Brown Plaid Wool Dress

Well! It is finally finished (almost ;)--still have to baste the bodice and skirt together and add some boning to the back point)!! I wore it to an event this past weekend (boy was I glad I had it done, because it was COLDDDD!! I was very thankful for my paletote, too).

I bought the wool when it was on sale back when Fabric.com had their big fabric sale.  I found out I was pregnant right after I got the fabric, so it was set aside to marinate until I resumed "normal" measurements. ;)

 I completed the skirt probably a year ago, and didn't touch it for a long time because of more relevant projects.  Let's face it, a wool dress (even if it is tropical weight) compared to a nice semi-sheer lawn will lose when it's 90 degrees and sunny out ;)  However, the beginning of September rolled around (and along with it, cooler and rainy weather) and I got thinking that I would need to get going on my wool bodice if I was going to have it done by our next event (October 1 & 2).  So I started researching and planning on what I wanted to do.  I searched off and on for 3 weeks for inspiration by looking at CDV's, pictures of original dresses and fashion plates from the 1860s.  I just could NOT find anything that jumped out at me.  Good sleeves are very important to me and I really just wanted a sleeve that popped out at me.  I also wanted a sleeve cap, since I'd never done one before and I like the way they look. 

Inspiration Image

The bodice is lined in premium bleached muslin and the sleeves and caps are lined in brown Egyptian cotton.  I didn't have enough of either to do both.

 In my original planning, I was thinking of doing a yoked dress, but during the process of looking for a sleeve and mulling it all over, I decided that I wanted to go with a pointed bodice.  I searched for pointed bodice threads on The Sewing Academy and as I was reading through, I came to a picture that another member had posted.   Ironically, it was from a site that I had already been poring over! I don't know how I missed it, but I did! Because I'm always second-guessing myself, I put it to a vote on FB whether I should do one point or two--and it got unanimously voted for two (I was leaning towards two, anyway).  I also decided to do a back point.

I need to bone the back point, apparently ;)

 

 I really am so pleased with how it came out! I probably will evenutally trim it like the inspiration image, but I have to ruminate on what color to trim it with ;) 

Now a good, well deserved rest and then on to my Winter Sewing Projects (list forthcoming).