An 1860's Gathered-Front Day Dress: Part Two

Part Two: Bodice Construction

The bodice is coming along nicely. I decided to sew this dress mostly by hand. The fabric is a reproduction cotton print from Maggie May Clothing. I snapped up 8 yards on sale for $6 a yard! It's a fun little print in a color I don't have. I tend to like the color blue…

Here are the two completed front pieces. The bodice closes at the center front with hooks and eyes.

I've been sewing by hand whilst sitting in front of my lowered ironing board. It makes for a handy table  :)

An 1860's Gathered-Front Day Dress: Part One

Part One: Bodice Mock-Up

After much deliberation, I decided I wanted to make a less formal day dress for the 1860's. My current blue striped dress is still wearable and serviceable, but it's a bit fancier than what would have been worn day to day for working around the house.

I did a bit of research to find extant, gathered-front dresses from the 1860's. There were plenty to base my dress on, so I got to work modifying my darted bodice pattern to turn it into a gathered bodice with a darted lining. I also wanted the sleeves to be full, but cuffed, similar to a bishop sleeve. So I used the bottom portion of the sleeve from my 1837 day dress, lengthened by a couple inches.

 As I was fiddling around with the sleeves, I realized I could use the top portion of the 1837 sleeve as an epaulet for this dress.

A Frankenstein Corset Cover

This was my first attempt as a corset cover. It's not very attractive, but really quite useful now that I finally finished it. I padded the area above the bust to fill in the gap that occurs there between bodice and the body.

Front View

Obviously, Miss Busty here doesn't need the padding, but I do :P

The neck and waist close with drawstrings and the rest of the opening fastens with large hooks and bars.

An Under-Petticoat

To go along with my split crotch drawers, I made a simple under-petticoat to wear over the drawers and under my hoops. It's just two 45 inch panels of fabric gathered onto an adjustable, drawstring waistband. A simple garment, but useful, as I can use it for any time period and with any corset.

Front View

Really, this petticoat could tie in the front or back, depending on the bulk already present from other ties

Civil War Grannie Panties..I Mean Drawers...

I finally got around to completing my Civil War ensemble with a few behind-the-scenes pieces. Drawers weren't always worn, but were useful for preserving one's modesty in the case of an overturned hoop. So I dug out some white cotton muslin I have in my stash and used this highly informative tutorial to draft some to fit my own odd measurements. The resulting back-closing, split crotch drawers, while rather baggy and unflattering (hence my title :p) are comfortable and will perform their function.

Front view

A Cross-Back Apron

My mom recently cleaned out her closet and found an old white cotton bedspread that she gave to me thinking that I could make something out of it. It sat in my stash for a few weeks before I got the bright idea to make an apron out of it.

I love to cook, but I usually get something on my clothes whenever I bake or cook. Because of that, I have been wanting to make an apron for myself to save my clothes from stains.
Cue the bedspread!

I used this free tutorial to make my lovely cross-back apron.

Another Vest…But This One is Different

As I have said before I love me some vests! I was looking through pinterest a while back and saw a line drawing of a vest sort of thing that I really liked, so I decided to recreate it in my own way.

Image courtesy of chicstar.com