June 2 , 2008

Recently I bought 3 meters white taffeta with a black flock braock print. I also bought 2 meters of black taffeta with the same black barock print. As I don't have much fabric, I didn't quit know what to make. In the end I decided to make the parisian skirt, but with some modifications. I am not going to make the two front aprons. Instead I will use the polonaise pattern. The bottom half of the front will be some sort of overskirt attached to the back part of the parisian skirt.

Fabric:

Picture of the black fabric is extremely highlighted to show barock pattern.

Pattern used:

The front, side-fronts and side-backs (parisian skirt pattern) will be white taffeta. Cutting out the pattern pieces:

The back and the train (parisian skirt pattern) will be black:

June 5 , 2008

Front, side-fronts and side-backs sewn together:

Cutting out the new "overskirt":

As you can see on the second picture I have only used the bottom part of the front. The natural waist line on the polonaise pattern is where the waistband of the skirt will go. I have lenghtend this part in order to make an extra pleat. The polonaise has 3 pleats on the pattern, I have made 4.

June 9 , 2008

I pinned the front and back together to see how it all looks. Hmmmm, I wasn;t quit satisfied. It didn't match the image I had in my head. I am tempted to just throw this skirt in a closet and close the door. But instead I decided to continue and hopefully it will all come together. As the front is a bit plain looking, I made a small ruffle. I didn't have much fabric left to make a ruffle, so it is only 15 cm high.

Then I started working on the back and the train. According to the pattern you have to pleat the back part to a twill tape. I decided to do this differently. First I sew the trainsides to the middle train. Then I pleated the whole train to the upper back part. Instead of pleating this all to a twill tape, I stitched a wide satin ribbon on the pleats and pulled a smaller satin ribbon through this tunnel. This way I can adjust the skirt the way I like. It is the same method that is used on the fantail skirt (TV225).

Train pinned in pleats to upper back:

Tunnel made with wide satin ribbon:

June 11 , 2008

I made no more pictures, so here is the finished skirt.

Lace trim to "polonaise-overskirt" and to ruffle:

In my sketch I also planned to make a corset of the white taffeta. After trying it on I wasn't sure if I wanted to wear one with this skirt. But since I have some scraps left, I decided to make a quick corset anyway.

Cutting out the fabric:

I am only using the barock print, because I don't want it to be a solid white. It was a bit of a puzzle, but I managed to get all the pieces out of these fabric-scraps. I also used up all my solid steel busks, so for this corset I had to use a white steel busk. It is not as sturdy as a solid steel one, but I have no other choice.

June 12 , 2008

All pieces sewn together:

Busk sewn in:

Grommets set in the back:

June 13 , 2008

Boning sewn in (used bone-tape) and black satin trim added to both top and bottom. Finished corset:

June 25 , 2008

More pictures here.