Making Stuff to Make People Happy

I've been a bit absent lately, because I have a big dress due at the end of the week for Gold Rush Days in Sacramento.  Jennifer over at The Reluctant Seamstress (http://thereluctantseamstress.blogspot.com/) just couldn't seem to get started on this bad boy, so I took over after her initial bodice fitting.

The striped beauty on the left is her inspiration.

Her fabric.

I admit, I've only done a few dresses in this period, as opposed to the four a year I do for the next decade in history, so I was pretty nervous about this one.  Because she started with a bodice mockup that was already partway fitted, it felt a lot less like reinventing the wheel, which helped immensely.  I fitted the bodice just a bit more, then put it into a paper pattern, then did one more mock-up to be sure I'd done it right.  Judging by the squeeing, I think she was a bit happy.

Through judicious cutting, I was able to squeeze one more skirt panel out of the yardage, so the hem is almost 200" around.  Jennifer is all about the twirl factor, so she was totally fine with that.  In addition, the extra panel makes the skirt look much more period on her slightly-larger-than-period-pictures frame.

After I put together the dress and installed a few dozen buttonholes--thank you, one-step buttonhole machine!--to allow the dress to open all the way down the front, I swung by for another fitting (more squeeing), and then I started to figure out the trim.  I honestly thought I would just blow up the picture in PowerPoint, then trace it and start sewing.  It...did not work.  At all.

ew.

We had a term in grad school that covered this.  Happy pencil.  Some costume designers will include precise sketches of the trim layout.  Others will draw squiggles that are vague representations.  The trim looked precise until I blew it up, and I suddenly noticed how many times the trim stopped and started.  Jennifer and I researched new braid patterns (hi, Pinterest!), then selected a new one.  I traced it onto tissue paper, pinned it to the bodice, then did a tiny running stitch to apply it.  Why, yes, my wrists do hurt right now.

I'll be removing tissue paper with tweezers tomorrow.

At this point, I'm finishing things up, and I should deliver by Friday afternoon.  I am so excited for Jennifer to play in her new dress!