I thought this would be something special for The Asylum, which I was attending for the first time this year. This would be for the Ball event in the Assembly Rooms in Lincoln.
Construction of this skirt was very similar to the Simplicity 1819 skirt, but without the side cascades, and with a much bigger bustle, which also trails at the back. It is also underlined, and has a built in bustle pad. This has lots of pleats!! It even has pleats on the INSIDE at the bottom, with lace frill attached, on a layer of hair canvas, which is presumably to protect the bottom of the skirt.
Pleats on the inside! 
Hair canvas gives the bottom of the skirt lots of weight 
Two rows of pleats on the outside, spaced 
The train at the back with tight pleats
The pleats on the train are 2m – so 6m of fabric pleated. The pleats at the bottom – about 2.5m each, but I seem to have put a space in between each pleat, so only about 5m of fabric per row of pleats – 3 of them. So in total 21m of fabric made into 9.5m of pleats!!!
The bodice is interlined and boned. The boning casings are hand sewn in, and the eyelets were also hand sewn!! Here I made the BIG mistake of using plastic boning… it isn’t a corset, so I thought it would be okay, but they bent when I sat down, and have never really been a good shape since then. It is also a nightmare to get in and out of!! Needing lots of assistance!!
I don’t seem to be able to find a good picture of the back being worn, but here are some of the front. I also made the fascinator, which is a crocheted teacup and saucer 🙂
I added a hoop and button at the back so the train wasn’t always dragging on the floor 
Users Today : 158
This Month : 2402
This Year : 2402
Total Users : 118285
Recent Comments