I worked on the dress again today… what dress, you ask? The one Susette sent me a picture of and then Marilyn suggested I try and copy. I’m always up for a challenge, so let the fun begin. To refresh you… here is the picture of the beautiful young girl in the dress…
There really isn’t much to go on… but I knew the fabric needed to be something soft and lightweight and easy to press pleats into.
I decided to make my pattern piece like a surplice front (cross over) and pin the pleats in place randomly. I tried HARD not to make them exactly straight or even between each one, but someone they didn’t end up looking as haphazard as I had hoped they would…
Here are the two fronts…
I lined them and finished off the top shoulder seam so it didn’t show and then finished down the back…
I thought the sleeve ruffle looked a little too wide, so I took it off and made one smaller.
Then I took the sleeve and tried again to pin it in the sleeve cap haphazardly again turning the gathers into pleats.
This is what the 2 fronts and backs look like…
The fabric is really nice to work with…very soft, very lightweight and easy to manipulate… so this is a first glance at the bodice on Nellie…
I decided to make the dress just below the waist because I’m going to make some kind of sash or apron and wanted my gathers to be slightly lower than right at the waist…
My pictures were taken almost at midnight, so they are a little washed out… I might have to change the backdrop to the wood window or something else because the dress kind of gets lost next to this white background.
My sleeves ended up being just a bit larger than I had hoped they would look. I thought with the pleats in them it would be like darts and take up space in how wide they appeared, but they still flared out more than I liked. In the end, I decided not to take out the sleeves a second time. I had already serged the edges and decided to leave them alone.
Here is the back… all neatly finished on the inside and ready for snaps…It’s not hemmed yet…
I’ve already held up a few pieces of fabric I have for the sash or apron or overskirt, whatever I end up doing… and I think this will look very cute… I’m hoping to copy the whole picture if I can… (You know what that means… accessories!) :o)
Well, so far it wasn’t that hard… let’s see how I do on the bottom half… :o)
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
I like how this dress is coming along! I much prefer the narrowed ruffle–good call on that! I see what you mean by the fulness of the sleeves, but it’s difficult, sometimes to tell just how a certain fabric will gather up. Lesson learned, in this case.
That said, even though they are puffier than in the original photo, it’s still not a bad look–in fact, I rather like them like that!
Can’t wait to see what’s next! Charlotte
It certainl is coming along, Jeanne! The biggest difference between the original picutre of the dress and the one you ar emaking, is that the sleeves are puffed out. If it were me, I would push them down a bit more, instead of having them so wide, but who knows who that original dress was when it was new?
It makes one wonder how seamtresses of long ago managed without all the conveniences we have now to make sewing easier and more precise. I also agree that your background will have to be changed somewhat, because of the dress color, but I do love the beige fabric of the dress! After looking at it awhile, it could almost be a modern dress! I think the waistband will make a difference.
I am loving these cooler days, aren’t you? Happy Fall!
The dress continues to charm, Jeanne. I know it will be so quaintly cute when you finish. Your work is always immaculately created and finished.
Blessings.
I was wondering how to do the front of the dress. I think you have it! I don’t think I’ve ever seen pleats on the diagonal like that and then a cross over. You are so talented. I’m not sure the child’s dress was a cross over which really doesn’t matter at all since yours is an “in the style of” creation. It looks to me like the sash is mostly above the waist on Marguerite. Yes, I’ve named her. 🙂 And her skirt is at the knees. She’ll need some socks to cover her legs over the knee which were held up with some kind of tie/garter, I believe. Not very comfortable for sure and probably had to be pulled up often. Looks like little Marguerite aka Nellie will soon be ready for school. Love seeing the progress of the dress. 🙂
Great job! I noticed also that the skirt is shorter than one might expect. The children might have worn light legging-type stockings with high-button shoes. Just a guess. We might want to put Marilyn on the trail for an answer. I’ll try myself too. Thanks for using the picture as an inspiration.
I found pictures of 1900 girls with both socks and what look like Mary Janes and the high-button boot-type shoes I would prefer. Search “pictures of children in 1900.” Also the dresses were surprisingly short.
It’s that the sweetest thing. I also often think about how long ago the clothing was so much more elaborate, even for children< when making it, sometimes by hand, was so time consuming. Plus there was not convenient way to wash and iron it., washing by hand and ironing with sad irons heated on the stove.
I guess that's one reason I was so impressed by the PC collections of Samantha, Felicity,Addy, and Kirsten, bu the newer ones not so much.
The sleeves are puffier, but Anne (of Green Gables) would certainly approve and I like them as well. They actually just look patted down in the photo.
Joy is right. She'll need stockings with garters to clip them onto, skirt at the knees with a gathered cumberbun-like sash, and boots. My favorite school outfit you've made this year by far, but you know for me, older is better. 🙂
I think this dress is coming along swimmingly. If you weren’t trying to copy from a picture, you would probably be happy with all of it as is. I think the steam iron must have been the greatest time-saving device alongside the sewing machine for women. I have an old treadle machine I got at an auction. I figured if the power ever went out for an extended period of time I could still sew, and my husband can fix that one. Then I have a sewing/embroidery/quilting machine. I look at both and think how far we have come in the world of sewing equipment. We had a neighbor once who did all her sewing by hand. She didn’t have a sewing machine and they couldn’t afford one. We had two so my mother loaned her our second one, since mostly I was the only one who sewed. When we moved we forgot to get it back. It was one my grandmother had that was originally a treadle but she had electrified. I was sorry to lose it.
It turns out the power outage at the school was actually caused by an accident not the weather as I was told originally. Evidently it damaged some of the underground lines. So I have been called into duty again tomorrow. The kids will be doing Zoom schooling again until Monday. We probably wouldn’t even notice the disruption on a usual school year, but this year has been anything but usual.
Ha Ha Swimmingly. Have you been watching “Road to Avonlea”, Barbara?
I actually haven’t seen “Road to Avonlea”. I’m of British (Irish, Scottish and Welsh) heritage and love to watch shows and movies that take place in the British Isles. I always say I’m going to get a subscription to Brit Box but haven’t yet. I really liked those shows and the expressions people used. I always loved the expression “smashing”. When I started learning Scots Gaelic I found it was actually from a Gaelic expression “Is math sin” (is-ma-shin). Meaning it is good.
When my great great grandfather died in a buggy wreck in 1878, they did an inventory of the household. I have a copy. Included was a sewing machine. My great great grandmother was a dressmaker, and I’m sure acquired a machine to make sewing so much easier than by hand. 🙂
I think the dress is looking lovely, I do prefer the slightly smaller sleeves.
Barbara, my Mum hated the sewing machine so from about 13 till I left home at 17 (to join the army no less) she always got me to do the machining. I remember going to visit after I was married and she had made a dress for herself all by hand even though she had a new sewing machine. As for the school you know the way to make God laugh is to make plans lol!
It was 25C here yesterday, almost a record for September. However the dreaded sou-westerly is on its way, cold and rain at the weekend
Love the sleeves just like they are!
I just really want to know the rest of that girls story. I’m sure she went on to some kind of schooling because she was so into learning with her book bag and slate and serious but intelligent look on her face.
Now that little girl would have her I pad and back pack and I phone.
You have that Criss cross pleated front looking good!
This is looking good. I like the very puffy sleeves and I love the fabrics you are using. I have Samantha’s underclothes, including stockings. there’s a reason AG switched to tights. I think your usual thigh-highs are an excellent option. what about 2 sashes for two looks? Now that fall is starting, would outside shots work? If you time this right, you could hit end of the month paydays, an excellent time to be selling.
it looks to me like girls’ dresses were just covering the knee. You could show the dress with both boots and shoes. A big hair bow seems right, or two of them to match the two sashes. Nellie tends to look nice in bows. My Nellie looks very cute in the new CYO outfit with the pink sleeves, but she’s looking envious of that lovely soft, cool-looking fabric and those beautiful sleeves and who can blame her? The headband with the attached bow might work for this outfit.
Oh so very pretty … you truly are so talented Jeanne!