It's Ballgown Time!

Note: these posts are being written up with a delay... I didn't get to posting them over break, but have a good chunk of the dress done.

I had been lusting over the pink ballgown for ages, (you know, the one I kept posting pictures of) but had had no luck in finding fabric for it. Wrong weight, wrong color, wrong sheen... I just couldn't get the correct tone, and didn't want to compromise and ruin my vision of the dress. Someday it will be mine--but for now, I am working on another ball gown!

I had been scouring ebay for fabric for ages when I found... IT. Sixteen yards of bone colored, 34"w antique silk. "Good heavens, that must have been extortionately expensive!" you must be thinking. Try $15.50 with $8 shipping. That's right, folks... all the yards I could wish for of high quality vintage stock for a little over a dollar a yard! I won the bid almost without contest. I was close to doing a victory dance, but didn't want to scare my roommate.

What do I do with this glorious good fortune? Well, that shouldn't come as a surprise... it's ballgown time! It's a very light, soft fabric, so anything very structured is out of the question.

Here is my chief inspiration at present:

So light and feminine!

I plan to add more of the contrasting color, and may do a point on the bodice. (I like the ribbon around the waist, but neglected to get the proper width of ribbon while I was at Haberman's, and don't have time for another trip. Rats!) I like the ruffles around the bottom of the skirt. I was originally planning on tiers, but liked the subtlety of the ruffles and how they show off the delicacy of the fabric. Currently, the skirt is made, and the first ruffle is almost ready to attach. Let me tell you... it is taking FOR. EVER. I don't know why, but this project is crawling along at a snail's pace. A tired snail. A tired snail with no motivation. Maybe it's just because I've been so busy otherwise, but still! The bodice is basically stitched together too, but still needs to have hooks and eyes, boning, and piping. So basically everything. 

Pictures of the progress coming soon... hopefully. You know how that goes. First full week of classes coming up... yikes!

Death by Finals?

As I last posted in the middle of finals week over a month ago, you very well may have assumed that I died. Well, no such tragedy! Break has kept me running around just as much as school had been, but I've worked on quite a few projects in the interim that I will be posting directly. Over the next week, look for posts going up on a whole handful of 1860s projects including a ballgown and a foray into men's clothes, as well as a long overdue Regency project!