Sunday, March 18, 2012

TV 216 #1

Today I started on TV 216 for the mourning costume. 
Concept drawing from the Truly Victorian website


Since I've had good experience with the TV skirt patterns in the past, I decided that I would simply start with the pattern without alterations. [correction: I am shortening it by 2". Rather than do this at the recommended lines, I'm simply taking off two inches from all hems that reach the floor. It's a small adjustment, so I felt I could handle it. It also meant that I didn't have to trace the pattern, I could simply fold it back to the size I needed. There are no complex curves to this skirt, so it was easy to fold under.]

The center front section is comprised of two flat under pieces (the front and side fronts) overlaid with two pleated apron layers edged with trim. 

I made my own trim out of two layers of silk topped with some cord & velvet trim I had in my stash. It took my a while to figure out how I wanted to make the trim. After some experimentation, I figured out how to use my gathering foot. This is a genius invention. Here's a link to how to use it from the Bernina website. In order to get the gathering to work with the two layers of the stiff silk, I had to set the stitch length to maximum and the bottom thread tension to maximum. 

Ooohhh... Aaahhh! Fancy trim!
I just got the front section done today. The trim is a time consuming endeavor, so I calling it a night for now. Here are photos of the current progress. 

This looks a bit strange because it's pinned to the hoop skirt. 
Looking good so far...

3 comments:

Mistress of Disguise said...

Oooo, I like how that's looking! Love the colour, too. :D

Sarah C said...

I love love love this pattern. A friend of mine has it and offered to let me borrow it when I go to make my steampunk costume. Your's looks great so far!

The Industrious Lady said...

About to start this one and so happy to see your tutorial! Really helps break it down