FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
The Traveller
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
My inspiration for this was Robert Frost's poem "The Road Less Traveled." As a historical fashion lover, and a sewist in the 21st century, I chose the road less traveled. And I looked hard at the one path others took but yet, the other path called. I decided to express this choice in my dress. Its an 1875 travelling dress, and not only that, it was a dress that taught and took me to new sewing techniques and research places I'd never been. It was a journey just making it. Three months of late nights, fingers raw from hand sewing. Countless piles of printed drawings and fashion plates. It was only appropriate that we took the dress to another place of journeys, and a "road" less traveled than it use to be, the train station. Here I stared at the departure board, so many paths, so many possible adventures to choose from. I'm glad I chose the path less traveled and started a passion for history and historical clothing. The path may be weedy and rough but with the support of Foundations Revealed and other passionate people, there is no way that this will be the wrong path.
Outline the construction…
So as my first foray into non 1860's dress, I went to the trusty Truly Victorian website for patterns. This was made using the vest basque, the grand bustle, and the Parisian trained skirt. I decided to use silk from Fashion Fabrics that was purchased during a sale and only ended up being $45 for 7 yards of taffeta. For the lining, good old fashioned linen. I made the skirt first, opting for one apron as opposed to two. The skirt had six panels. Used hem tape for the bustle tapes, and used the bottom half of the back piece to create a casing to run a drawstring. For trim I pinked long strips of silk and gathered them by hand. Besides several long strips, I took a few short ones, sewed them in a circle and lain flat to make a sort of rosette to place on the side panels.
Beautiful work. It looks so beautifully executed. Good Luck!
Such a pretty ensamble! I see the hard work.
What a lovely bustle dress. Well done!
This dress fits you very well! And there are a lot of details here, great job♡
Lovely construction! I like the linen lining layer! (say that 5 times fast 🙂 ) Beautiful details.
Beautiful! Such a lovely shape to the bustle! I love the personal connection you have with the poem, this dress is definitely a step in the historical sewing journey you spoke about! Well done!
I just love how you used that fabric on the dress. It looks delicious!