Edwardian Gown III

It has been quite a while since I last posted news on the restoration project, partly because I have been doing research, partly because my wrist acted up on me, and partly because I have had my hands full being trained in my new job at yahoo. I mentioned in the last posting that I would be reading up on how to clean antique clothing, and I have. This made me positive that leaving it as it is is the best option. Apparantly the netting might go limp, and generally speaking, one never knows how the fabrics will react to water and detergent. The discoloration under the arms cannot be removed, I read the explanation, and if I understood it correctly, it has to do with chemicals reacting with- well- something. It was quite technical...

I have peaced the whole bodice together, except for the collar. The lining was let out (by ripping two of the darts), I stitched it up the way it originally was, as attatching the ecru overlayer to the bodice in its let-out state would have been both difficult, ruined the shape of it, and the bodice would no longer have matched the skirt in size. The belt would not have fitted either.

I attatched the overlayer in four steps. First I attatched the lining sleeves to the outer sleeves, I then sewed the lining sleeves to the lining bodice. After this, I pinned the top and bottom of the ecru outer bodice together and hand stitched it to the lining (as many edwardian bodices, it has a circular piece draped over the upper back, shoulders and chest, and a somewhat baggy part under, collected at centre front). This was quite easy as the cotton satin in the lining still had tiny holes in them depicting where the seam was before the bodice was taken apart. After taking in the darts again the original bias binding that was used to bind the bottom of the lining bodice fitted again, and I used it to bind the bottom edge. The corresponding ecru edging was also among the parts, and I stitched it directly above the binding. After this, I gathered the bodice, using the folds in it as guideline. Now the only things that remain is stitching the overlay in place, and finishing the collar. The collar might take me some time, seing as the lady who took it apart cut away a fair bit of the seam allowence. This means I'll have to amend it somehow. And find a way of doing it that will not show.

I do not have any pictures as of yet, but the bodice is quite similar to the blue one in this picture.