Updates to the 1870s MDDP

When I envisioned the 1870s dress I made as my half of the Mother/Daughter Dress Project (MDDP), the plan was to make a trained skirt with almost all the fullness in the back (over a small butt pad and petticoat), kept there with twill tape ties on the back side seams. But then I got sick right before the ball, and I never got twill tapes onto the dress. So being the crazy person I am, when I got out of work on the day of the Nahant soiree I decided that I really wanted to jam in a bunch of dress adjustments.

I was an hour and a half late to the event, but I got the changes made!

in the music room of Egg Rock

 First of all, I think the skirt is way better with the ties to keep the fullness at the back. I may try some experiments with pulling even more fullness backwards, but I also want to mess with the overskirt so we'll see.

Second, in addition to adding the twill tape ties I made two additional changes: I opened the original velvet train (which is its own piece) and re-sewed it with a lining so that its now double its original width. It's a world of difference, but then I put a tie on that to keep it at the back, and unlike with the underskirt, that was less successful...it still needs tweaks. I also added gold tassels to the points of the overskirt in front, and made a new decorative plaid piece from bodice scraps, which also got two tassels.

tassels on the front

and tassels on the back!

 Overall, there are still some adjustments to make, but I'm really pleased with the progress! Making the day bodice will help, because once that's done I'll know how much silk and velvet is left to play with on the skirts. Because you can never have too much floof for the 70s!