A Bustle Project Not Yet Shared...

Spring/early summer I finally got around to sewing an 1870s bustle project.  I haven't posted about it yet but I've worn it to two events, adding to the skirt and tailoring for a better fit for the second event.  Here are some photos and I'll share the process soon....

Above was the first outing.  Note how the waist looks different than the pictures below.  The weight of the bustled material pulled the back away from my body because I did not have the fit as snug as it needed to be.  I also then added another row of pleating at the bottom (see below).

Below you can see the better fit around the waist and back.  With the more correct tailoring I was able to achieve the more accurate curve between bustle and back.


I still am learning how to get a good fit in the shoulders/bosom area.   I was able to get the top fitted semi-well, especially considering I was struggling with keeping lines as matched as possible.  However there is still a bit of gap when I sit in the front shoulder upper bust area.  I also messed up by not putting a dust ruffle on and damaged the fabric underneath in some areas.  Hopefully the fray issue will not be too bad and I will go back and add that before I wear this outside again.

 

 

"oh my Sir.....you ARE being cheeky...."

This costume grew from plaid material that I had in my fabric stash for years.  I purchased 10 yards of textured lightweight upholstery silk from Ebay back when you really could get amazing deals and people didn't have their primary business online.  I think the whole thing cost $30 plus another $10 for shipping...how could I go wrong.  I then set it aside waiting for a "perfect" project but really more afraid of having to match plaid material was the reason nothing ever came of it.  The years past and my sewing skills improved and I decided to give this a go.  The pattern, another amazing Truly Victorian pattern was really quite simple.  Getting everything to line up was not.  There was a lot of fiddling and faddling to get things lined up, and given some of the extreme curvature on the bodice, some lines were just not going to line up.  In the end the sleeves went together well with the bodice and even the bustle has good connections with the front of the polonaise.  I worked yards and yards of trim -- pinning and folding while watching Netflix.  On a side note, I seem to go through a lot of streaming when I sew...I should start tracking what it is I watch when I sew....lol.

Below are construction photos.  Even with a very accurate form I had to make the corrections the second time I wore the outfit (as discussed above).  The Victorian bodice draping class offered by the GBACG has also been a great tool in creating these outfits....and for this project it was no different.

Getting the darts to fit my figured meant diverging from the pattern's directions and darts.  They were a good starting point but I had to do a lot of adjusting to make this work.

I was able to get a decent pattern flow of the plaid, but it some places (back) it wasn't going to match no matter what because of the extreme curvature of the pattern (and body).

Here is another view of the back (excuse the peplum not being smoothed out) where you can see that the matching success ended with the back....

Here is the polonaise before the bustle was stitched to the tapes and the tight fit of the bodice achieved. Also before the skirt was embellished.

Yards and yards of pleated trim.  The underskirt and the trim were made of inexpensive acetate taffeta as there was no budget for anything else.  I used a serger to bind one edge which made it easier to deal with.  On the skirt I used an old technique on the underside of the pleats to baste them down so they don't get messy (lots and lots of handwork).

The green fancy gimp was a closeout at Jo-Anne's.  Clearanced out for .50 a yard from 5.99....got to love that!!!  And there was just enough for this project.

The trim is a bit bulky at the closure but I used a brooch to keep the ends together.  Not idea but as this is a costume it was good enough.  Side note:  the buttons were a score at the discount fabric store.  $1 for shell buttons with a cast that complimented the light fabric.