A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

And with this, I'm officially caught up; I made this dress last week to wear to a friend's birthday in NYC last Saturday night. I think that means I need to sew more things soon... This was a 24-hour deal; I started draping a dress to wear, and mostly finished it...and it was Bad. So I got home from work on Friday afternoon determined to have a new dress Out Of This Fabric, no matter how little sleep it meant. (Actually it wasn't too bad. I stay up late most nights anyway, and I don't think I was up much past three.) The fabric was actually scraps and picked-apart bits from a robe I made in 2006. I used a 1952 Butterick Retro pattern, and shortened it to knee length to make it look slightly more modern...I know, "modern" is not really something I worry about with my clothes! I also had to make it smaller, because those patterns don't go down to a size 4. Woe is me. And I found out that if I wanted to use this particular fabric, I'd have to piece...

Still playing catchup with this post... I made these stays to wear with the round gown I'm currently making (well, actually, I'm currently ignoring it because I'm annoyed with it). I actually started with the pattern for my 1780s stays, and started chopping. And then added bust gussets. They're made of two layers of mid-weight linen and boned with a few cable ties. Hand-sewn, for no good reason, really. The balls on the back (hee. balls. I still think they're funny) are from a pair of 1790s stays in Corsets and Crinolines ...I thought they were a pretty good idea, since that means I don't have to mess around with pinning a little bustle pad to the dress every time.