Fashions of the Gilded Age Outfit: April 2015

I've  decided to go and retroactively post pictures of some things I have made in my sewing adventures (including some on my old defunct blog) just so they are out there and easy to show to people :).

This particular outfit was completed for my Senior Independent Study Project in high school. Many may have seen these pictures before on Facebook. All the garments are from Fashions of the Gilded Age by Frances Grimble except the corset. That is a somewhat bastardized version of a Simplicity pattern that I still haven't gotten right - pinches my hips somewhat. I think its time to move on to another pattern or get some in person help fitting it. My materials were cotton for the chemise and petticoat, cotton coutil for the corset, and polyester satin for the blouse and skirt (yay small budgets - not), and velvet for the bodice. The time period is a mashup of about 1877-1882. With that said, here we go.

Princess Chemise - side seams and darts machine sewn, all finishing by hand.

Simplicity 9769 - all machine sewn

Petticoat front - all machine sewn except button holes and lace flounce (cartridge pleated by hand)

Left side with button placket

Back side with my ruffles that didn't get spaced quite right.

Right side - you can see the piecing at the bottom where I did not scale the pattern up properly

Fan skirt 

Side view

Back view with a bow to hide machine stitching. Stiffened with tulle Not nearly as majestic as it looked in the book, due to fabric choice and not enough support I believe.

Lace balayeuse (a fancy name for a train dust mop)

Blouse and bodice. Blouse is not pleated like the original pattern due to time and annoying fabric,

Back side. All the buttonholes and lacing holes and trim is hand sewn. Hems are also hand finished

Ignore the funny shadow at the bottom!

Hair is done up according to this tutorial

Well there you have it. I started this project September 2014 and worked on it between school and homework until mid April. I have yet to find a place to wear it besides my project presentation. I have not made anything major since finishing it either. It's been a crazy summer and fall to say the least!