The silhouette of the 1840s is fabulous. I love the look of wide shoulders to emphasize the small waist (or create the illusion of a small waist).
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| 1840s Silk Dress, source unknown. |
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| Jenny Lind. Source: Library of Congress |
So I instantly went ga-ga over the Truly Victorian TV454 1845 German Day Dress pattern when it came out in 2007. I made the gathered front version with a sheer cotton plaid in the Summer of 2007 and made the bretelle version in Fall 2010. Truly Victorian patterns are sized in such a way that you can easily adapt them to your specific measurements. Mine mostly corresponded with Size C, but I did make the sleeve pieces narrower.
I was inspired this daguerreotype to play with the stripes of the fabric:
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| Source: finedags.com |
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| My version of the 1845 German Day Dress at Columbia State Historic Park Diggins Event |
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| I matched the squiggles! |
The front of the bodice has four pieces, so I piped the center seam to add a little contrast. I lost 10 pounds from the point of cutting out the fashion fabric, so it doesn't fit like I had planned. The bretelles also need some sort of interfacing to keep their shape since they kept folding in at my underarm. I have plans to take this dress apart to fit my smaller frame fix the bretelles. Onwards and upwards!
The original German dress is soooo gorgeous! The waist is impeccably tiny! As to the jenny lind source one- It too has such a pretty design! I've seen your dress before from the Sewing Academy and I just fell in love with how you do 1840's dresses and the wrapper!!! They're gorgeous! I too love this page of yours! I take it you recently started to blog? Anyways- can't wait to see more of your work! Do take care!
ReplyDelete-Samantha Jane
Thank you for the wonderful comments! I've actually been blogging since 2007 at: http://chandra-miller.livejournal.com/. I've just recently created this new account for my completed projects. I'm glad you enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteHuzzah!! Excellent job on matching the squiggles!! Your dress is lovely!
ReplyDeleteLeo su blog a través de un traductor de ingles, por lo que me pierdo algunos de los detalles de su vocabulario. Le doy la enhorabuena por su trabajo. Me gusta el peinado que ha elegido para acompañar al vestido.
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