Money Dress Diary: part 2

Well, work finally commenced on the Money Dress on Saturday, and boy did it ever! I started work at 6pm (I had class and errands until then), worked until 1am, then rose on Sunday at 8:30 and worked until 1:30 pm. Luckily, I got everything done that needed to get done this weekend, so at this point I'm right on schedule. Heh. This will not last long.

I used the Truly Victorian patterns 225 and 324; they each got some alterations, though the underskirt stayed pretty true to the pattern.

Here's the sketch once again, showing the plans for the dress (in case anyone has forgotten;)

The skirt itself went together a dream, as with most Truly Victorian patterns. It was very simple to construct, and by 9pm on Saturday I had the skirt together and the flounces cut and sewn into two long 400" pieces. 800"x7" of silk to roll hem by hand; why oh why did I never get a roll hem foot for my machine? Curses! By 10 they were hemmed, and I started the laborious process of ironing all those pleats. With Dexter on in the background, I got started, and finished around 12am. Then, I sewed the pleats onto the skirt and called it a night. I was bushed!
Sunday morning saw the underskirt finished; I sewed the darts and the back seam, and attached and pleated it all into the waistband. Hey everybody! Guess who lost an inch off her waist measurement! Yay!


The apron/tourniere came next, and it took some futzing. I wanted the back tourniere to fall longer than the front, so I pinned and pleated each until I liked the way they fell. I also pinned the asymmetrical pick-ups in the apron, and sewed those down. I sewed the apron to the tourniere, making one more adjustment to the pattern: it called for a slit in the center back and a placket for closure, but I thought that looked clunky, so I changed it to a side-closure. easy-peasy.

I added the casing with drawstrings in the back to create the bustle, and voila! My apron/tourniere was done!

The bows came last, and I made long tubes of green silk which were tied into large, floppy bows to hang from each pick-up on the apron, and from the bustle in the back.

It's difficult to see them against the green, but they're there. I hand-tacked them last night, and added closures to both skirts. All that's missing now is the satin ribbon trim; the ribbon hasn't arrived yet! Hopefully, it will come soon. Next up: the bodice! I just might get this thing finished by my friend's Halloween party on the 24th! Woo hoo!