Decorating the Underskirts

Throughout this project I've tried to really pay attention to the small details. Because there are a lot pieces and a lot of movement in the skirt I didn't want to ignore the base skirts. In the book the Princess does go to a ball and dance, and in a performance with all that movement I wouldn't want the underskirt to be plain if it might be seen. So I've decided to just do some small decoration around the base kind of relating to both eras the bodice's are taken from. It is also helpful to decorate and finish the skirts now so that when all the layers are on I won't have to struggle to do the hem or decorate it.

Princess Colour:

Lambert, M. (1991) Fashion in Photography 1860-1880. London: B.T. Batsford.

 I really love this photograph from 1870. I think it has a great subtlety of style and I especially like the different layers of decoration on the skirt.

I tried to evoke the style of layered decoration from the old photograph in my underskirt. I didn't want the decoration to be over-whelming and over-all very whimsical and sweet. The lace is actually the negative of the lace that I used to decorate the hoop skirt that is under it. The black lace is threaded through with some pink wool. Aside from adding visual interest I also like this because it is, in it's essence) all the colours that the over-dress will have on it: pink, cream, and black. I'm very happy with this decoration.


Princess Silhouette:

Kyoto Costume Institute. (2002) Fashion: A History from the 18th Century to 20th

                             Century. Hong Kong: Taschen.

This 18th century dress (with a close up on the right) contains some of my favourite decoration from this era. It is very romantic and very rococo! From this I took the kind of wavey type trim that is a bit more narrow.

Although this isn't a very colourful trim like on Princess Colour I feel it really adds a lot to the underskirt. The matte tone of the cotton against the shiny fabric adds a bit more depth and tones down the brightness a lot. Creating this trim was very easy with just some pinking shears, fray check, and lots of strips; but it really does add another element to the skirt. I like that it makes it look more decadent and stylish, which Princess Silhouette is. I also added a very thin line of simple black lace to cover up the machine stitching on the hem.

Princess Silhouette Second Dress Fitting

 Today I had my second fitting (or first fitting in top fabric) for Princess Silhouette. I was anxious about this fitting because I did the toile fitting on my own so my tutor hadn't seen this dress at all. Luckily it went very well and I am pleased with the results. Again I would like to apologize for the horrible fabric that looks even worse in the pictures!

Front View Before Alterations

Back View Before Alterations

There were only a few easy adjustments to fit that needed to happen on this dress. By taking it in at the shoulder seam the dress sat a bit better and a little tighter. The neck-line, that I was worried was going to be too low, actually needed to be taken down. This wasn't according to the design but to where the corset neck-line was underneath. Having the dress sit high above the corset didn't look right, but by moving it down and building up the neck-line with decoration both the design and the fit will be much better.

Front neck line with alterations

Back with Alterations

A few other small alterations were made to the front like taking in the dart at the neck a little more and adjusting the width of the straps. The sleeves were more comfortable this time and the right length. I used the same sleeve from the first fitting but the cotton organdie was looking a bit rough, so I added a little strip to sit in with the sleeve to make it stronger. The strip was pleated and need to be moved around so that the pleats sat more in the front. Last but not least, the entire bodice needed to be backed in stayflex. The best and most improving alteration was taking up the skirt. It makes a huge difference to have the skirt at the right length.

Dress After Alterations

Evaluation:
 I feel like this fitting was a big success. I was happy to see everything come together, like it did on the other dress. But I was also happy that it only had minor fit alterations, since I did the toile fitting on my own. I really tried in this fitting to figure out what alterations needed to be done on my own; checking with my tutor but taking the lead. Doing this has given me more confidence going into fittings, which will be key when working outside of university. I think this fitting has also showed me how important the right fabric selection is. I don't think this fabric looks particularly nice, and not just in photographs! But I do think it works because it is so shiny and this costume does really need to have a lot of depth. I could have used a plain black cotton but I wanted to start with a strong base and build on that and I think this fabric fills that need. This was a very positive and encouraging second fitting.

Princess Colour Second Dress Fitting

Today I had my second fitting for Princess Colour. For this fitting I had only the base layer of top fabrics without any type of decoration so I could focus on fit and functionality. I'll admit I was nervous about this fitting, probably more so than any of the others. I was mostly worried about the fit because the two fabrics I had made the bodice out of were really stretchy and even though I had backed them in stayflex there was the worry that they wouldn't hold the shape of a 19th century bodice. I also wasn't entirely pleased with how the underskirt looked. I know that it is all going to be covered up and to just be happy with the colour but I was still worried. It all ended up working out and I was pleased with the final result.
Here is the dress before any alterations:

I think it's very apparent the things that needed to be fixed first. Both the hem on the skirt which is much too long and the neck-line on the bodice which is much too high. I will start with the bodice alterations.

The bodice neck-line was the first thing that needed to be altered. Unlike the toile fitting this neck-line sat rather high in comparison and stuck out in the middle because of the two centre front bones. My tutor suggested just making a dart where the CF piece and the Side Front pieces meet. This really helped the front lay flat and when the bones were taken out created a much more pleasing neck-line. This also made the straps more narrow. Comparing it to the design I didn't think this was a bad thing at all. I actually liked it better; and although the neck is a bit more rounded in the design that can all be filled out with the trim I will be applying to the neck. We could have also moved the sleeve over a bit but it was comfortable for Rose (model) and it sat at a nice place on her shoulder so that remained the same. The length of the sleeve was also okay with a little bit of gathering, I will probably use a drawstring for the final sleeve.

Front with Alterations

Close up of Front with Alterations

The back of the bodice also needed a few alterations. Unfortunately it didn't line up with my original Centre Back line. It was a bit too small in some places and I think I learned something very valuable about working with stretchy fabric like this. I didn't include the seam allowance when I cut out my stayflex and that was fine on all the other pieces except for the centre back. I should have stayflexed the 2inch seam allowance so that when I did the fitting I could get a really accurate line. Instead the fabric pulled a bit instead of staying straight so I will have to be careful when making the alterations to the back pieces. The other alteration in the back was to bring the seam of the skirt up more to sit higher on the bodice. This eliminates the little creases and the need for an extra bone in the side back piece.

Raised Skirt Line on Back

Moving on the the skirt. The only alteration on that I am happy to say was to bring it up to higher position; just a little bit longer than the hoop underneath. I've got plans for some trimming along the bottom just in case it shows as well and that way I can quickly machine the hem and cover it in lace. We also pined on a sample triangle piece I had from my toile fitting to compare the length and such. This was good because it gave me the length of the longest triangle as well.

Dress with Final Alterations

Side View with Final Alterations

Back View with Final Alterations

Evaluation:

I had a lot of nerves going into this fitting. I was concerned about my fabrics and the fit. Both ended up working really well and I am pleased with the result. Having the garment on a person really makes a massive difference to how everything looks and it was a positive difference in this case. My tutor had me first go around and make the changes I felt needed to be made. I think this was helpful and a good experience when I have to do it on my own after university. But I was also very thankful for her help. I did really try to give my opinion and my ideas and I felt I communicated better. This kind of analytical problem solving approach is a good mind-set to be in for a fitting and something I will remember in future fittings. I also felt more prepared with design things for this fitting. I had extra fabric for the sleeve and my laser cutting designs to show how I was going to progress and continue on with all my design ideas. I feel like this was a very positive fitting in that I made the appropriate alterations but also took more initiative in making the alterations myself (with a little help of course!).

Making the Underskirts

For the first fitting I wanted to make just the under-skirts for both dresses. It had been suggested at my toile fittings that I make a yoke for each skirt and then attach the base skirt; that way the layers could be just sewn onto the yoke eliminating a lot of bulk in the connecting seam to the bodice. To make the yokes I draped them over the hoop skirts and made a pattern from that. I made sure to use the bias so they could easily fit the waist seam and the width of the hoop.

Once the front and back yoke were draped I made a pattern and cut out of my top fabric. For Princess Colour I am using a silvery silky lining fabric and for Princess Silhouette I am using a shiny satin fabric. I had originally backed the silver fabric in vilene to make it stronger but later discarded it because it didn't fuse very successfully and wasn't really needed. I then cut out the base skirts. For this I just used the width of the fabric and the length I had cut the base skirt on the toile. The silver fabric was really wide, about 60" so I only cut two pieces. The black fabric was bit narrower so I cut three pieces so there were two for the back however I cut these down a little so they wouldn't be the full width of the fabric.
I french-seamed the skirt because I wanted it to be fully finished in every aspect. Theoretically if this character was dancing around and the skirt flew up even the underside would look neat and clean. It also neatly prevented fraying and such. When I had draped my underskirt on the toile I looked at some historical patterns and gathered the back and pleated the front. I think if everything had been sitting in the waist seam I would have done this same thing, however since it will be covering I felt it would be neater to just gather the entire skirt to keep it uniform. I did some top-stitching to make it strong at the seam and that was the base skirt finished! 

Princess Colour Base Skirt Front

Princess Colour Base Skirt Front

Princess Silhouette Base Skirt Front

 (I would just like to note that these skirts are attached to the bodices which is why some bunching has occurred but these will be smoothed out in the fittings! Also this black fabric does not read well in photos, I promise it looks better in real life!)

Princess Silhouette Base Skirt Back

Laser Cutting Designs

Now that I had done my laser cutting trial I was ready to create the designs I actually wanted to laser cut. There were motifs used in the illustration but they weren't very clear and since this is an interpretation I wanted to take it a step further. I decided to take my inspiration from lots of different places. Here are some of the designs I took inspiration from:

Fairclough, O., Leary, E. (1981) Textiles by William Morris and Co. 1861-1940. Great Britian: Thames and Hudson.

Fairclough, O., Leary, E. (1981) Textiles by William Morris and Co. 1861-1940. Great Britian: Thames and Hudson.

Fairclough, O., Leary, E. (1981) Textiles by William Morris and Co. 1861-1940. Great Britian: Thames and Hudson.

Wall paper from the Wallace Collection Museum

A lot of my inspiration comes from William Morris and Co and textiles from the Arts and Crafts Movement. I suppose it isn't just coincidence that they are some of my favourite textiles but I also think this is an appropriate fit for the character. For me these designs both look to the future and the past. They feel modern and antique at the same time and I really feel like that is appropriate for a Princess of Nowhere.

After much time spent in Illustrator here is my file that I will be laser cutting. I did all the small designs individually then compiled them onto a file that will be the size of the laser cutter. I'll cut my fabric (with the transfer adhesive) to the size of the laser bed as well. This way I will hopefully get as many designs out of one piece of fabric. (Sorry it is a bit light, it needs to have a really thin line in illustrator to cut so it's a bit difficult to see!)