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

Sunday, September 24, 2017

1830s Wedding Dress



Good Sunday to you all!  I hope that your week is going wonderfully!  Mine has been great so far!

The last post I wrote was about the "Dressing The Historical Bride" fashion show and tea, highlighting 5 unique silhouettes from 5 different clothing eras.  Today I want to share with you the 1836 wedding dress that I made and the Augusta Auctions Dress that I used as inspiration!  I emailed Augusta Auctions and Karen Augusta gave me permission to use the photos of the phenomenal, incredible, over-the-top dress found on her website:  Augusta Auctions.  Thank you so much for allowing me to use this fantastic dress and the images in the making of my own 1830s dress!!

I have for quite some time wanted to make a crazy, ridiculous, huge sleeved 1830s dress.  I also knew that I wanted a fabric with a texture on it and not just a plain satin fabric.  While mom and I were visiting my brother and his family in Spokane Valley, I stopped by a JoAnn's and low and behold this incredibly beautiful brocade jumped off the shelves and wrestled me to the ground screaming for me to buy the bolt and take it home.  I agreed with the crazy, customer attacking fabric and purchased it...oh, and I could use my 60% off coupon!  Huzzaaaaaah!!!  It made my magpie heart happy.  Now all I needed was the perfect dress to copy!  After hours and hours of searching Pinterest, my eyes beheld the most gorgeous 1830s wedding dress I had ever seen!  First of all.....PLEATS!!!  Secondly, although I had never given oak tree leaves any thought other than thinking they were super cool, this dress had two huge oak leaves framing the pleating on the bodice.  The more I looked at the dress, the more my eyes dilated, the more I salivated, the more I got excited, the more I HAD to make it!!!  The fussiness of the whole thing just really captured my crazy fashion loving heart!

Here she is in all her 1830s glory!!!  Don't know when I'll get the chance to wear it myself, but I hope that day is soon!!!



















































Some construction images...

I foolishly thought that this dress would be a super quick make.  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
That was the most hilarious thing I had talked myself into believing for a very, very long time.  I don't know how long it took, but I can say that during the making of the three dresses that I needed to round out the program (1836, 1856, 1920's), I finished all 10 seasons of "CSI: Miami".  That would be 232 episodes that averaged 43 minutes a piece for a total 9,976 minutes or 166 hours.  Throw in the random "Cranford", some "Call the Midwife", "Manoa", and I started "CSI:Crime Scene Investigation".  All I know is that making the whole dress was a colossal consumer of time.




The pleating was particularly a pain in the rear.  The panel was too wide to use my perfect pleater, so I had so measure, mark and pleat each individual pleat, one at a time.  




I did have to cheat a little and serge the edges of the oak leaves because the fabric was wretchedly ravvely.  Ravelly....It unraveled a whole lot!!! 




This is why I haven't ever made a set of 1770s stays.  Hand sewing the binding around the edges and the inside curves was a pain!!!  Each long oak leaf and the bow took a day each to sew!  ACK!!!!!




Soooooooo many pins!!!!




I ended up cutting a whole bunch of the painstakingly pleated panel off on the sides....grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.........




 


I then had to hand sew along both sided of the piping that was down the center of the oak leaves to make sure they didn't shift.  That was fun....

 


Ready to sew onto the dress!!!


Well, I can now say that I have an 1830s wedding dress in my costuming collection and for some reason that makes me giddy with delight!

I hope you all have a wonderful last week of September!  I can't believe how fast time is flying by!

Blessings!

g


12 comments:

  1. Oh deah me, M'lady! :) This dress is STUNNING. While the 1830's are not my favorite by any stretch, the designs of this dress captured my attention. And the skills and patience you have to recreate it in such PERFECT detail.....you have my admiration once again, Gina! :) I still say when I grow up I'm gonna be like you. Trouble is, I'm already 31. ;) Anyway, this dress is a winner for sure. The oak leaves are my favorite detail, and the whole thing together is a splendid show of amazing craftsmanship and design and skill. Hurrah for you! :)

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    1. Hi Sarah!! You always know how to make me smile in a most ridiculous manner! Thank you so much for all of your lovely compliments! The oak leaves are what caught my attention on the original. They were just so unusual and that right there made me want to recreate the dress! I always tell others I want to grow up to be just like them! Even those younger than me! I totally know that feeling! You are such a sweet heart!!! Again, thank you so much!
      Blessings!
      g

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  2. Gina, I am constantly amazed at how amazing you are!

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    1. Thank you so very much for your lovely compliment Quinn! It truly means a lot to me!
      Blessings!
      g

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  3. Oh my goodness, it's incredible! No wonder it took so long to make, it is so intricate and detailed. Dat front! Those sleeves!

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    1. Thank you Rosa! I felt like I was working in slow motion while making this! It was weird and I was so happy when it was completed! Yes...the sleeves. But, as big as they are, they aren't nearly as huge as the originals!!!
      Blessings!
      g

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  4. This is jaw-dropping amazing! I know that feeling when a dress idea grabs you by the heart and you just gotta do it. But I bow to your awesomeness because you have gone where few women have gone before (inner voice: bat**** crazy) and did it all. So far I've only done parts of some of my inspirations but it still made my heart happy. BTW, I'll pm you my mailing address and be expecting this on my doorstop very soon.
    Val

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    1. Hahahahaha!!! BSC!! Love it Val and yes, I did feel for most of the time that I was absolutly BSC! Thank you so much for this wonderful compliment! It makes my heart so very happy!! I still don't know your mailing address though...hahahahaha!
      Blessings!
      g

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  5. Oh. My. Your ability to faithfully recreate actual historical garments never ceases to amaze me, but you've excelled yourself with this one. It's just perfect. All that binding round curves - I feel your pain!

    And I just love your method of counting how long it took!!

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    1. Oh yes...those binding curves. My fingers, neck, eyes and back! They were crazy hard and time consuming to do! Thank you so very much for your lovely compliments! They are truly appreciated!
      Blessings!
      g

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  6. I totally want you to add acorns to it now that the show is over....just sayin!! I love it and we all know I have a meh relationship with the 1830s. I am particularly impressed that you found ANY fabric that would look even remotely similar as figured silk is a rare-rare bird indeed. A beautifully "inspired by" gown I would be super proud to borrow! LOL!! I also have it on good authority that the tea was a smashing success! So pleased and happy for you!!! Keep doing you my friend keep doing you!!

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    1. hahahahaha! I have been on the look out for acorn and oak tree jewelry that doesn't cost an arm and a leg! But stuffed acorns...epic!! hahahahahaha!!! Thank you! Yes, the fabric was a "lucky" find as figured silk as you say is stupid expensive when you can find it!! And, yes, I'm gonna keep on being me! I love you and your great support my friend!
      Blessings!
      g

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