Victorian Mourning gown skirt

I have been plugging along on the Victorian Mourning gown and it has taken way longer than I anticipated.  I really underestimated the time required to sew on all the little beaded appliques.  However the base skirt is finally finished.

The first thing I did was fill out the front panel with beaded appliques and beaded fringe (both of these were purchased from M&J Trimming).  I added black beaded loop fringe to the ends of the bows on the front of the dress.  I then took a beaded trim that consisted of square medallions, fray checked between the medallions and cut them apart.  I then sewed the separated medallions down the false opening panels.  Here is a full length picture for the the overall effect and a detail picture to show the medallions and fringe.

I was very worried with how long adding the beaded appliques took that I would not get the butterfly train done and the back of the skirt would be too plain. I had already planned to do the bustling but decided to add a sheer ruffle out of fabric from my stash.  I stitched down the ruffle and hid the stitching with a narrow velvet ribbon.  The ruffle is added only to the sides and the back.

To get an idea of how the skirt would look, I put on my dress dummy over some of my underpinnings.  I plan to wear my red silk corset and my basic bustle.  The corset is drafted from my own pattern and the bustle is made from a Truly Victorian pattern.

I have not posted about the red corset on here so I will give a little information.  I drafted the pattern myself.  It is funny to see it on the dress dummy because the shape on the dummy is completely different than the shape on me.  Contrary to the view on the dummy, this corset is over bust (although low in the bust) and gives a very different final shape.  

The bust is shaped by the addition of a gore on either side and the boning stops just below the bust gore.  The bone channels are flossed with black heavy cotton thread and with slightly different patterns on the top and bottom.  I am trying to get more adventurous in my flossing and some day hope to be able to make designs like the ones from the Symington Collection Flossing Sampler, a portion of which is available free here.

Here is the corset with the bustle for full effect.  I love this bustle.  Since the bustle effect is due to ties in the back, you can adjust them or completely untie them so the bustle is flat for travel.  So very convenient.















With all the underpinnings on my dummy, I was finally able to look at the skirt.  I am pretty happy with it and am glad it was not too plain to wear on its own.

Skirt Front

Skirt back

Skirt side