1775-80 Polonaise Gown in progress...

My favourite Gown

I am crazy about this dress. It`s a polonaise dress from Janet Arnolds book `Patterns of fashion 1` and  dated between 1775-80. Ever since i first saw it i knew i had to make it some day. Now I feel like i wanna give it a try. Of course i will have to simplify it a bit for Barbie, particularly in the back. And I can`t make the embroidery on the Petticoat at this point. But I´m sure to do it one day. Let`s say for now, I´m just `inspired` by this Gown.

See the finished Gown already here  and  here!

I found a very nice fabric and my friend made me the pattern for the Bodice. For the skirt I will use the original pattern out of the book . This is what I have so far:

You can see I already got the lining for the front Bodice and the boning done. It took me a while to figure out how to set it right.  I hope to continue working on it this week . It may not be finished until mid June, but I`ll keep you updated.

The summer`s going to be very Rococo....

Watching for Inspiration: The Duchess (2008)

By the way: Is anyone out there reading my blogg? ;) 



Be kind to one another,


Axel

Ps: SEE THE FINISHED GOWN  here  and  here!

1845-50 Green Dot Summer-Dress

This one is for March.


Last year in August my friend March died. We went to Berlin together for Holidays. On the airport she had an aneurysm, which means a vein in her head just popped. She was in coma for one week and died, short after her 33 birthday. I miss her every day and I`ll never forget the love she had for me and her lust for living. She was the most generous and gentle person I know. And she also had great humor.

Once, she went to a theme party as `The green dot disease`. Which means she just put green dots all over her, just like measles. From there on she made a side on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/greendots.at) and put pic`s on it whenever she found a green dot somerwhere in her daily routine. She also put green dots all over vienna an wherever she went. Now, we, her friends, try to spread the disease around the world. There`s also a webside where you can upload pics, if you find green dots in your life.../www.greendots.at

This is my tribute to her.

Listening to:  Umi No Mieru Machi - Joe Hisaishi (Kiki`s delivery service)

http://www.schlosshalbturn.com/

I had to work the last 2 weeks everyday, even weekends, so I didn`t have a lot of time to sew. But still, somehow, I managed to finish my green-dot summer dress.
It`s again made out of cotton fabric. Today i went out to take pics. I used the `Scarlet O`Hara - Barbecue at Twelve Oaks` Barbie.It has a hoopskirt underneath.

Be kind to one another, life is short...


Axel

Hoopskirt 1855-66

All hail the Queen.

Now let`s go to 1855-65.

In the 60ie`s of the 19 century the silhouette of the hoopskirt and therefore the skirt changed. All the fullness gathered more in the back and the front became flatter. You can see it in the famous portrait of Sissi, Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It`s from 1863. I have to admit, I `m a big fan of her Style and Story.
 It could possible be that i watched the Sissi Triology with Romy Schneider to often as a child. They are always on TV in Christmas-time or just on Sunday. This triology is very common here in Austria. Not like `The Sound of music`, which a lot of Americans believe to be `Austrian-Reality`. Even Bill Clinton asked during a stay with his wife Hilary here in Vienna to visit a staging of the book or the movie from 1965. Unfortunately, there wasn`t one at that time because no one knew it.

Sissi (1956) by Ernst Marischka


So i wanted to get that kind o shape and it worked out very well. Take a look:

And here with the skirt over it:

The dress you can see here is something like a `Dummy`-Dress. I tested lot of things here. First the pattern for the Bodice, which i changed afterwards because i found it to be a bit too big. Second the Technique. Working a corsett into the bodice, which is very common in the Theater an Opera world and a very good idea when you work in miniature. I found out, that one bone in the middle is not enough. As you can see its puckering. I also tried to sew in piping, which acctually worked very well. And i worked with a skirt pattern out of `Patterns of fashion 1`by Janet Arnold. It`s very easy to just copy it out in a size that fits Barbie. You just have to adjust the pleats a bit to the Bodice.

 I didn`t really want to feature this dress too much because I can see all the `flaws` or let`s call them `things-you-can-do-better-next-time`. But, acctually, i think it turned out very nice! And I wanted you to see all my process and, hopefully, progress.

The undersleaves are removable and just gathered with rubberband on the ends.

So here`s the Pattern or the Crinoline and the Bumroll, which gives the hoopskirt a lift to the back.

Have fun!


Be kind to on another,

Axel

Hoopskirt 1845-55

My inspirations. Bustles from 1858.

Sharing Secrets...

Greetings everyone!

 Since my new dresses won`t be finished until June/July and since i realised i already have one follower (i´m very happy about that!) I decided to do a post about my undergarments!

I´m stil in the romantic period between 1845-55, so this one i didn`t want to be too wide.

The shape of the underskirt is very important to the finsihed shilouette of the dress, so i took a long time to try an figure out what works. I was not satisfied with petticoat`s and i found out that a crinoline/hoopskirt is the only thing that works. This is what i came up with.
The shirt Mona-Lisa Barbie is wearing in the pic, is from Pirates of the Caribbean Angelica Barbie, which i bought for re-bodying.

To give the hoopskirt a little lift in the back an to make it more flat in the front i used a Bumroll underneath. And remember it`s miniature size, so the fabric of the skirt will also add a lot of volume. The bodice with the boning pushes the skirt down a bit.. More secrets stil to come! ;)

And because I had such a hard time to find Patterns for Historic Fashions for Barbie`s Model Muse Body I decide to share my Patterns. Hope you have fun with it! If you need help, write me a Message.

I used a very thin cotton fabric and for the boning thin plasic stripes out of real corsett-bonings. Just take the fabric double, sew it together by the lines, bone it and gatther it on top!

More to come!!

Be nice to one another,

Axel

My plaid dress that I love so much

Hello World!

Greetings Everyone!

This Blogg is for all of you who love Historic Fashion and Fashion Dolls!

I`m based in Vienna and I just started to fulfill my childhood dream, which was to have a Barbie with a real corset and a hoop-skirt! I`m completly self-taught when it comes to sewing and construction. I had professional help making the Patterns but the rest is all done by myself. I just recently started and I´m doing this as a Hobby next to my regular work, so i can not put too much time in it. But one has to pay rent.
Right now i´m fascinated by the periods between 1845-60 and 1770-85. What you see here is my first finished gown. It is inspired by a 1845-50 Jane-Eyre-like Day-dress. I used a Cotton-Fabric and it has lining, boning and a Hoopskirt!
 I use Barbie`s with the Pivotal/Model-Muse-Body, the one you see in the pic is a Barbie Basics, Col. 02, Mo. Nr 14, that I re-bodyed with a Pivotal Body.
I went out to take the picture, it`s really just a first try. I have a lot of things already planed in my head , hopefully I have  time to realize them until July. I truly need a Holiday.

I have no Idea what will come out of this, but I think a blogg is a good start! Let me know what you think...


Have a nice day!

Axel