Truly Victorian

the_costumer · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:35 pm Post subject: Help with outfit ideas, please!

Hey all.

I'm involved in something called "The Toy Ride". What it is is all the horses in town are rode through town and all the riders donate toys to local charities for needy kids at Christmas. The people that come to watch also donate.

I have 25 horses, and I train carriage horses, and people to drive carriages. So, I will be taking a friend with my in my antique carriage, and will be wearing something victorianesque.

I'm just going to wear a tuxedo with a tartan tie, my horse has a blanket out of matching tartan.

I have a girl that works with me here on my farm and I'm going to make her an outfit too. I have a 2 yards of 60" bright red wool and I have about 6-7 yards of dark green velvet, but it's really narrow. It's only about 30 some, I would guess.

I rarely work from commercial patterns (except yours, heather!) but I will this time as I haven't a lot of time between. I looked through my patterns and I have this. I think it's not TERRIBLY ugly...

It took me a while to understand what this pattern had. At first I thought it was a skirt with a large hem and a ruffle like the one in the strips and then one with a narrower hem like the one in blue. It's not. It's the same except with a ruffle. The striped bodice is sewn to the skirt, making a dress, or you can make it a seperate blouse and then the jacket overtop of that.

I have enough velvet to make it if I more where the flywheel attaches. I don't have enough of the red wool to make it at all.

I want to make something that's not just a red skirt, a white blouse and a green jacket, I want to make it more matchy than that. For a start, I'd use the same material as the jacket to make a thick stripe on the skirt and trim it with the same trim on the jacket. The waistband of the skirt dips down like the red belt shows on the stripped dress. If I make the skirt in the red wool, I'll make the jacket in the green, but put a green waistband on the skirt and red wool cuffs on the jacket where the lower part of the sleeve is gathered to.

So, what do you think? If I make the jacket in the green wool, is there anyway to make a semi-victorian looking a-line skirt to put over a petti with only 2 yards of 60 inch wool? Or maybe I can make a panel out of the green velvet? OR something?!

Help! This doesn't have to be super accurate. I just want something cute, simple and pleasing to the eye. It's going in a parade and she'll be sitting down, it doesn't have to be anything fancy. It'll only be seen as the horse walk by!

Heather · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 8:10 am Post subject:

You could add a lot of green to the skirt, and save some of your red. Make the bottom of the skirt green (1/3 the skirt length), with a point in the front (or go up to the waist even) and then run the band all around the back. That is a very period correct trim pattern. Not sure if that will run you out of green though. Maybe make just a green vest? The lack of sleeves will save you a lot of fabric.
_________________
Heather McNaughton

Costume Designer
www.trulyvictorian.com
www.demifashions.com

the_costumer · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 3:36 pm Post subject:

What a great idea heather! I can do the CF of the skirt in the green velvet and then the bottom 1/3 of the rest of the skit in the green velvet and the top of the skirt in the red wool. Then maybe a gold trim on over all the seams where the red and green meet!

I'll make the bodice as well out of white taffeta with lace down the front. I'll make it longer so it's a skirt and bodice, not a dress. I'll put the puff sleeves on that, and stick some netting in there to hold them up.

Then I can make the jacket into a vest. I'd like to make it out of the red wool if I have though of it left and flatmount about 2 inches of the green velvet around the edges and then the same gold trim again.

How's that all sound? I know the petticoat will keep her legs warm, I wonder about the top? The taffeta won't so much, but a lined wool vest should?

the_costumer · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:41 pm Post subject:

I'm not using the pattern for the skirt. The back pieces are just too wide. They're cut with flywheels and I don't want to have to do all that. I'm thinking, like I said, do so the vest in the red wool. Tell me what you think about this idea...

Cut the vest out of the wool being as frugal as possible and then use the rest of the wool and make to two or three large rectangle panels for the back of the skirt. I'll cut the CF a gored shape and the rest will be straight.

I'd love to put a bum pad, or some type of bustle there.

Heather · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:04 am Post subject:

That is pretty much the same that I was thinking. I think a full bustle would be too much for this outfit, but a small bum pad should be fine. Sounds like a good plan.
_________________
Heather McNaughton

Costume Designer
www.trulyvictorian.com
www.demifashions.com

the_costumer · Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:56 am Post subject:

Yey! It's coming together. I went to the local fabric store and they had a crap selection of trims. They blamed halloween, I blame them. I used to work there and I know what they carry and it's bunkum! I wanted a gold flat tim to go over the seams where the red and green touch. Nope. They had about 2 feet of gold trim. I bought white instead. I hope it works.

The petticoat is almost done. I've made it out of a front gore and two backs with a side invisible placket. I had a rufflebustle that I stitched to it and then boxpleated (only 4 pleats) over the bustle. Tomorrow I have to put it on the waistband that I cut out tonight, put it on my girl and level the hem, and then start the actual skirt, blouse and vest.

I am thinking that I need one more petticoat though. I can't see the taffeta that I used keeping her warm. So I'll do another, and keep it simple. No ruffles, just another layer.

The skirts I like are Skirt A on Hunnisett's page 123 and Skirt A o page 150. Two different shapes though Sad

I think the page 123 is by best bet.

Here're my next questions, and I've sorta asked this before:

I want the seam around where the red and green meet to be as level as I can. IF the skirt were all the same fabric, then I would just hem the bottom and how have anything to worry about. Clearly the CB to floor will be a longer measurement, because it has to go over the bustle, than the SF to floor measurement. Do I need to cut the red at all differently to get this?

I don't want to make a muslin of the skirt, but will if I have to in order to see how things will fit. I guess I could use is as a petticoat though... or a lining...

Heather · Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:05 am Post subject:

You will need to cut the red so it gets longer as it gets to the back. You need to measure how much longer in the back you need. Err on the side of longer in the back than the front. It will look fine if it slopes down in the back, but not so good if is slopes upwards.
_________________
Heather McNaughton

Costume Designer
www.trulyvictorian.com
www.demifashions.com