FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Dreaming of Fairy Hills
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Outline the story …
My costume is based on the titular character of Thomas Hood’s poem “The Dream Fairy”. In the poem, the fairy comes from the moon to bestow pleasant dreams upon good children. To capture this lunar connection, I took inspiration from the Luna moth. The pale green, burgundy, and silver in the design mimic the insects’ coloration. The shawl is based on the moth’s wings in its shape, and the stitch pattern resembles the scales on a moth’s wings. I incorporated floral motifs into the shawl and corset in reference to the wonderous landscapes in the dreams gifted by the fairy.
The costume is composed mainly of undergarments inspired by late Victorian styles. The Dream Fairy heralds the transition from the waking world to that of dreams, and I wanted to evoke that same sense of transition in the costume. She is constantly caught in the process of undressing for bed: not fit to be seen outside, but not quite ready to sleep either. The shawl (as her wings) is the only outer garment of the whole costume.
While I tried to work from historical example, I made concessions for the fantastical nature of the project. Most notably, the corset contains no metal whatsoever! Because fairies are repelled by iron in many stories, I decided not to dress the Dream Fairy in a garment with metal bones, eyelets, or busk. I tried to create a fairy’s interpretation of historical style, down to the concessions that she would make for accessibility.
Outline the construction…
As I am a beginner to garment sewing, this costume required many new skills. I had never felled seams or used cording before! I worked from historical patterns as much as possible. The chemise used a pattern from the Manual of Needlework and Cutting Out, and the corset came from a Foundations Revealed article on an 1880’s corded corset. I also challenged myself to make all the lace by hand using antique patterns. The stockings, too, came from an 1884 book titled Knitting: How to Knit and What to Knit.
Another challenge I set was to use materials I already had, or things that would otherwise be discarded. As a child, I sewed tiny clothes out of scraps of fabric as offerings to fairies, so I felt it only right to continue that tradition! With the exception of the cotton lawn used in the chemise and the burgundy cotton yarn in the shawl, all of my materials were things I already owned, or were rescued from the trash. The lace and shawl are made from mill end cotton which could not be wound onto cones for use in machine weaving. Lacking proper coutil, I used upcycled upholstery fabric and muslin in the corset. Even the corset binding is made from squares of quilting cotton leftover from a long-abandoned project. It was a challenge to make something from these humble materials, but I hope I succeeded in capturing that same spirit that drove me to make little fairy clothes years ago!
Now I’m really curious what you did use in the place of the usual metal corset parts.
The boning is plastic (as a necessary stand-in for whalebone), and I sewed the eyelet holes by hand in cotton thread. I couldn’t find a non-metal busk that would fit the type of corset I wanted to sew, so I just omitted it entirely and sewed up the front opening!
This looks so comfortable and delicate, and yet so, so sturdy! Your flossing is impeccable, too. I’m so impressed!
Wow the lace work is amazing! That is a skill.
This lace!!!!! It’s soooo good ❤ I’m in love
The level of detail is so delicious! <3 Absolutely amazing
I am stunned at all of the details! *applause*
This is so beautiful! I did not know that about Faeries. I need to tell my friend at Disney about this! Tinkerbell can’t carry money! LOL Thank you!