Publisher: Laughing Moon
I incorporated a lot of historical methods in this dress, but I also chose some modern techniques in the interest of time (such as the buttonholes) and durability (serged seams). A dress with these details (particularly the darts in the bodice front) would typically have been made of silk, but check out my entry on fabrics for why I chose cotton.
Some of my favorite details are in the back of the dress. The back panel has curved pleats - they are not seams. I whip stitched my pleat line with a single strand of thread, and then machine-stitched the narrow 1/4" pleats. The fabric's bias does most of the work for you, but a nice press sets the pleats off beautifully. The bottom of the bodice is trimmed with custom piping for durability - that's what the skirt is attached to. All that cartridge pleating is done by hand then attached to the bodice (again, by hand). This photo also shows the trim I applied to the sleeve cuffs.
The skirt is nothing more than a huge rectangle, gathered with various pleat methods into the waist. Because the front of the dress is shorter than the back, the top of the "rectangle" is folded over at an angle, narrowing at the center back (to allow the most length). Here you can also see where I chose to serge the edges of my work - it is completely flat-lined, though the skirt's lining hangs free at the hem.
These are the knife pleats in the front of the skirt - and the boned darts in the front of the bodice. Even though it's worn over a corset, these bones will help keep the dress looking pristine.
This last shot shows the inside of the sleeve cuffs (hemmed up by hand) and the opening in the front of the skirt - the bottom is tucked into a little pleat that is hand-sewn.
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