As I wasn’t happy with the dress as I first wore it in Australia, I had a go at re-styling it.
First, I fixed the fit issues: unpicking the sleeves, giving them a little more room, and re-setting them.
They are definitely more comfortable now. In their first iteration they cut into the front of my arm rather painfully: I had great posture, but couldn’t reach anything in front of me! Now I have full range of movement. First part of the re-make? Total success!
I’m significantly less thrilled with the second part of the remake. I decided to try a wrap front, instead of the gathered front the dress had had before. I used the few scrap of fabric I had left to create a wrap bodice, sliced the skirt up the centre front, and moved fullness from the back gathers, to create a new shape.
Unfortunately the wrap flaps open in the skirt, and refuses to stay sitting nicely on my bust. It’s most annoying, and I don’t like it.
I am, however, very happy with the back view:
The reduction in fullness is just what the dress needed. I absolutely love the effect of the new back view.
But I’d really like to get this dress right, so it’s headed into remake #3 (third time had better be the charm!)
For remake #3, I’ve unpicked the two panels that formed the wrap, and will turn one of them into a new front panel for the dress. I’ll split the other one in half, and re-sew it on each side, two form two narrow side panels, so the skirt won’t loose any fullness, but won’t have a big seam down the centre front.
I’m still working out what exactly I’m going to do with the front bodice. Either a bib front with sewn-down gathers, or a return to a drawstring front.
I also plan to add darts to the under-bodice. With my small bust, I really need all the help I can get in keeping the under-bodice under my bust – right now it likes to creep upwards.
If I do switch to a bib front I’m considering adding lacing (instead of the current overlap-and-pin situation) to the underbodice.
And I may shorten those sleeves to a bit above the elbow, and add a lace edge, as you see in so many portraits of the early 19th century.
But before I have to decide all of that I have lots and lots of skirt seaming to do!
This week’s Rate the Dress, in contrast to the three that proceeded it, is quite muted and restrained, and not just one colour (though the primary fabric is admittedly equally monochromatic)
Some of you really loved last week’s dress, mostly because of the picture it brought into your mind of the young lady who would wear it, and how she would look dancing.
Others, not so much, either because you didn’t like the colour, are opposed to small puffed sleeves on principle, or felt the hem treatment made it odd and bottom heavy. A number of people on instagram observed that if it was displayed as it would have been worn, with better petticoats, and the hem a good few inches off the ground, it would look less awkward and bottom heavy.
This week: an 1890s wedding dress is muted purple with cream and mouse-brown
After three weeks of very bright dresses, I wanted something a bit more muted this week. At first I thought I’d choose something with no colour (well, technically, all the colours), like a white frock. And what’s more white than a wedding dress? But then I found this not-white wedding dress, and thought it was just the right mix of of-its-era, while having different and interesting details for us to comment on:
This dress, with its leg-o-mutton sleeves, and stiff A-line skirt (which could easily be made from the Fantail skirt pattern), is very 1893. Without a provenance identifying it as wedding dress, it would just be a well made, but not unusual, afternoon ensemble of the era.
It’s also not unusual as a wedding dress of its time. While white wedding dresses were fashionable and widely recognised, many brides still chose to be married in other colours, for a variety of reasons: personal preference, economy, style of wedding, and family mourning.
The muted grey-purple ribbed silk that forms the main body of this outfit is more plausible as a very-end-stage-of-mourning colour than the definitely-not-mourning purple Victorian dress I posted a few weeks, but there are no other details in the design that would clearly indicate this.
It’s possible that the bride opted for a colour and design that would be unexceptional for a bride who had lost a member of her more extended family, but would also be wearable and fashionable as a non-mourning garment, but without more details of the provenance, we can’t know for sure.
It’s more likely that the bride was simply following a general fashion for more muted, restrained colours for wedding dresses, if the bride chose not to wear white. These darker colours were more suited to afternoon wear, when most weddings were held, and also allowed the garment to be more wearable after the wedding, which was one of the main reasons for choosing a coloured gown (and, of course, there are always exceptions to most trends: Te Papa holds an electric blue afternoon wedding dress from the 1890s)
Whether it was half-mourning, or simply general fashion, the style, maker, and materials suggest the bride who chose this dress wanted an elegant, well made item, that would look good on her wedding day, and for many events after that, without every demanding to be the centre of attention. It’s the epitome of Victorian ideals of retiring womanhood and restrained modesty: the dress the plainer older sister would wear to her simple wedding to a minister, while the flashier younger sister who nabbed the local lord got the big white wedding dress (and in numerous 19th c & Victorian novels, starting with Sense & Sensibility, the plainer older sister is definitely portrayed as the more admirable character).
Does it play the part well? Would it tempt you from the big frothy white dress?
Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10
A reminder about rating — feel free to be critical if you don’t like a thing, but make sure that your comments aren’t actually insulting to those who do like a garment. Our different tastes are what make Rate the Dress so interesting. It’s no fun when a comment implies that anyone who doesn’t agree with it, or who would wear a garment, is totally lacking in taste.
(as usual, nothing more complicated than a .5. I also hugely appreciate it if you only do one rating, and set it on a line at the very end of your comment, so I can find it! And 0 is not on a scale of 1 to 10. Thanks in advance!)
Update: thank you to everyone who applied – the response has been awesome, and I’ve chosen my tester group, so will not be accepting any further applications.
I’ve been working on resizing the Scroop Fantail Skirt, both in the Historical & Modern versions, into an additional three sizes, so it goes up to waists 50″/127cm and hips 60″/152cm.
I’ve checked the fit of the resized pattern on fit models (and any random friends who I could rope into trying on my test makes), but to make absolutely certain that the pattern fits as well as it possible can on a wide range of bodies, I need 3-4 testers to test the pattern.
The Pattern:
The pattern is the Scroop Fantail Skirt, just with additional sizes. Testers will receive the Combined Historical + Modern skirt pattern to test.
Testers:
As the pattern has already been out for two years and pretty thoroughly tested as far as the instructions etc go, this is primarily a SIZE/FIT test. Therefore I am looking for experienced sewers who will be able to make their test version quickly and are used to analysing fit.
Testers must be between a Size 50-56 in the Scroop Patterns Size Range:
If you want to test you should have experience with invisible zips (if you want to do the Modern version) or button plackets (if you want to do the Historical version).
I am looking for at least one tester to make the Historical Version. This tester should already have an 1890s-1910s corset to wear with their Historical Fantail, as the skirt is meant to be worn over a corset, and will not fit or hang properly without one.
You will also need to:
be able to print patterns in A4, A0, US Letter or US full sized Copyshop paper sizes
have the time to sew up the item if you agree to be a tester for it
be able to photograph your make being worn, and be willing for me to share your photos on this blog and instagram.
be able to provide clear feedback – particularly as to fit.
be willing to agree to a confidentially agreement regarding the pattern
have a blog or other format where you share and analyse your sewing
I would hugely appreciate it if you would share your finished make once the pattern launches, but this is not mandatory. I’m asking for TESTERS, not marketers. The requirement of a blog/other review format is to help me pick testers. I want to be able to see how you think about sewing, and that your experience level matches up to the pattern.
As always I’m be looking for a range of testers, in terms of geographical location, body type, sewing experience, and personal style.
The Timeline:
Materials:
The basic materials requirements (sans the updated lengths for the new sizes) are available on the pattern listing on ScroopPatterns.com. I will send out updated materials requirements that include the full size range when I confirm that you will be testing – hopefully by 4pm NZ time on Wed the 13th of Feb (Tue the 12th for most of the rest of the world, because NZ is a day ahead) at the latest, but this may depend on how many suitable testers apply.
Patterns: I will send out a digital copy of the pattern to testers before 4pm NZ time on Fri the 15th of Feb.
Testing & Reviewing: Testers will have until 12 noon NZ time on Tuesday the 26th of Feb (11 days, with two full weekends) to sew the skirt, provide photos, and respond to the testing questions.
What you get:
Pattern testers will get a digital copy of the final pattern, my eternal gratitude, and as much publicity as I can manage for your sewing.
Keen to be a tester for the new sizing range for the Fantail Pattern pattern? please email me with the following:
Your name
Your waist and hip measures
Your height
A bit about your sewing experience
Which version you’d like to make (and confirmation that you have a corset if you want to make a Historical Fantail).
A link to your blog/Instagram/Flickr/Sewing Pattern Review profile/something else sewing-y presence
A link to a sewing make with a review (so I can see how you think about and analyse your sewing)
Do you have any other skills that would really make you an extra-super-awesome pattern tester?
