Making a Victorian Ball Gown Pt. 1 || 1890s Fancy Dress

hello and welcome to enchanted Rose costumes my name is Marika and today I'm going to be sharing with you part one of my long-awaited constellation gown I was inspired to make this gown when I came across eight meters of 60 inch wide black and blue shot taffeta for a steal now the fabric was discounted to a very good price because it had some manufacturer flaws and for the most part I was able to cut around those flaws there was one or two areas that I wasn't able to fully cut around but I was able to disguise the fabric imperfections with some carefully placed stars now before I'd actually found the fabric I stumbled across a book of late Victorian descriptions for fancy dress parties and I was completely fascinated by it so I obviously saved that in case I ever wanted to venture into fancy dress in the future I will link that book down below if you are interested in looking at it yourself because it is chock full of inspiration it's amazing and there's tons of books like this out there so yeah lo and behold a week later I've come across this fabric and it was it was fate know for my constellation gown I was actually inspired by several different descriptions from the book because night was quite a popular theme so there was plenty of inspiration to pull from just four different ideas now something you may not know is that fancy dress balls were very popular during the 19th century and a great deal of attention was paid to what guests were wearing to these events much like how we can't wait to see what everyone is wearing to the Met Gala nowadays one of the most notable fancy dress balls was actually hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire in 1897 and it was to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee it was considered to be the social event of the London season now when it came to the cautions of these events the only limit was one's budget yes for encourage to dress up as their ancestors to a theme or to a character such as the shepherdess or the queen of the night so with that little history lesson aside it is time to officially start the construction process of my constellation gown I hope you enjoy the pattern I used is the 1893 skirt pattern from page 42 of patterns of fashion to I had forgotten to film myself enlarging the pattern so I'm going to try and explain my process on a smaller piece of paper the pattern is 1/8 scale and so each small square equals 1 inch at full scale and the larger squares equals 8 inches if I was enlarging the pattern to the full size the paper would need to be a minimum of 56 inches by 80 inches just for the back skirt panel but since this is just a quick show of how I transfer it I am keeping it in the eighth scale for easier filming beginning at the top left corner of the pattern I placed point A I then counted down the squares along the same line and placed point B from point B I counted the squares to the side of the skirt and placed point C I found the halfway mark between a and C on the side of the skirt and added point D I didn't draw a straight line from the bottom of the skirt because the side does have a slight curve and if I was making this full size I would have also created a series of marks to stay true to the pattern shape [Music] next I went back to the line between point A and B and counted the squares over to the right side of the skirt to figure out the width to find the placement of point e on the far right of the skirt I counted how many squares it was up from point E and drew a line across to square it off moving up to the waist I counted the squares across and then how many squares up from point A and place point F I then drew my waist line again if I was making this a full-scale pattern I would have placed more points along the curve for a truer line and then I connected points E and F as they are on the straight line next I wanted to find the middle and lowest part of the skirt starting from point II I counted over how many squares to the middle and then counted how many squares down to place point G and then I continued counting and making points to finish the bottom edge of the skirt now you can see here that the pattern doesn't completely match the pattern from the book and that is because I wasn't making a lot of marks and I connected the dots freehand if I added more marks and used a curve ruler I would have had a much nicer pattern outcome continuing on I marked Ollie dart placements [Music] you now because this dress was originally made for someone who was smaller than myself I needed to make some modifications so the pattern would fit me first I drew a horizontal line across the middle of the pattern where I would lengthen it I also needed more room in the waist so I drew three lines from the waist to the floor you you next I cut along the horizontal line and then added the amount I needed for my waist to floor measurement [Music] you [Music] you you will notice that by adding the length to the skirt I now also needed to add some paper to the back seam to true up the seam of the skirt [Music] to add more room to the waste I repeated the steps except this time I split the amount needed over three lines [Music] you [Music] you you you you [Music] once the inches were added I then Drude up these seams along the top and bottom of the pattern [Music] [Music] you you I then repeated the process for the front skirt panel and then traced out my waistband placket and pocket you [Music] now because the back skirt panel was over 60 inches wide I knew I would have to cut the pattern in half in order to make it fit on my fabric I measured 58 inches across the pattern and drew a vertical line I didn't cut it at the full 60 inches because I still needed to add seam allowance I then added the notches along that line and so I could line up my pieces again once the fabric was cut out at this point I was ready for my first mock-up and just a little side note I wanted to quickly share the placement of the pocket in the placket because this might be slightly confusing later on now I didn't film my mock-up process because I was on a time crunch but after a quick test I was quite happy with the shape and decided to move forward with the real fabric I started by laying out and cutting the underlining of the skirt from a cotton broad cloth I also added a 1 inch seam allowance around all the pieces [Music] you once all the under linings were cut out I then laid them on top of the taffeta and cut out the pieces once again you you [Music] with both the underlining and the fashion fabric cut out I began basting the pieces together with long running stitches this was to keep them from moving during the flatlining process because it is a pain in the butt to try and um pick it once you've flatlined it together after all the pieces were basted I then stitched the layers together just inside the seam allowance and then I searched around all the edges of each piece to keep them from fraying now surging is obviously not a historical technique but I used it quite often when I was constructing flatlined outfits in theater [Music] next I pinned one side of the pocket to the left side of the placket with right sides together and then stitched it in place I then pinned the other side of the pocket to the right side of the skirt making sure that I matched the placement of the pocket that I just sew into the placket from there I sewed the right sides of the pocket together at this point the placket and the skirt are still separate and are only joined by the pocket [Music] [Music] I then pinned the top and bottom end to the placket to the skirt making sure not to catch the pocket [Music] and then I stitched the pieces together and now you can see how the pocket fits into the placket which is very cool to finish the inside of the placket I fold it in half and covered the seam I just sewn and stitched in the ditch stopping a half inch away from the bottom [Music] with the placket sewn in I then stitched the back skirt panels together and then I stitched the front and back pieces together with all the pieces now joined I then pressed each seam for crisp finish to keep the serger seam from leaving a mark on the right side of the fabric I folded by pressing cloth in half and put it between the seam allowance and the underlining and I repeated this for each scene [Music] now since the pocket doesn't attach to the waistline of the skirt I added a piece of twill tape to the free edge and sewed that to the top of the waist that way anything that is in the pocket is supported by the tape instead of a bias cut seam placket does help to support it as well as it's cut on the strain of grain but the tape really secures it in place [Music] next I pleaded the back half the skirt and stitch them in place you you moving on to the waistband I cut out a 4 inch strip of fabric the length of my waist plus 3 inches for the placket overlap and seam allowance I then add a strip of interfacing the same size minus the seam allowance and then I pinned the waistband along the top of the skirt you next I stitch the waistband in place and then I folded the waistband with the right sides together and Stitch the ends closed you I then turned the waistband right-side out and whipped it along the inside of the skirt making sure that I only caught the underlining while stitching [Music] moving on to the hem of the skirt I cut five inch wide bias strips of broadcloth and stitch them together until they were the length I needed to go around the bottom of the skirt I then pinned them with the right sides facing each other and stitch them in place [Music] [Music] you to give the bottom of the skirt a little more body and to help hold out the shape I added a two inch wide length of horsehair crinoline and stitched it next to the seam allowance taking care not to stretch it as I sewed [Music] once I'd reached the beginning of the crinoline I then layered the raw ends over top of each other and zigzag them in place I then edge stitch the right side of the facing to keep it from showing on the right side of the skirt and then press the facing to the inside of the skirt and pulled the string along the top of the crinoline to ease it into the curve of the skirt [Music] I finished the skirt hem with a small whip stitch taking care not to sew through to the right side of the skirt and only catch the underlining [Music] you [Music] with the hem finished I then added snaps and skirt hooks to the placket and with that the base of the skirt was done [Music] you [Music] I hope you've enjoyed part one of my constellation gown if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them down below and I will do my best to answer them for you if you are new to my channel and you liked what you saw today I would love if you click subscribe because we have fun here so that is everything for today and I will see you again shortly with part 2 bye or to dress up as a character such as the shepherdess or the lady of the night queen of the night not lady of the night that was discouraged is that 19th century balls were actually quite popular during the 19th century 19th century balls were quite popular during the 19th century hmm go figure why can't I talk now one of the most notable yet fancy dress Dancy dress yes I'd be done soon [Music]

Channel: Enchanted Rose Costumes

Views: 103,083

Keywords: Victorian Costume, Victorian Fancy Dress, Historical Sewing, Historical, Victorian, La Belle Epoque, Sewing, Constellations, Star dress, Stars, Constellation Dress, Costube, Constellation Costume, Queen of the Night, Queen of the Night Costume, Ballgown, Ball Gown, Victorian Ballgown, Patterns of Fashion, Patterns of fashion 2

Id: cmy_ziOGTo0

Length: 22min 21sec (1341 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 08 2019