Embellished!

The 1930's dressing gown is finished! It ended up taking me way longer than I thought it would, but it turned out great! It gave me way more trouble along the way then I thought it would, but first let's get to the facts.

The Challenge: Embellish

Fabric: 4 yards Satin, 4 yards Organza, 1/4 yard pleated lace fabric

Pattern: none

Year: 1930's

Notions: 6 yards wide lace trim, 1 yard narrow lace trim, 6 satin buttons, elastic

How historically accurate is it? 90% 

Hours to complete: 11

First Worn: Not yet

Total cost: $80

The first part of creating this gown went fairly easy. I drafted out a pattern for the waistband and top that went together easily enough. I even took the time to put pockets in the gown, something I always forget and always regret later. Once I pleated the skirt on to the rest of the gown it looked all wrong though. Either I had been too generous with the cloth in the skirt or I should have gathered instead of pleating. It looked so poofy and so completely not the right silhouette for the 1930's. I had put so much work into the pockets and pleats though and time was running short, so I just blazed ahead hoping it would work out. 

I found some gorgeous lace for the hem

At this point I didn't even want to add the lace to the waistband, It just seemed like too much effort for something that wasn't working out right. The lace was such an important part of the original design though that I figured out a quick and lazy way to add it on. I'm so glad I did because it completely changed the dress. It instantly brought the dress back to the right time period, still a little on the poofy side but in a way that I could live with. The lazy way of adding the lace looked fine in the front but I might go back and tweak the back a little, it's not quite right. 

The back lace needs a little fixing

After the lace went on it was a quick job to add the sleeves and finish the gown. The organza I bought is a little stiffer than I would have preferred, making the sleeves stand out when I want them to drape more, but it's not the worst thing in the world. There's also a layer of organza in the skirt of the dress but you can't really tell it's so see-through and the same color as the satin beneath it.

The little buttons I found match just about perfectly, though this dress is the most difficult color to properly photograph! It's not yellow at all like some of the pictures show, it's more towards an ivory color but the store called it champagne.

I also got a chance to use one of the fancy stitches my machine is programmed with. I used a pretty little satin scallop stitch to finish off the neckline with a bit more detail. All in all I'm very happy with how this dress came out, It's almost too pretty to just wear around the house!