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| Preparing for turn in a prettyish kind of a little wilderness |
So. This costume. This costume turned out fabulously! While I did not look like the Elizabeth Bennet from the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies film, I definitely felt like the zombie-murdering Elizabeth Bennet of our hearts. Plus, I was recognizable enough to merit several picture requests from strangers and multiple accolades from passers-by (or expressions of alarm upon noticing the severed head they hadn't registered at first glance).
One of the highlights of my Dragon Con was actually the author Naomi Novik, who, after signing my copy of Spinning Silver, asked to take MY picture!! *extreme fangirling*
In addition to the overall look of it, the costume was mostly comfortable enough to wear all day (although I strongly recommend against trouncing in it across Centennial Park in 90 degree weather) and accomplish the usual Dragon*Con tasks of standing in line, sitting on the floor, lugging merchandise you couldn't resist buying, and eating/drinking with wild abandon (empire waists work miracles).
On top of that, I was so so so proud of the work I did to make this a durable, properly made Regency gown that I hope I can wear to many a Jane Austen event in the future. Let me break down the elements behind this look below.
The Bodice
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| The tidiest inside of a dress I've ever made |
After my last post, I had a few trying issues with the bodice of the gown, mostly due to my failure to a.) read the instructions or b.) be patient. For example, I accidentally sewed two lining pieces back-to-front instead of front-to-front. I also managed to catch at least an inch of the top fabric into the seam when I attempted understitching the lining to the bodice neckline (and having to rip all of that out... twice). And, while attaching the sleeves, I forgot you were supposed to attach the sleeve bands first and had a very silly time trying to manipulate a puffy sleeve attached to a whole bodice under the sewing machine foot to put the band on. Then, I sewed one band on inside-out.
Siiiiiigh.
All of these were completely due to problems with my attention to detail and nothing to do with the pattern, or the fabric, which aside from being synthetic and refusing to crease under an iron was actually quite nice to work with. I had very little trouble getting the lining and the bodice to match up - and I was feeling so bold that I actually "stitched in the ditch" to attach the bodice lining instead of hand sewing it like the directions indicated. I think the end result looks pretty sturdy - and since wearing it I've actually washed it once in the machine and it came out no worse for wear!
Now, the buttons were an issue. Even though I made buttons for the Dolores costume, that was over a year ago and I'd forgotten how the automatic buttonhole-maker on my machine worked. Even once I figured it out (it's actually magical) and measured everything precisely, my buttonholes kept coming out too far apart or slightly over to one side. And you cannot rip out a buttonhole once the machine has made it!!! (I tried). So these aren't the most even buttons, but they worked (and the bodice actually fit!!).
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| We won't discuss the difficulty I had with the snaps on the skirt below |
The Skirt
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| Faux French Seam |
The skirt was a breeze, apart from the hem, which we knew was going to be an issue. Because this fabric was playing nicely, I even attempted a version of a french seam finish on the inside. I learned later that I actually did this in kind of a backwards way, but it accomplished the task! While it took a bit of extra effort, I think the end result looks fabulous if I do say so myself :)
The issue I keep having with hems (aside from not measuring them right the first time and then having to rip them out and start over!) are that they always end up slightly uneven and lumpy-looking. Even when I diligently measure up from the bottom, press with an iron the temperature of Mercury, and pin it, I STILL end up with the seam looking even from the front, but uneven from the inside. I know it probably has to do with the way sewing on a curve works (fabric below is wider than fabric above), but it's mega frustrating. In addition, even though I did a tiny narrow hem and then folded up (rather than bulky double folding like I've clumsily done in the past), the hem always looks thick and lumpy. Should I just be doing a narrow hem all the way around? How does one even do a narrow hem correctly?!
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| Done! |
Accessories
Once the dress was complete, I had some extra fabric and decided it might be useful to make a little handbag to go with the dress. I didn't have a pattern - just a vague idea about making a lined drawstring bag. I used a wide-brimmed hat to measure the rough shape of two circles in both the fabric and the lining. Then, I added a two-inch circle of interfacing around the outside and sewed everything together front-to-front (leaving a small gap). I flipped, pressed, and hand sewed the remaining gap to close it.
Now, to make the bag cinch, my brilliant idea was to take that buttonhole maker I love so much and put it to work making holes for my drawstring, however I severely underestimated how many holes it would take to make the fabric cinch correctly. I did 20 holes altogether, and then it still looked wrong. I think I needed closer to 40 holes, or else I needed to do a channel instead of the holes. Ughhhh. So it ended up looking like accordion pleats or something, but at least it looked intentional. I purchased a shiny curtain tie-back with tassels to jazz it up after this picture was taken.
You may also have noticed a necklace in most of my staging pictures. I received a donation of a large amount of costume jewelry from my husband's grandmother several years ago just before she died, and this jewelry has been a gold mind for accessorizing historical costumes. I used one of her necklaces for my pseudo-Vikings costume a few years ago as well. This is a little enamel oval painted with flowers. I think a cameo would have also worked well, but I've never worn this necklace and it just seemed to fit perfectly!
As mentioned in the previous post, I had a sword in mind and a zombie head for accessories. I created a simple sword belt using some leftover faux leather (vinyl) from my Rey costume and basically just made a big diagonal loop, cut a slit for the sword notch thingie to go through, and then sewed a small loop that firmly held the scabbard to the sword belt. I actually found out I could hang the zombie head from the scabbard as well if I unsheathed the sword, put the loop from the zombie's head (it's supposed to hang from a hook or something) over the scabbard top and above the sword belt, then sheathed the sword again. I didn't figure this out until after the picture below was taken, but you get the idea.
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| Ta-daaaaa! |
You want to know the best part about this costume? I already owned the fabric for most of it!! The only purchases I made were the new pattern, the sword, the zombie head, and the curtain pull-back with tassels. So how's that for keeping it to a budget?
I'm really hoping I can complete the coat that is supposed to go with this costume by Halloween. I also already owned most of the fabric for that, but I ended up having to purchase some lining fabric for it that I don't want to go to waste. Stay tuned for more progress!
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