Brown Plaid 1830s Dress (Finished!)

I'm finally getting around to posting the dress. Sorry for the delay!

Sorry for the covered face; I didn't like what my face was doing

The classic mirror picture

The entire dress is hand sewn, along with most of my undergarments. The bodice is flat-lined with tan cotton, and the skirt has a 10-inch hem facing of the same cotton.

I was working with about 5.5 yards of silk, and the pattern called for 7.5, so I had to piece a bit. Both sleeves are pieced, one in 2 pieces and the other in 5 pieces. Two bodice pieces are pieced, one side and one back. It was tricky to match up the patterns, as I've never done with before, but I think I did a pretty good job. 

The skirt looks longer than it is, because of the angle the pictures were taken, but the skirt hits right above my ankle bone. This length seems to be pretty common of the period. I could probably even go a bit shorter because I'm still a teen. 

I ended up buying a different pair of shoes to wear. The shape of the shoe is rather close to period shoes, or at least as close as you can find in a department store. The ankle straps aren't quite right, but they're close-ish (very real word). I'll probably end up taking them off and adding some silk ribbon, but I wear the shoes with modern clothes and like them as-is. I think I'll be able to use them for other decades too.

"Precious" flat

1830s Dress Progress

I'm very nearly finished with the dress. All I need to do is pipe the neckline and the waist, sew on the hooks and eyes, and attach the skirt to the bodice. I'd also like to sew up a belt/sash, but I will forego it if I don't have time.
I actually made all the progress so far in about 5 days. My grandmother helped with the fitting on a Saturday, and I sewed like mad from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday night. It is entirely hand-sewn.
I'll be wearing this dress on October 31. I'm wearing it in the morning/afternoon for a fall festival where I'll be reading The Princess and the Pea to some children, then I'll be going to a Halloween party at night.
I'll hopefully be finished with it soon, and I promise to post pictures as soon as I can!

Cosette gown (1830s plaid silk gown)

My Halloween costume this year will be a brown/blue plaid silk 1830s gown. I'm trying to make it as accurate as I possibly can, so it really won't be a "costume". I'll be going as Cosette, and my best friend Abigail is going to be Eponine. Abigail already has her basic costume, but I'm going to make her a new chemise. She'll be wearing a skirt, a chemise, and probably some lace-up boots.

I'm going to have a full set of undergarments with my gown. These will include:

• chemise- done, I have 3, but I can always use more
• corset (a basic Victorian shape instead of a truly accurate corset)- in progress, just needs bones and busk
• personal petticoat (narrow circumference, probably roughly 90")
• bustle pad (this may or may not be worn, depending on how it looks)- done
• corded petticoat (circumference of roughly 90")- done (and completely hand-sewn)
• 1 or 2 plain petticoats (circumference of roughly 130")- 1 done (mostly hand-sewn)
• sleeve puffs

After I finish my corset, I can start on my gown. I'll be using the TV455 1830s Romantic Era Dress pattern. I plan on using the evening sleeve pattern as my sleeve puffs, as recommended by Truly Victorian. I'll likely only use the pattern for the sleeves and bodice, and I'll probably have to reduce the size of the sleeves a tad, because I'm working with a limited amount of fabric. The silk was given to me by my lovely grandmother. I'm definitely going to have to piece some of it together, but it's a perfectly period solution, so it only makes my dress more accurate! The silk is a shantung, I believe, but there are very few slubs, and my inspiration gown has some slight slubbing as well. I'm planning on making either a brown, blue, or self-fabric belt. 

As for accessories, I'll be wearing some period-passable brown leather flats, maybe with some lacing ribbons. What I really want is the American Duchess "Gettysburg" Victorian Side-Lace Boots, but they're a little pricey at the moment. I'm hoping to get them early next year, though. Eventually, I want to make a gold or brown bonnet trimmed with blue ribbon (to bring out the blue stripes in the plaid, and because blue is my favourite colour), and maybe a reticule. 

My hand-sewn corded petticoat

A close up of cording

My silk draped over my dress form and pettis

 My inspiration gown