, THE ENTIRE BACK OF THE DRESS TRAINS. DUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE! If you don't think that's cool get out of mah face!

It also has the same room-clearing power as a crinoline.Which is good in a crowded convention setting.

It gives me a good chance to make some 18th Century undergarments for general use in future projects. These will be made by hand out of nice and period appropriate fabrics. The gown itself will be handmade out of some pretty two-tone taffeta from, you guessed it, Fabric.com. 

I am a know-next-to-nothing when it comes to 18th Century and A LOT of books will need to be purchased, but this will be a good learning experience.

Any advice to help?



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