Civil War Corset and Dress Diary
I had vaguely wanted to make a Civil War dress for the longest time, but didn't seriously
consider making one until we attended our first Civil War reenactment in the summer of
2004. That was all it took. I began making the undergarments that August. I was also
inspired to get going on my Victorian Corset, which had been waiting to be made for ever so
long! As time would have it, I didn't get going on the dress until December of 2004. Here's
how it came about:
12/15/04 - I went to English Country (Regency) dancing tonight. I met one of the ladies from
the Sensibility message board there! It was lots of fun. We were talking about the next tea
event I will be having, which is a Civil War Social. While we were talking I said, “I better get
going on my dress.” When I got home, I decided to write down all the tasks I’d have to do to
complete it. I like to make the list backwards. I write down the last day and then go
backwards, filling in what I would do in reverse order. So I did that and realized I should
have bought my material yesterday! When I calmed down, I realized that I might be able to
condense some of the tasks, although with Christmas coming I don’t know. But I’ll try! That
means I must buy fabric tomorrow. I wanted to go to a quilt shop for the fabric, and I found
one nearby after doing an online search.
12/16/04 - I shopped for fashion fabric at Quilter’s Palette. I found two very nice prints.
They were not “official” Civil War prints, but they looked right to me. I ended up choosing the
dark blue one. I also got a small floral print for my pinner apron there. I hope they are
accurate enough! The ladies were very helpful.
Later, the kids and I shopped for our Christmas tree, and then I went to Hancock Fabrics for
10 Yards of muslin for the toile, lining, and petticoat. I found some shell buttons to use for the
button on my drawers.
I tried on my corset again and found that there is a crease by the waist. I don’t have the
bones in yet. I can’t until the lining is stitched on and I make the channels. I hope that
crease will disappear once the boning is in. I’ll post a question on the Sensibility Board about
that.
After dinner I finished the waistband on my drawers. All they need now is a button and a
buttonhole! I need to find some silk buttonhole twist. I’m going to do a hand-worked
buttonhole.
12/17/04 - Today I pre-washed all of my fabric. I found a way to make a fake boning channel
to give it a try. I just machine-basted the seam allowances and put bones in there. It’s only
about half the bones, but the crease is gone. I like how it looks! I started stitching the lining,
but then it was dinnertime.
In the evening after dinner, I started cutting my bodice muslin. Hubby and I have been
watching this DVD series that I am interested in, except that there is a lot of fight scenes (it's a
spy series). So before we started watching last night, I got my grid board, bodice pattern,
muslin, tracing paper, and scissors all ready. When a fight scene came on, I sat on the floor
next to the grid board traced the pattern onto the muslin. Then I stopped when that scene
was over. Since this spy series has lots of fight scenes, I was able to get a lot done. I also did
some knitting on my Civil War shawl!
12/18/04 - I put together the first half of the lining of the corset.
12/19/04 - Today I spent time cleaning the sitting room, and painting the walls (touch-up).
That took most of the evening. I worked on the corset after that. I realized I forgot to
topstitch the gores. Then I did that wrong! Now it’s fixed. I started the second side of the
lining. I didn’t do anything for my toile yet.
12/20/04 - I basted the corset to the lining at the seam lines. Then I was ready to sew the
boning channels. I had a small machine problem. I still don’t know what it was, but the
needle was going haywire. I think now that maybe a string was caught on the needle, making
it go sideways. But I re-threaded it and made a new bobbin, and cleaned the machine of lint.
Everything’s okay now, but it had me panicked. I finished all of the boning channels. Paul
helped me to figure out how to put the tips on the spiral steels. Then I realized I didn’t have
enough tips to cover the total amount of bones I’d need. So I ended up using some of the
German plastic boning that came when I originally had ordered the kit. I used the German
boning on the bust gore channels.
I tried on the corset. It seemed so much tighter than when I tried it on two (or was it more?)
days ago. Surely I didn’t gain THAT much weight in two days! Maybe the bones make it less
stretchy or something?
I also cut out my toile for the bodice. I was exhausted and my fingers hurt from basting. It’s
so hard to get a needle through that thick fabric.
12/21/04 - Tonight, we worked on a wallpaper border for the sitting room. I started a diet!
No time for sewing.
12/22/04 - My corset is almost done! I have sewn the binding to the top and bottom, and
now just need to turn to the inside and hand stitch. I made the toile. Trouble: the armsyce is
too small for the sleeve. I posted a question on Sensibility. I also asked about petticoats and
how to fit the waist. My bodice may need to be larger for the armsyce and to accommodate all
the undergarments.
12/23/04 - I altered the bodice according to the instructions Carolann wrote in answer to my
question. I needed to trim the armsyce a little bit at the lower front. I got the petticoat done
up to the waist treatment. I planned on gathering the skirt (by hand), but the kids wanted to
watch the movie in the dark. Plus I was tired.
12/24/04 - Today, we spent the morning cleaning and baking. I also helped Paul to hang the
rest of the wallpaper border. We celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day, so Eve is spent
preparing for this wonderful day. Normally we go to relatives for dinner, but not this year. So
I worked on my petticoat. I did the gathering a la Hank Trent, or so I thought. I found out
later when I re-read his instructions that I had it wrong! This is what I did: Stitching onto the
first needle, and while the fabric is bunched on the first needle, poking the second through the
bunched fabric. It did save loads of time. Many of my second needle stitches were sloppy,
because I was doing it wrong.
Once the petticoat was finished, it was time to try on all of my undergarments. My drawers
needed to be pinned, because I have to practice hand-worked buttonholes before I put one on
the drawers. (I may end up sewing an emergency hook and eye if I run out of time.)
Fortunately, my petticoat fit over the hoop nicely and the hem was fairly even. When I had
everything on, I took a look in the mirror. What?? Is that a waist I see?! It’s simply amazing,
but with my custom corset and my billowing out skirts, I do have a waist! I looked so Civil
War! I was so happy. I showed Paul, who was wonderful about helping me measure for my
skirt length and waistband measurement over everything. He didn’t really understand what I
was so happy about. It’s just that I have the foundation for my dress, and it fits well. With so
many different articles of clothing involved in just the foundation, I wasn’t sure that would
happen. And I wasn’t sure (again, with all those undergarments) that I would appear to have
a waistline. I insisted that Paul dance with me. He and I have had waltz lessons, and I simply
could not resist dancing about in my new garments. We also did a polka while I sang, “Shall
We Dance” from The King and I. (Yes, I know. I’m crazy! Poor Paul must think so too.)
Another reason why I was so happy is that because I have done the petticoat, made a toile of
the bodice, and asked tons of questions at Sensibility, (which is the most fabulous resource for
a historical sewer - every question I have asked has been answered), I feel that the bodice and
skirt construction will be do-able for me. The only thing I am worried about are the hooks and
eyes on the bodice and the piping. I have had a sewing class that included how to use the
piping presser foot. It’s the stitching it on that worries me.
12/25/04 - Today was Christmas. We had presents under the tree with the kids in the
morning. In the afternoon, my sisters and my nephews came over. It was lots of fun. My one
nephew proposed to his girlfriend! It was lovely. We left them alone in the parlor, with the
tree and the fire blazing. Afterwards we all had champagne.
Once everyone left it was time to relax. We watched more of the lord of the Rings, and I
traced my bodice onto Pellon, so the changes I made to the pattern would have a permanent
record. Paul fell asleep after an hour or so, but I stayed up and cut out my bodice, skirt, and
even a pinner apron from a floral fabric I found when I bought my dress fabric.
The dress fabric had me befuddled, and I hope it won’t be a problem. The pattern is a
geometric one, with straight lines and these little figures where the lines intersect. I cut
everything straight across those lines, but when I put the sides of the fabric together, they don’
t meet up, as they should. It’s almost as though the pattern is off kilter, but it shouldn’t be,
because it’s woven. So I went ahead and cut, hoping it won’t be a problem on that huge skirt.
I was so tired when I was done – it was almost 3:00 a.m.!
12/26/04 - I stayed up late again. I decided to work on the skirt first, since I was so worried
about it. Sewing the panels together was fine. There was no trouble with the off-kilter
pattern of the fabric. The placket was easy. I did it the way Elizabeth Stewart Clark suggests
in her book, Skirting the Issue. All one does is use the top of one seam, leaving it open about
10”, and then topstitching it. Then I worked on the hem. I made a hem facing of brown
polished cotton from Needle and Thread in Gettysburg. After seaming the dress hem and the
facing, it was time to handstitch the hem facing down to complete the hem. This took me two
hours! It wasn’t too bad. I kept thinking, “Are we there yet?”! I also gauged the skirt. This
time, I did the Hank Trent method of gauging correctly: I sewed the top line of stitching first,
for about a foot. Then I gathered it onto the thread – squished up, and then put the second
needle through the squished up gathers. That work just great, but it still took a long time. (An
hour and a half, I think).
12/27/04 - After being up so late last night, I was beat. But I really wanted to try and get the
dress done for the tea tomorrow. I sewed the bodice linings on and the bodice pieces
together. Then we went out for as family outing to the Planetarium, and then out to dinner.
By the time we got back, it was around 7:00.
I got right to sewing. I cut the pieces out for the piping. Then to my horror, I realized that the
cording I had was just too thin. It did not look like piping at all. I ran out first to Hancock
fabrics. Nothing. Then I drove another 20 minutes to Joann’s, praying the entire way. At
first, I couldn’t find the right size in their cording section. Then, in a bin across the aisle, I
happened to see a bolt of cording that was tossed in there. It was the right size! Talk about
answered prayer!
Once home, I did the piping and attached it. Here is where I ran into my first real nightmare
of this project. The piping on the wrists was so hard to manage. It took me so long. I finally
got it, but by then it was already so late. However, I was determined to get this done.
I had rented the movie Gettysburg. I watched that while doing all of the hooks and eyes on
the bodice, which also took forever. Gettysburg was so sad. It was a well-done movie. There
were no ladies in the whole movie, but I did like it. Poor Major Armistead! He was the most
tragic character of the whole movie. I got the hooks and eyes done. By then it was 5:30 a.m. I
went to bed and had a hard time falling asleep.
12/28/04 - I got up at around 10:00. I was dragging, but I still wanted to try and finish the
dress. I sewed bodice together and the sleeves to the bodice. Then I did the waistband. I
used some organdy for interfacing of the waistband. By then it was so late, and I had to get
ready for the tea. My wonderful family had vacuumed and baked for me. So I thought I’d get
the piping sewn on, and then perhaps be able to stitch the rest during the tea (It was a craft
tea, where most of the ladies were bringing their knitting or needle work). Needless to say,
with keeping the kettles boiling, there was not enough time to even do one stitch. I did knit a
little bit. What I ended up doing was a Show and Tell of the undergarments I have and the
dress in its unfinished state. I showed the ladies how a Civil War lady was dressed from the
skin – out. Then I showed the bodice and gauged skirt and explained that it will be sewn
together. That worked really well! The ladies enjoyed it. That helped temper my
disappointment at not having the dress finished in time.
12/29/04 - Today, my daughter wanted to go to a friend’s house to have an overnight visit. It
was about an hour away. Since she drives, I had her drive us out there. I hand sewed
overcastting on the bodice seams on the way up. After we arrived, I said goodbye, and then
drove top the Red Cross to pick up the equipment for the Boy Scout First Aid badge that I am
teaching tomorrow. By the time I got back, my in-laws had arrived. In the evening, there was
no time to sew, because we were preparing for the badge day the next day.
12/30/04 - All day badge work. Then we needed to pick up our daughter. I overcastted one
seam on the way there, while hubby drove. I am completely exhausted. I am starting a sore
throat. No sewing!
12/31/04 - I am ill. I have a sore throat and muscle and joint pain. Maybe later I can at least
finish the overcastting. What a week! If I knew then what I knew now, I wouldn’t have
almost killed myself staying up and pushing to finish. However, given my tendency to
procrastinate, I am glad. Because I have gotten so far, and might not of if I didn’t have a
reason to try and finish!
1/1/05 - I did some more overcastting. I’m still very tired. I also tried a bit of attaching to
the bodice. The trouble is – my lower gauging threads are showing. Maybe I’m not attaching
it high enough? Or maybe the lower stitches are supposed to show? I’ll ask on Sensibility. I
only did an inch of this. I ripped it out in anticipation of the answer.
1/2/05 - I got the answer – it’s okay if the lower gauging shows. That goes against everything
I’ve ever been taught! But I will “do what they did”! I didn’t get to work on it today. I was
sorting papers and then we went to dinner with my sister and brother-in-law.
1/3/05 - Still no work done! I have been looking at men’s patterns for Paul though.
1/9/05 -I finally attached the skirt to the bodice. I was putting it off because I was afraid! I
also needed time to really think through that dog-leg closure and faux waistband deal.
Attaching the skirt was very pleasing! I love this sewing technique because it makes the tiny,
gauged pleats all line up like little soldiers as they are stitched in place. I didn't realize that
they would end up looking so uniform and tidy. It took me a while to do, but I think next time
will go faster.
consider making one until we attended our first Civil War reenactment in the summer of
2004. That was all it took. I began making the undergarments that August. I was also
inspired to get going on my Victorian Corset, which had been waiting to be made for ever so
long! As time would have it, I didn't get going on the dress until December of 2004. Here's
how it came about:
12/15/04 - I went to English Country (Regency) dancing tonight. I met one of the ladies from
the Sensibility message board there! It was lots of fun. We were talking about the next tea
event I will be having, which is a Civil War Social. While we were talking I said, “I better get
going on my dress.” When I got home, I decided to write down all the tasks I’d have to do to
complete it. I like to make the list backwards. I write down the last day and then go
backwards, filling in what I would do in reverse order. So I did that and realized I should
have bought my material yesterday! When I calmed down, I realized that I might be able to
condense some of the tasks, although with Christmas coming I don’t know. But I’ll try! That
means I must buy fabric tomorrow. I wanted to go to a quilt shop for the fabric, and I found
one nearby after doing an online search.
12/16/04 - I shopped for fashion fabric at Quilter’s Palette. I found two very nice prints.
They were not “official” Civil War prints, but they looked right to me. I ended up choosing the
dark blue one. I also got a small floral print for my pinner apron there. I hope they are
accurate enough! The ladies were very helpful.
Later, the kids and I shopped for our Christmas tree, and then I went to Hancock Fabrics for
10 Yards of muslin for the toile, lining, and petticoat. I found some shell buttons to use for the
button on my drawers.
I tried on my corset again and found that there is a crease by the waist. I don’t have the
bones in yet. I can’t until the lining is stitched on and I make the channels. I hope that
crease will disappear once the boning is in. I’ll post a question on the Sensibility Board about
that.
After dinner I finished the waistband on my drawers. All they need now is a button and a
buttonhole! I need to find some silk buttonhole twist. I’m going to do a hand-worked
buttonhole.
12/17/04 - Today I pre-washed all of my fabric. I found a way to make a fake boning channel
to give it a try. I just machine-basted the seam allowances and put bones in there. It’s only
about half the bones, but the crease is gone. I like how it looks! I started stitching the lining,
but then it was dinnertime.
In the evening after dinner, I started cutting my bodice muslin. Hubby and I have been
watching this DVD series that I am interested in, except that there is a lot of fight scenes (it's a
spy series). So before we started watching last night, I got my grid board, bodice pattern,
muslin, tracing paper, and scissors all ready. When a fight scene came on, I sat on the floor
next to the grid board traced the pattern onto the muslin. Then I stopped when that scene
was over. Since this spy series has lots of fight scenes, I was able to get a lot done. I also did
some knitting on my Civil War shawl!
12/18/04 - I put together the first half of the lining of the corset.
12/19/04 - Today I spent time cleaning the sitting room, and painting the walls (touch-up).
That took most of the evening. I worked on the corset after that. I realized I forgot to
topstitch the gores. Then I did that wrong! Now it’s fixed. I started the second side of the
lining. I didn’t do anything for my toile yet.
12/20/04 - I basted the corset to the lining at the seam lines. Then I was ready to sew the
boning channels. I had a small machine problem. I still don’t know what it was, but the
needle was going haywire. I think now that maybe a string was caught on the needle, making
it go sideways. But I re-threaded it and made a new bobbin, and cleaned the machine of lint.
Everything’s okay now, but it had me panicked. I finished all of the boning channels. Paul
helped me to figure out how to put the tips on the spiral steels. Then I realized I didn’t have
enough tips to cover the total amount of bones I’d need. So I ended up using some of the
German plastic boning that came when I originally had ordered the kit. I used the German
boning on the bust gore channels.
I tried on the corset. It seemed so much tighter than when I tried it on two (or was it more?)
days ago. Surely I didn’t gain THAT much weight in two days! Maybe the bones make it less
stretchy or something?
I also cut out my toile for the bodice. I was exhausted and my fingers hurt from basting. It’s
so hard to get a needle through that thick fabric.
12/21/04 - Tonight, we worked on a wallpaper border for the sitting room. I started a diet!
No time for sewing.
12/22/04 - My corset is almost done! I have sewn the binding to the top and bottom, and
now just need to turn to the inside and hand stitch. I made the toile. Trouble: the armsyce is
too small for the sleeve. I posted a question on Sensibility. I also asked about petticoats and
how to fit the waist. My bodice may need to be larger for the armsyce and to accommodate all
the undergarments.
12/23/04 - I altered the bodice according to the instructions Carolann wrote in answer to my
question. I needed to trim the armsyce a little bit at the lower front. I got the petticoat done
up to the waist treatment. I planned on gathering the skirt (by hand), but the kids wanted to
watch the movie in the dark. Plus I was tired.
12/24/04 - Today, we spent the morning cleaning and baking. I also helped Paul to hang the
rest of the wallpaper border. We celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day, so Eve is spent
preparing for this wonderful day. Normally we go to relatives for dinner, but not this year. So
I worked on my petticoat. I did the gathering a la Hank Trent, or so I thought. I found out
later when I re-read his instructions that I had it wrong! This is what I did: Stitching onto the
first needle, and while the fabric is bunched on the first needle, poking the second through the
bunched fabric. It did save loads of time. Many of my second needle stitches were sloppy,
because I was doing it wrong.
Once the petticoat was finished, it was time to try on all of my undergarments. My drawers
needed to be pinned, because I have to practice hand-worked buttonholes before I put one on
the drawers. (I may end up sewing an emergency hook and eye if I run out of time.)
Fortunately, my petticoat fit over the hoop nicely and the hem was fairly even. When I had
everything on, I took a look in the mirror. What?? Is that a waist I see?! It’s simply amazing,
but with my custom corset and my billowing out skirts, I do have a waist! I looked so Civil
War! I was so happy. I showed Paul, who was wonderful about helping me measure for my
skirt length and waistband measurement over everything. He didn’t really understand what I
was so happy about. It’s just that I have the foundation for my dress, and it fits well. With so
many different articles of clothing involved in just the foundation, I wasn’t sure that would
happen. And I wasn’t sure (again, with all those undergarments) that I would appear to have
a waistline. I insisted that Paul dance with me. He and I have had waltz lessons, and I simply
could not resist dancing about in my new garments. We also did a polka while I sang, “Shall
We Dance” from The King and I. (Yes, I know. I’m crazy! Poor Paul must think so too.)
Another reason why I was so happy is that because I have done the petticoat, made a toile of
the bodice, and asked tons of questions at Sensibility, (which is the most fabulous resource for
a historical sewer - every question I have asked has been answered), I feel that the bodice and
skirt construction will be do-able for me. The only thing I am worried about are the hooks and
eyes on the bodice and the piping. I have had a sewing class that included how to use the
piping presser foot. It’s the stitching it on that worries me.
12/25/04 - Today was Christmas. We had presents under the tree with the kids in the
morning. In the afternoon, my sisters and my nephews came over. It was lots of fun. My one
nephew proposed to his girlfriend! It was lovely. We left them alone in the parlor, with the
tree and the fire blazing. Afterwards we all had champagne.
Once everyone left it was time to relax. We watched more of the lord of the Rings, and I
traced my bodice onto Pellon, so the changes I made to the pattern would have a permanent
record. Paul fell asleep after an hour or so, but I stayed up and cut out my bodice, skirt, and
even a pinner apron from a floral fabric I found when I bought my dress fabric.
The dress fabric had me befuddled, and I hope it won’t be a problem. The pattern is a
geometric one, with straight lines and these little figures where the lines intersect. I cut
everything straight across those lines, but when I put the sides of the fabric together, they don’
t meet up, as they should. It’s almost as though the pattern is off kilter, but it shouldn’t be,
because it’s woven. So I went ahead and cut, hoping it won’t be a problem on that huge skirt.
I was so tired when I was done – it was almost 3:00 a.m.!
12/26/04 - I stayed up late again. I decided to work on the skirt first, since I was so worried
about it. Sewing the panels together was fine. There was no trouble with the off-kilter
pattern of the fabric. The placket was easy. I did it the way Elizabeth Stewart Clark suggests
in her book, Skirting the Issue. All one does is use the top of one seam, leaving it open about
10”, and then topstitching it. Then I worked on the hem. I made a hem facing of brown
polished cotton from Needle and Thread in Gettysburg. After seaming the dress hem and the
facing, it was time to handstitch the hem facing down to complete the hem. This took me two
hours! It wasn’t too bad. I kept thinking, “Are we there yet?”! I also gauged the skirt. This
time, I did the Hank Trent method of gauging correctly: I sewed the top line of stitching first,
for about a foot. Then I gathered it onto the thread – squished up, and then put the second
needle through the squished up gathers. That work just great, but it still took a long time. (An
hour and a half, I think).
12/27/04 - After being up so late last night, I was beat. But I really wanted to try and get the
dress done for the tea tomorrow. I sewed the bodice linings on and the bodice pieces
together. Then we went out for as family outing to the Planetarium, and then out to dinner.
By the time we got back, it was around 7:00.
I got right to sewing. I cut the pieces out for the piping. Then to my horror, I realized that the
cording I had was just too thin. It did not look like piping at all. I ran out first to Hancock
fabrics. Nothing. Then I drove another 20 minutes to Joann’s, praying the entire way. At
first, I couldn’t find the right size in their cording section. Then, in a bin across the aisle, I
happened to see a bolt of cording that was tossed in there. It was the right size! Talk about
answered prayer!
Once home, I did the piping and attached it. Here is where I ran into my first real nightmare
of this project. The piping on the wrists was so hard to manage. It took me so long. I finally
got it, but by then it was already so late. However, I was determined to get this done.
I had rented the movie Gettysburg. I watched that while doing all of the hooks and eyes on
the bodice, which also took forever. Gettysburg was so sad. It was a well-done movie. There
were no ladies in the whole movie, but I did like it. Poor Major Armistead! He was the most
tragic character of the whole movie. I got the hooks and eyes done. By then it was 5:30 a.m. I
went to bed and had a hard time falling asleep.
12/28/04 - I got up at around 10:00. I was dragging, but I still wanted to try and finish the
dress. I sewed bodice together and the sleeves to the bodice. Then I did the waistband. I
used some organdy for interfacing of the waistband. By then it was so late, and I had to get
ready for the tea. My wonderful family had vacuumed and baked for me. So I thought I’d get
the piping sewn on, and then perhaps be able to stitch the rest during the tea (It was a craft
tea, where most of the ladies were bringing their knitting or needle work). Needless to say,
with keeping the kettles boiling, there was not enough time to even do one stitch. I did knit a
little bit. What I ended up doing was a Show and Tell of the undergarments I have and the
dress in its unfinished state. I showed the ladies how a Civil War lady was dressed from the
skin – out. Then I showed the bodice and gauged skirt and explained that it will be sewn
together. That worked really well! The ladies enjoyed it. That helped temper my
disappointment at not having the dress finished in time.
12/29/04 - Today, my daughter wanted to go to a friend’s house to have an overnight visit. It
was about an hour away. Since she drives, I had her drive us out there. I hand sewed
overcastting on the bodice seams on the way up. After we arrived, I said goodbye, and then
drove top the Red Cross to pick up the equipment for the Boy Scout First Aid badge that I am
teaching tomorrow. By the time I got back, my in-laws had arrived. In the evening, there was
no time to sew, because we were preparing for the badge day the next day.
12/30/04 - All day badge work. Then we needed to pick up our daughter. I overcastted one
seam on the way there, while hubby drove. I am completely exhausted. I am starting a sore
throat. No sewing!
12/31/04 - I am ill. I have a sore throat and muscle and joint pain. Maybe later I can at least
finish the overcastting. What a week! If I knew then what I knew now, I wouldn’t have
almost killed myself staying up and pushing to finish. However, given my tendency to
procrastinate, I am glad. Because I have gotten so far, and might not of if I didn’t have a
reason to try and finish!
1/1/05 - I did some more overcastting. I’m still very tired. I also tried a bit of attaching to
the bodice. The trouble is – my lower gauging threads are showing. Maybe I’m not attaching
it high enough? Or maybe the lower stitches are supposed to show? I’ll ask on Sensibility. I
only did an inch of this. I ripped it out in anticipation of the answer.
1/2/05 - I got the answer – it’s okay if the lower gauging shows. That goes against everything
I’ve ever been taught! But I will “do what they did”! I didn’t get to work on it today. I was
sorting papers and then we went to dinner with my sister and brother-in-law.
1/3/05 - Still no work done! I have been looking at men’s patterns for Paul though.
1/9/05 -I finally attached the skirt to the bodice. I was putting it off because I was afraid! I
also needed time to really think through that dog-leg closure and faux waistband deal.
Attaching the skirt was very pleasing! I love this sewing technique because it makes the tiny,
gauged pleats all line up like little soldiers as they are stitched in place. I didn't realize that
they would end up looking so uniform and tidy. It took me a while to do, but I think next time
will go faster.