Entering the Secret Garden

For this dress I used two Truly Victorian patterns to be made into one dress. I used the Bell Skirt and the 1903 Shirtwaist. I knew from previous experience that the sleeve on the 1903 Shirtwaist pattern was not suitably full so I drafted a fuller sleeve by using the outline of the original sleeve pattern to expand the width. I removed fullness from the front bodice piece to bring it back into the 1890s period. I used linen I had already owned with embroidery thread. I had several challenges when making this dress. The garment entered for the competition was going to be gold-worked jacket but I didn’t like the finished work. I had to find a new project on time. I decided on the dress in order to stay on theme. The original embroidery was going to be needle painting, however, as I researched I fell in love with cross-stitch, though I had failed in the past. I quickly found the designs I liked but I had tried cross-stitch once before. It had turned out horribly. My issue came from not knowing how to embroider by cross-stitching. This project it was a bit of a guessing game that thankfully turned out beautifully as I learned a new skill. There are several places where I lost count and had to deviate from the pattern I followed to add a row or column. My photographs show a full train; it has since been made to walking length.