To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory. Isaiah 61:3

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

1885 Sailor Dress....Or My Most Favorite Dress in All the World

 Hello Lovely Readers!  This TBT brings to an end my outfits for the SPWF.  I have, in my opinion, saved the best for last as this is my most favorite dress in all the world...that I have made.  This is so much my favorite dress that I joke with my husband that I wish to be buried in this dress upon my death.  He doesn't think it's funny.  He doesn't know that I am sort of, kind of, rather serious.  It is a reproduction of an 1885 sea side bustle dress.  

The last event of the last day of the SPWF, we decided that we needed to be a Steampunk Olympic Team.  All of us ladies chose a sport to represent and went to work designing our dresses around that sport.  Judy Smith and I actually traded sports as I started out wanting to be archery but couldn't find out a way to get a recurve bow on the plane from Idaho to New Jersey.  So we switched...she became Archery and I became Sailing.

Photo:  Kat Stelzer

Inspiration:

1885 Fashion Plate of a Nautical Bustle Dress

I fell in love with the overall yuminess of it all.  Not only was the color scheme glorious, but it had tabs!!!!  I ordered the anchor patches off of ebay and they were a perfect color and fit!  I wasn't overly fond of the apron/drape on the left side of the dress, so I left it off of mine.  I had hoped to recover a parasol to use with the dress, but I ended up using my left over ivory silk on another project.


I found this fashion plate waaaaay before I even met any of the ladies that became the Steampunk Olympic Team (I would like to point out that Beth and Josie also had this in their "I will make someday" file too.  We have each made our sailor dresses based on this fashion plate and will one day get together for a photo shoot...) I put it in my "will make someday" file and would bring it out and drool over it from time to time, but always put it back because I couldn't find a stripe fabric that made me happy.  In the end I, I spent 16+ hours sewing 1" blue satin ribbon to the dupioni silk to form the stripes.  CRAZY!!!!!  But it worked!


I found some incredible antique ivory and navy wings on eBay for the hat.


Patterns Used:

Bodice:  TV463 1884 French Vest Bodice
Underskirt:  self drafted...I needed a dress that wasn't cut on an angle, as I needed to sew satin ribbon to get the stripe look and didn't want to sew them on the curve.
Overskirt:  self drafted


Fabrics Used: Ivory dupioni silk
Navy faux dupioni silk
1" Navy satin double sided ribbon
Natural muslin



Gazing through the looking glass that Beth lent me....she of course insisted upon getting it back.  Brat.


If you look closely, you can see the good job it did in matching the ribbon stripes up on the side seam.  I was a little impressed with myself!!   hahahahahahaha!!!  Sometimes, things that I do actually end up right!


My hat was a navy blue straw instead of the natural color of the fashion plate.




The prerequisite immature picture.

Pictures taken on Emma







Lovely filligree ship I found on eBay

The Team

Needless to say, I thought all the ladies on our SPWF Olympic team looked beyond fabulous!  It was so fun to meet in the large patio area at the hotel and see the glorious dresses that the ladies had created!  We had medals that hung around our necks and either Beth or Kat had made the contestant numbers for our backs!  I cannot express what a fun event this was!!


All of the ladies on the Olympic team with our handsome judges.


Beth:  Shooting

Loved the colors of her plaid and all her buttons!  She even found antique shooting medals to pin on her bodice!


Kelsey:  Tennis

She has embroidered tennis rackets along the hem of her skirt!  Of course a tennis champion would not be complete with out her trusty racket!


Josie:  Swimming

Notice the octapus at her hip and of course her life preserver!  Adorable!  The color of her outfit was so refreshing!


Jess:  Equestrian

The color of her gown was gorgeous!  Her veiled habit fit perfectly on her beautifully coiffed head!


Judy:  Archery

She looks like a Steampunk Artemis, goddess of the hunt!  Loved all the pleating at the hem of the short skirt!


Kat:  Croquet

Pleats and tabs!  I need say no more!  Loved the shade of the red with the black lace!  Oh and her croquet mallet holder was pretty epic too!


Jason and Steve our Judges

I think they were a little biased.....



Our contestant number signs had gears to represent the 7 Olympic rings!  Such genius!!!

The End

Well, here we are at the end of the SPWF...also the backs of our outfits!!  This was such a fun adventure and event!  I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and can't wait until I get the chance to be with these incredibly talented and fun ladies!


See you next week!

Be blessed my friends!

g

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32 comments:

  1. NoraJanuary 21, 2015 at 1:05 PM

    I love this dress! It's perfect and what a fun idea to have the Olympic theme :) You look wonderful wearing it, the style and the colours suit you so well!

    -Nora-

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    Replies
    1. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:27 AM

      Thank you so much Nora! As I said, I had drooled over the fashion plate for so long so it was fun to see it come to life! The Olympic team was so much fun to be able to participate in!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  2. Eleonora AmaliaJanuary 21, 2015 at 1:14 PM

    I must confess this is one of my favorite gowns of yours as well! I've seen it before I don't know where, but my love for sea side gowns got just more intense after seeing this one. How come the seaside dresses always had those awesome color schemes that worked so well? And the stripey underskirt - whoa. That's a loooot of work but it was definitely worth it.

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    1. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:34 AM

      Thank you Eleonora!! I too adore seaside dresses!!! I have a HUGE Pinterest board dedicated to just them! My mom is planning on making a bustle dress for our trip to Port Townsend in March for The Victorian Festival and we plan on wearing the bustle sailor dresses on the same day! I can't wait!!
      Here is the Pinterest board...
      https://www.pinterest.com/rlnwht/sailor-suits/

      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
    2. Eleonora AmaliaFebruary 1, 2015 at 2:56 PM

      Thanks a lot! I'd love to have a seaside dress on my own, but I live far away from the sea, on the opposite side of the country, so I just lack motivation to do something as pointless as a seaside dress near the mountains, haha!

      Delete
    3. GinaFebruary 3, 2015 at 5:34 PM

      Ha!!! Well, I am afraid my dear Eleonora, that your excuse for not making a seaside dress has totally sunk!! You see, living in Boise, Idaho, I am a good 502 miles away from Tillamook, Oregon...the ocean.... Aaaaaand, I too live very near the mountains...like they are 59 minutes away. From Krakow to Gdansk (that's the closest to the ocean I could see on the map on Google) is 589 km which is 365.998 miles, sooooooo....I now challenge you to make a seaside dress!! hahahahaha!!!! I hope I see you in a blue and white sailor suit soooon!!! ahahahahaha!!! Have I motivated you yet ;-)?
      Blessings to you my talented friend!
      g

      Delete
  3. UnknownJanuary 21, 2015 at 2:30 PM

    Ha ha! Its so fun! The dress is osom, and Yours games, haha! Its must be werry funy to be with Your friends :P ps: wen You have time for make dress?

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    1. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:36 AM

      Alicja, it was immense fun to be with these ladies and they are totally fabulous! I sew when I get a chance...or I sew for a whole day! Just depends on my mood, the project and if my kids need fed!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  4. Mrs. LJanuary 21, 2015 at 5:25 PM

    Wow, you are very talented, the dress is lovely. Wishing I have friends like yours, and with like minded people ;)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:36 AM

      Thank you so very much M! I do have pretty wonderful friends!! They are really fun, neat, fabulous and talented!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  5. The Quintessential Clothes PenJanuary 21, 2015 at 5:37 PM

    Lol, you guys are adorable! I love the group shot. Each person did a great job accessorizing to make it easy to figure out what sport was being represented. I love the pose of Josie's picture! :) What fun!

    Best,
    Quinn

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    Replies
    1. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:37 AM

      Josie is a hoot! She was totally hamming it up this day! This was such a fun project and an epic day!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  6. CrystalJanuary 21, 2015 at 8:48 PM

    WOW. No wonder thIis one is your favourite. It's STUNNING. I love the group too! What fun!

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    1. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:38 AM

      Thank you so very much Crystal! This day and project has been one of my all time favorites...maybe that is also part of the reason why I adore the dress so much!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  7. vintagevisions27January 22, 2015 at 5:34 AM

    Oh my goodness!!! I can see why this is your favorite dress! The stripes, the tabs, the little anchors, oh and THE HAT! Seeing this is pure costume bliss. I'd want to be buried in the dress too if I were you. :) I can't believe you sewed all those rows of ribbon. Oh the crazy things we do to achieve the look we want. Wonderful job dear lady. The other ladies look divine as well. I love all the little details. This post just made my morning. :)
    -Emily

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    1. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:41 AM

      Hello Emily!
      Thank you so much for your lovely compliments! Yes, I agree...sometimes we as costumers can to incredibly crazy things to achieve our goals! I am glad that you get why I want to be buried in the dress! hahahaha!! Even though it sounds totally crazy! I am so happy this post made your morning! That is what sharing is all about isn't it!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  8. Lieschen MüllerJanuary 22, 2015 at 7:15 AM

    So great, now you need sea breeze and a ship to discover new worlds :)

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    1. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:43 AM

      Oooooh...that is a fabulous idea Lieschen!! Hmmm...now how to go about obtaining said ship...
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  9. Time Traveling in CostumeJanuary 22, 2015 at 9:12 AM

    I love that dress too, and I think they would love it in the Port Townsend fashion show. ;)
    Val

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    Replies
    1. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:43 AM

      Thanks Val! I got a hold of JoAnn and let her know that I have this dress as well!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  10. AnnelieseJanuary 22, 2015 at 8:58 PM

    Ooh La La! This is fabulous!! You have so so so much talent! All of the details & all of the time that you pour into your outfits - I just am in awe! If there was an Olympic event for sewing, your group would take gold! I just can't wait to see what's next...Keep inspiring us, Anneliese :)

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    1. GinaJanuary 28, 2015 at 8:23 AM

      Oh thank you so so much Anneliese! This was a super fun dress to work on. The team was such a wonderful project to be a part of!!!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  11. Świeża ŻonaJanuary 23, 2015 at 3:23 AM

    Amazing! This dress is incredible! You've got to have super sewing skills :D Your friends look lovely too :)

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    1. GinaJanuary 28, 2015 at 8:24 AM

      Oh thank you so much! This was a fun dress to work on! I have pretty awosome friends who are really dedicated to making beautiful dresses!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  12. PaulinaJanuary 25, 2015 at 3:22 AM

    Oh my! Gina, you look so incredibly beautiful. Your dress is perfect! :D

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    1. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:44 AM

      Thank you so much Lina! This truly was the most fun dress to make!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  13. La belle inconnueJanuary 25, 2015 at 4:43 AM

    I can see why this is your favourite dress - it is beautiful. I love copying outfits from fashion plates and photographs too and you have done an absolutely amazing job. Well done on the ribbons! Doing it the hard way is always worth it in the end!

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    Replies
    1. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:46 AM

      Thank you so much for your lovely compliment La Belle! I agree with you about doing things the hard way...it does totally make it worth it in the end!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete
  14. RosaJanuary 25, 2015 at 6:50 PM

    This is a show-stopper, pure and simple:-) If that person who drew the fashion plate saw you, I think his jaw would fall to the ground for sure:-)

    I don't know if it's okay, since you already have one, but, since yours is one of my beloved blogs, I nominated it for the Liebster blog award here: http://fantasiadollhousediaries.blogspot.cz/2015/01/liebster-blog-award.html Thank you for all the wonderful dresses, ideas and tutorials you post, it's immensely fascinating to see those fashion plates come alive in such perfection:-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. GinaJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:54 AM

    Oh Rosa! Thank you so much for your wonderful compliments! They have made my day! It would indeed be fun to meet the person who drew this fashion plate! I had never thought of that before!
    I would love to accept your nomination...that way I can give the award out in turn! That's the best part about getting this award...you can give it away! Thank you so much again!
    Blessings!
    g

    ReplyDelete
  16. Katrina @ Edelweiss PatternsFebruary 9, 2015 at 7:35 PM

    Oh, WOW! This is simply spectacular. What an amazing work of art. Keep up the super work!!

    Happy sewing,
    Katrina

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    Replies
    1. GinaFebruary 11, 2015 at 4:23 PM

      Thank you so much Katrina! Doing the fashion plates is such a fun challenge for me!
      Blessings!
      g

      Delete

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