So here is an update on the red embroidered alcantara fabric dress.

The red dress is starting to take some form and some more definition as to what it wants to be. I found some lovely white lace (on the cuffs) and some copper and red trims. The red trim looks like ruching, so that will save some work down the line. Here the fabric is still mostly draped over the dress form and pinned in place. The embroidery from the border of the fabric has been been placed upside down for the bodice. This means I'll have some funky piece work because of the scalloping on the edge.  Still not sure about making this a caraco jacket vs a round gown.

In the meantime, while deciding how the red dress would end up, I started  doing a rework of a blue linen dress that I made last year. That dress definitely belonged to the Hall of Shame, but well, it was made only in an afternoon. The stays I had made (see previous posts) hadn't yet been fully fitted properly. They were definitely still too high along the bustline. It was too hot to wear the chemise closed, and I had been off washing dishes right before this photo was taken. I'm actually kind of glad my face is hidden in this picture!

Luckily I still had some linen left from that disaster above. I also found a small bit of black linen in the stash. So I decided to make my first attempt at a riding habit. This will be my first attempt to also make anything 18th century.


Here you can see everything just pinned to the mannequin. Definitely not finished yet. I also had to try to make my very first set of panniers. You definitely don't want to see those! I used garden wire, duct tape and some muslin to put them together. I didn't care about the color of the thread either... it was a mockup after all. 

Here is a bit of the back side of the jacket. I have to redo the peplum pleating. It didn't quite match where I wanted it to. I also haven't decided on the lining yet for this jacket. You can see my cat Yumiko on the ladder watching the whole process.

 The repleating of the skirt came out well though! And you can catch a peak of the construction of the jacket. Yes, I'm using a mix of machine and hand sewing (it's my first time after all!, all patterns were draped by me, with some looking at other pictures for reference). The interior of the jacket has some stiff cotton denim/duck to hold the shape.

 Here you can see where I need to rework the pleats!

 And last but not least, some look at the buttons. There are some pewter buttons with a sphinx design and the blue buttons are wood covered in leather. I think I'll not use them however as the blues are not quite right. The black linen waistcoat is at this moment only a false front. I might decide later to turn it into a full vest so I can take the jacket off in warmer weather.