A Victorian Christmas skirt (my very first one)

Had a sewing party tonight with my husband and a good friend of mine from work. While we ate spaghetti, and watched Jim Henson's 'Labyrinth', we worked on my Victorian skirt (with train). It took a while; considering this was my first non- 18th century skirt, and I did not have a proper pattern for it, and made a mistake on the back of the skirt (I miscalculated the amount of fabric I'd need to add to the back) but thankfully my friend was a professional and turned my sewing blunder into something that looked just like a victorian skirt. 

My reference photos below:

The personality of the ensemble just screams challenge 

Dresses with a more simpler design (no flounces on the purple, and slight flounces on the tan)


My Progress:


Simplicity 1558.


I had everything cut out, until I put the skirt over top of my underskirt and bustles and realized that I needed to make it longer like a train. Unable to salvage it myself, my friend stepped in and saved the day.
First I got myself into the "bare bones" of the outfit so we could do some draping and re-measuring and LOTS of cutting corners. 


Symmetry is everything!
                                                
Afterwards we tried it back on with everything and huzzah, it worked! With the skirt only 50% sewn up, what's left is the waistband, the wide flounces, and more than likely tons of ruffles and bows. Not 100% sure yet, but I'll sketch it out before tomorrow's next sewing session. 




Stay tuned for Part II of the sewing party. 


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