Peach Beaded Ball Gown

A couple of weekends ago I attended an 1812 ball in Salem's Old Town Hall that was put on by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers.  It was a fabulous ball!  The venue was great.  There were so many people, and pretty much everyone was dressed for the period.  I got there a little late (so hard to find parking in Salem!) so only danced 4 sets, but they were very fun.  There was an intermission with refreshments that was also lovely.  I met up with a friend there and made a few new ones as well!  So on to the stuff you're really here for, the pictures!

I was so pleased with my dress and how it came out!  There's just a couple little things that bother me, but I'm going to try to ignore them.  It's based on quite a few different fashion plates from around 1812.  It's a peachy pink silk shantung underdress with a beaded (and sequined) net overlay.  The net is not historically accurate, it has clear opalescent sequins on some of the flowers, but that made it sparkle so nicely!  It's covered with embroidery and there are round and marquis shaped pearls all over, one on each flower and around the scalloped hem border.  I think it's probably bridal fabric but it was just too pretty to pass up.  I had a very limited amount (I think 2 or 2.5 yards) and about the same of the silk, so I had to be very careful with it.  And I used up pretty much every bit of it!  I flatlined the net to the silk on the bodice and sleeves.  The skirt is left separate.  The underdress skirt is just a triangular shaped, no gathers skirt.  For the overlay I used a wide panel that I curved slightly in the middle.  I then pleated the rest of it in the back.  There are a few little tucks on the front and sides to help it lay better.  The one thing I'm disappointed about is that the net seemed to stretch with wear.  I had originally hemmed the pink silk skirt to hang about 1.5 inches below the "top" of the scalloped hem.  But I noticed by the end of the night they were basically the same length.  Which is a bummer as it's not like I can take the hem up.  I can let the silk hem down but I wanted it to be ankle length, especially as this makes it much easier to dance in.

I have a posture problem...  Photo courtesy of Quinn.

Don't mind the crooked back, my roommate had to mark it so it's a little off.  I couldn't tell in the mirror at the time.  Will be fixing that for sure.

With my friends at the ball.  Photo courtesy of Quinn.

I was pretty pleased with my accessories too!  I got to wear my new tiara to help camouflage the hair piece I was wearing.  I felt like a pretty princess!  I also wore my vintage kid leather elbow length gloves.  I found the perfect shoes at a dance store in Burlington.  And got them for a steal! I'd been looking at these ones online for forever and debating whether to buy them or not.  I put it off so long that it was only a few days from the ball and I didn't know what I'd wear for shoes.  I had some not so great options but I really wanted satin dancing slippers.  The dance store had these back in storage and I guess they'd been there forever because they told me "eh, ten dollars" when I asked their price.  They didn't have my exact size so I'd been debating between half size up or half size down but when I heard that I said, I'll take them both!  I wore the smaller ones to the ball but they definitely hurt by the end of the night.  I'm glad I bought two pairs as well because I have "elf toes" which totally put holes in shoes right over my big toe.  This is already happening on the smaller pair!  I'm glad that I'll still have some when that eventually goes all the way through.

Last but not least, my favorite accessory, and a totally last minute thing, my fan.  I will do a post about these soon.  I am so so excited that they've been working out.  It's actually almost totally period correct!  I will have to share the secret on that soon.  I mounted it literally 2 hours before the ball.  Luckily it dried quickly and I could use it by the time I got there.  It got a lot of compliments and I'm thinking maybe I need to teach a class or do a tutorial or something.  I've thought of selling them but they do take some time to make.  Anyway, like I said, more on that to come!

Thanks to Quinn for the picture!

Ball gown progress pics

Here's some pictures of the dress so far, the silk underskirt is just pinned to Miss Ella so I can see how it will look.

The back will either button or hook closed.  Haven't decided yet.

A close up of the sequins and beads on the net

After looking through more fashion plates (thanks nuranar!) I've realized that my dress could still be kind of 1812, which is what the ball is supposed to be.  It's probably going to be somewhere between 12-14 so maybe I'm just super fashionable! :)  In 1812 the skirts were very narrow and columnular.  By 1815 they were starting to get more of the triangle shape, but still not as full as they'd get by the 20's.  Check out this progression:

Ball gown from 1812.  Skirt is ankle length and not very full except in the back.  I like the sleeves in this one too!

This is from 1813.  Hard to see the shape of the skirt since she's dancing, but it still seems pretty straight.  Also love these sleeves!

From 1814, this one has a net overlay!  And pink underdress!  But it's more triangular than the 1812.  Also the skirt is shorter than the last two.

This is from 1815.  I really like these sleeves.  And again shorter more a-line skirt with an overlay!

From 1816.  Are these all starting to look the same to you too?  Shorter a-line skirt as well.  Maybe the waist line is really what's changing most?

So who knows, maybe I can give my dress an 1812 date after all.  The bodice on that one is a bit longer than the others, as is mine (really, I can't achieve that high of a bust line, even in period underwear). My skirt is going to be just a tad shorter probably, more like the later ones, I had to conserve fabric...

As for the sleeves, I've gotten some good ideas and it seems like they don't have to be super full, so I think they're doable, which is good!  I may do a super short sleeve that's gathered up in the center, which would nicely echo the bodice, plus I could still use the scallop border without having it look lame.  The idea in my head will look pretty, it's just a matter of whether or not I can execute it!  I may leave the undersleeve off entirely and just keep them net, we'll have to see.  That would be nice because then I could add some extra volume to the bottom of the skirt!

Beginings of a ball gown

I actually did some sewing this weekend!  On Friday I made TONS of plans about the events and projects I have coming up through next summer and it's lit a fire under me, so I'm taking advantage of the motivation and getting stuff done!

I'll add another post here in a bit about all those plans... lots of fun!

So lately I've been wanting to work on a Regency ball gown even though I don't really need it until February (there's an 1812 ball in Salem that's going to be great!), but like I said... taking advantage of the motivation while I can!  And it actually worked because the bodice is almost done!

I'm using a pretty peachy-pink silk that I bought a couple of yards of randomly at Sewfisticated with a really pretty embroidered pearl beaded white net overlay.  I think it was some kind of bridal fabric, and while it's not 100% accurate (it has some clear sequins under many of the pearls, but they aren't very obvious and just adds a bit more sparkle) it's certainly is very pretty!  The silk has a very slight slub, but as it's an underlay it doesn't matter since it doesn't even show! :)

I draped the pattern for the bodice a few weeks ago.  It has a square-ish neck that dips center front because of gathering down the bodice.  It will button (or maybe hook) in back.  I flat lined the net to the silk.  Originally I was going to use a flimsier fabric for the underdress and make them separately, but I realized what a pain the net was going to be to sew with and this is actually working really well.  Because it's a "stiffer" dress and because I don't have a *ton* of fabric (only two yards of each fabric, really cutting it close, but it's actually going to work, just barely!) I'm going for a more 1815's date, with an a-line skirt with no gathering in the front.  I think I might even slightly pad them of the underdress to help hold it out a bit.

The two things I haven't figured out are sleeves and whether to use a waist band or not.  Sewing a waistband with this fabric would just be a little crazy, unless it was huge, so I may forgo that.  For the sleeves I'm worried about how much fabric I have.  Most 1815 sleeves are pretty puffy, as far as I can remember, but I'd like to use the scallop border of the net along the bottom of the sleeve and that means, straight (plus less fabric).  Guess I'm going to have to do a little more research first!

For now, it's cutting the skirt pannels and seaming them together.  The two skirts are going to be seperate, or that was my plan until just now when I realized what a pain that will be.  But it will hang so much prettier!  The net is pretty heavy from all the beading so it would move around the dress nicely if it was free to move!

To complete the outfit I need to get satin ballet slippers/flats, there are some on eBay that I've been eyeing forever and I'll probably wear my elbow length leather gloves, though they are very tight.  Too bad I don't have anything to make a pretty evening cloak with.  Guess I'll just have to wear my tan pelisse and use my huge fur muff! :)

So that's what I'm working on for now.  When that's done, I'll have to figure out what I'm motivated most to work on next!  Pictures soon!