1880s Silk Dress: Part one

  

I was gifted a few months ago with some lovely Chinese silk by the robotics teacher at my school. I was prepared to see the two beautiful bolts of silk sit in my fabric stash for the next 20+ years.

Then one day during a particularly slow day at work I decided to flip through one of the Harpers Bazaars and then.....
I found it! It was the perfect project! I had been meaning on making an 1880s dress for a long time and it was the best way to use one of the silk bolts!

(I ended up on using the dress on the left as my guild and inspiration.)

But before I could start on the dress I needed some undergarments. This is the first time I have tackled a dress from this era. Instead of making a new chemise, I am going to reuse my 1860s chemise until I get around to making one for this period. For Christmas I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Corsets and Crinolines and I used Norah Waugh’s bustle and 1800s corset pattern.

My bustle is unaltered from the original pattern. After the Great American Hoop Wire Shortage I opted for heavy duty zip ties. I was skeptical at first to say the least! I wasn’t sure if the zip ties would properly perform their unconventional duties of supporting my heavy skirts. This doubt went away sure enough after I tested the bustle!!

Zip ties are a wonderful and cheap boning alternative!

Every great bustle requires a petticoat or two! So here is a plain one in progress. Later, I will make a nice fancy one, but that’s another project for another day.

Here’s a really bad middle of the night picture (I’m pretty sure it was pushing 1 at this point)...
So far so good!

So I realized after I put my corset together that the boning was showing through the top layer.

<SIgh> Oh well.
As much as it bothers me I know nobody will see it because it’s an undergarment.
BUT the lace I picked is really pretty!
Like really really pretty!

So that’s all for part one! Part two shall include the actual dress and photos from the photo shoot! If you want a sneak peek the head over to my instagram ( @costumesandchaos ) and it should be a few photos down!