I fell in love with this walking gown http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/156667?rpp=30&pg=1&ft=walking%2Bdress&pos=3&imgNo=0&tabName=label
the first time I saw it and I knew I had to make a replica. The original gown
was made of tan silk. I did not like the color of the original ensemble and
knew I would change this. I came across a navy blue striped silk faille and I
knew it would be perfect. There was only 12 yards of the so I knew I would have
to make some changes to the original design. After I failed to find a navy silk
that matched my base fabric I decided to go a different direction and use a
contrasting coloured silk for the bias.
This ensemble has three pieces, the
underskirt, the overskirt and the bodice.
I made the underskirt first. I mounted the
silk on cotton broadcloth as there was not enough silk to make the skirt pieces
full length the puffed section and pleated ruffle were also mounted on the
broadcloth. When I added the puffed sections I found that keeping to the bias
pattern used on the original gown was distracting to the eye and didn’t look
anywhere near as elegant. After trying
many variations I found what looked best was having the bias at the top and
bottom of the ruffle.
The next step was to work on the overskirt.
I made up the underskirt by draping muslin until I found a pattern that looked
similar to the original though in retrospect I believe my scale was somewhat
off. My absolute favourite part of the overskirt is the long lace trimmed panel
on the left side. I underlined the two back pieces with net. All edges are
bound in silk and trimmed with lace. Because I could not find 2 pieces of lace
of matching colors I cut the upper leaf pattern from the larger piece of lace.
I chose to bind the pocket with the dress material as I thought it looked
better this way. The lace used to decorate the pocket was also cut from the
larger piece.
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| Overskirt Front |
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| A closeup of the lace trim |
The bodice of the gown was drafted by
starting with a basic Victorian bodice. I
did make a few changes with this. First I made the square neckline higher
because I wanted to be able to wear this gown during warmer weather so I made
the upper neckline and collar removable. The bow at the back is made with gown
fabric and surrounded by a cockade of lace cut from the larger lace trim. As
with the two other pieces of this ensemble the bodice is trimmed with white
silk and lace and self-covered buttons. The bodice is lined with cotton
broadcloth and is closed with hooks and eyes. The sleeves are basic two piece coat
sleeves decorated with a band of rouching as well as white bias and lace.
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| Closeup of cuff |
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| Self Covered buttons |
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| Neckline and Collar |
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| Buttons |
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| Bow and Lace Cockade |
Here is the finished outfit.
To
finish off my outfit I made a hat, using a pattern from Lynn McMasters.
I
have plans to make a matching parasol just as soon as I find a frame I like.
Here
is me wearing the completed ensemble. This is by far my favorite thing I have
made thus far. I really loved decorating the “set” to look like something out
of a Victorian carte de viste. Now I just need to figure out how to work a program to crop some of these and sepia them up.
I am
going to end with my three favorite pictures of the shoot.
