Marie Antoinette Strawberry gown

Here is my "secret" project that I've been plotting for a while. Every since Melly posted her version of the Strawberry fabric from MA, I've wanted to make this gown! (http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/1354899)  I splurged on cotton silk.  The blue trim and the blue velvet ribbon for the neck aren't the exact right shades of blue, but they were best I could come up with. The sleeve flounce net is vintage.

I tried a new sleeve pattern which was ok, but they kept riding up so my sleeves look weird in a bunch of the photos. But overall, I'm happy with how it turned out!  I also had to guess on the back since there are no pics of it - it's impossible to tell if it's quarter back or en fourreau.  In the end I went with quarter back because I thought it would take less fabric.

I went with MA's lunch look, with flowers in the hair, but I'd love to make the hat.  And those gloves she wears to church are amazing too.  My research page for this gown is here: http://costumersguide.com/ma12.shtml

Here are a million pics of me in the gown, and some of it on the dress form. :-)

 

Princess Caroline sacque - new pics!

I actually tried my sacque on and tried to approximate the portrait. Granted my hair is much darker and I don't have a sister. But I did have a fluffy white cat, and at my friend Gen's suggestion, I put a pink bow on her and got a few pictures with her. The lighting isn't great, but here are the pics (also, afterwards, I moved my sleeve flounces up and over slightly so the sleeve bows line up better.):

My pink silk American Duchess shoes and buckles:

Curtain Along Gown

I hadn't actually really tried on this costume yet (I used my standard 18th century block, which, though it needs a little tweaking, generally fits.)

Since I spent time with my hair (and a hairpiece), and I had stays on from taking pics of my new sacque, I thought I'd put this gown on to make sure it was good to go for Dress U!

Here are a few pics:

Princess Caroline cream and pink sacque

I've always loved this portrait of Princesses Louisa and Caroline, two of George III's younger sisters.  And I've always thought it would be fun to make Caroline's cream and pink sacque.

I was able to find cream silk taffeta for a good price on ebay, I had pink silk taffeta which is possibly a little darker than the portrait, but was a decent match.  I got the double strand of pearls on ebay and added a ribbon.  I used lace/net that was in my stash for the sleeve flounces. Again, not a perfect match, but it was the best I had. And I liked the aged feel of the trims, some of which are vintage.

I have dyed American Duchess silk shoes that go with this gown perfectly, too, so I'm excited to wear them with the gown at Dress U!

A note on construction. Since this is my 3rd sacque I pretty much just made this one like I did the others.  Kendra's page  has been invaluable every time I've done one of these, especially for a refresher on how to do the side pleats and skirt panels.  It's a really detailed reference and if you haven't done a sacque, I recommend checking it out:
http://demodecouture.com/projects/mourning/

I again used my adaptation of Simplicity 3637 as a bodice base. And I referred to my first making-of sacque page as a reminder to myself too!  http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/goldsacque.html

Maddie's boho dress...

The TV show Nashville is one of my guilty pleasures. One of my fav things about it are the two girls (sisters in real life) who play the daughters of country singer Rayna James. In real life, the sisters actually do sing and play guitar and they're super talented. When they did this cover of the Lumineers' "Ho Hey" on the show, I totally fell in love. The song is awesome:


And though I'm not the same age/size of Maddie (played by Lennon Stella), I also loved her dress. And unlike a lot of shows that have characters with cool clothes, this dress is actually still available. I got one and love it! 

It's available here:
http://www.freepeople.com/perfect-day-dress/_/productOptionIDs/f93c517e-bf11-4cb1-b91c-23b8dbd65f8e,fbce3f39-3ae3-4593-ae5c-cde7bcffd65b/?cm_mmc=OpEmail-_-OrderConfirm-_-V1-_-item1