Sewing Day - L (and R)

We just had a sewing day and got a LOT of stuff done.  We save up our fittings for sewing days so we can do lots of actual sewing in between.  For Robin, we fit a 30's dress.  Backwards.  This explains why it was too long in front and shockingly low cut.  Turns out, it fit just fine.  We also re-fit a 20's dress.  Robin had lost a bunch of weight and it was getting baggy.  No pictures were taken.  Sad face.

For me, we re-fit the 18C court dress only to realize that I'd let her lace me REALLY TIGHT the first time.  So now it's too small.  Good news, it's only too small over the front.  I can slash and spread from just past the robings up to the shoulder (outside of the dart) and all will be well.  We also determined how much fabric I need for a petticoat.  I will put a 3 inch hem at the bottom, more for the support of extra fabric then that we were too stoopid to pull it up higher.  I can to the pleats and draping over the hoops on my dress form now that I know how it's supposed to be.

My dress form is a glorified hanger.  Not my shape at all.  

We also fit my Lowell Mill 1830's bodice.  As typical, it was too big in the back, the darts were too high and I had scats of extra fabric above the bust.  We darted it, and I will re-cut the front shifting the top darts into the under bust darts.  I also need to lower the dart points a little.

I am really happy with my Regency/transitional stays now that I've removed the busk and replaced it with flat steel.  Same basic silhouette without the visible stick under the bust.

Finally, we played around with decorating the back of my nereid hat.