Renaissance Dress

Inspired by the upcoming Renaissance Faire, I decided to try my hand at making a costume. I was inspired by the photo below. (Source unknown to me but I'll gladly post it if someone knows where it's from)

I loved the shoulder style and the color so I set out to find a similar fabric. 

I used McCalls 4696 pattern for the top and made my own pattern for the skirt. I also made matching shoes but they aren't period correct so I will have to come up with something different before the event. 

Here is the dress on my dress form. 

I need to make a few adjustments to get the corset bottom to lay flat, but overall it was a enjoyable project. The sleeves are strips of fabric hemmed, turned and ironed. Looking back I wish I'd have stiffened them up with some interfacing but they are fine for my usage. 

Kim

Victorian Jacket and Skirt

Hi there! I have a new found love for sewing period costumes after realizing that patterns aren't as scary as they look! I started this blog to share my designs and keep track of my projects. Hopefully it will inspire others as well!

My very first project was a skirt and jacket set using Simplicity pattern 2207.

Being a beginner, I wasn't aware of the big difference in sizes from store bought dresses to patterns (dumb I know, measurements are right there on the back) so I made it much smaller than it should have been and was not able to button the jacket so I decided to leave it open and pair it with a shirt underneath. All in all it turned out ok for my first pattern use. 

I started making the bustle but the shape of it wasn't as nice as it was in the photo so I scrapped it. 

Here's a photo of my whole outfit.

I found a high neck, button up shirt and altered it to make it closer to my size. I also wore some reproduction, Victorian style lace up boots with it along with a necklace I already had. I was in a time crunch preparing for Dickens Fair so if I would have had more time I could have made a hat and added more trim or decorations, heck maybe even adding buttons to the jacket (which clearly I didn't have time for) but all in all it worked out well for being my first ever, from scratch set made in less than a week. 

Eventually I would like to make a striped bustle and a striped corset top for underneath the jacket. 

Sorry for the bad photos, I didn't take many during the process of it with such a short deadline.

Postings will be in multiples until I get caught up so more to come! 

Thanks for visiting! 

Kim