Graduation Dress

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Several months late, I know. I'm at college now, but I thought I'd post about my high school graduation.

I made my dress which I wore under my graduation gown. Not many people got to see it but I think it'll be a good sundress for the future too.

And here is the back:

I used Simplicity 4070 for the bodice, and simply cut the skirt as rectangles. I also substituted a smocked back panel instead of a zippered one, cutting it about three inches wider. It's lined with muslin and it has pockets! Sadly I underestimated the size needed for pockets so I can't fit my hands in them but I can carry a chapstick! 

Bonus: my graduation cap. 

It's partially paint and partially fabric scraps! The girl is dressed in scraps from my prom dress. 

-Madame Taylor

Prom Dresses

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Well, it's been a while. I'm a bad blog owner, I know. But I want to share some things, beginning with my prom dress!

I took inspiration from early 1900's styles, mostly because of the 1912/2012 thing going on this year and all the fashion interwebs going on about the Titanic.

This dress was fabulous. I patterned the bodice from the laurel dress in Patterns of Fashion 2. The skirt is half an oval and then a wedge. The lavender fabric was this weird polyester stuff that was matte, was heavy but flowed like it was light, and barely frayed at all. I have no idea what it was, but it's great.The bodice is boned with leftover cable ties from my 18th century stays! 
The lace overdress I draped on, it's pretty simple. And the black net, same thing. It didn't come out exactly as planned but I like it. The velvet belt is an heirloom! And I have a wonderful train! I hemmed all of that by hand.

I also made the blue dress in the following pictures. It was a commission from the lovely lady wearing it. It was based on a picture of a dress she found online but couldn't buy. The bodice is from a commercial pattern, and I drafted the rest. She's wearing a large floofy petticoat underneath.
We're all sweaty in this picture, it was taken after three hours of dancing! And she has the tulle overlay gathered up because it was pretty long. And here she is with her boyfriend. I didn't make his vest.
So prom was a lot of fun! I went with like 8 people to this hibachi restaurant beforehand.
Hopefully I can get a post about my graduation dress up before too long!

-Madame Taylor

New Additions on Colonial Williamsburg!

Friday, February 24, 2012

The Colonial Williamsburg Museum has added a lot more things to their online collection!

It can be found here.

I'm always really excited to see new extant garments! Sadly there is exactly one pair of stays, but there are several gowns and lots of accessories!

Finally: The Finished Stays

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Really they've been finished for months, but we just got a good-enough computer that could have pictures put on it. So without further ado, here are the stays (and a psuedo-historical halloween costume):









Entirely handsewn, boned with heavy-duty zip ties. Outer layer of some sort of taffeta, middle two layers of linen, inside layer of an old sheet. But what a lovely shape they give me!