| Victorian Rose Garden This Outfit is designed for a Victorian Summer. At the moment the roses in the garden are in full bloom and they smell fabulous! What better way to spend the day than to be out there amongst them. The dress is made all in one piece with press stud fastenings down the back. The skirt has an underskirt of stiff cream coloured cotton to give it shape. The skirt itself is made in a beautiful rose coloured pure silk. The front is quite straight but the back has as much fabric as I could get cartridge pleated into the waistband. |
As you can see working the cartridge pleats in the skirt gets far more fabric into the skirt without creating bulk in the waistband. A clever trick used very often by the Victorian dressmakers. It also lifts the skirt away from the body giving it a bustle effect. |
The Blouse is created using some very old antique cotton lace, which could even be correct to that period. The lace itself is very delicate and beautifully made and I have had it in mind for some time that it would be nice to sew the strips together and make something from it. Sewing the pieces together is very time consuming and has been done by hand as I don't want any stitches to be seen! The front, back and sleeves have all been made this way. |
The front yoke has been trimmed with tiny pearl "buttons". The collar has been made using the same lace and carries on down the back in a V- shape. This has then been sewn into an edging strip to form the back fastening, also trimmed with tiny pearl bead buttons. The sleeves have a short sleeve overlay in rose print cotton fabric to match the bodice of the blouse. This shorter sleeve sections are joined down the middle using pearl beads between the two sections. |
The Blouse has eight darts sewn in around the waistline to give is a good fitted shape, and the yoke is finished off around the edge with a frill of lace. To top off the outfit we have a bonnet, essential when one is outdoors! The bonnet has been made by sewing a strip of braid into a spiral shape, working it to fit the head at the same time. The underside has a row of lace trim and the upper a band of lace which is sewn to the hat and then threaded through the body of the hat to create the two trailing ties. Then I have copied the rose pattern from the fabric of the blouse and embroidered it over the lace. |
And the outfit wouldn't be complete without the Victorian boots. Calf high, lace up in cream. |