This post is going to be a bit different from my usual posts about my sewing projects and processes. This is a review of sorts of my experiences purchasing from a website that I learned about from other costumers. I’ve only been able to find one other blogger’s review of their experiences with the site, so I want to contribute my narrative to the community in hopes that it will help someone else make an informed decision when deciding where to purchase their fabrics.
fashion
The Gryffindor Natural Form Gown
It’s finished! Time for a blog post!
I conceived of this gown almost a year ago when, with Rufflecon still on my mind, Lauren of American Duchess posted a photo on Intagram with a vintage sweater that had scarlet and gold Gryffindor-like stripes. I thought it would be super cool to try to get a group together at Rufflecon representing our Hogwarts houses through historical clothing. My own house is Gryffindor, and I’ve been wanting to try Natural Form era for a while, so I thought it was the perfect time to try!
I started by looking at tons of Natural Form era fashion plates as well as the patterns available from Truly Victorian, and then I started sketching.
Sword Dress
I took a detour from the 18th century for the past week or so to make myself a more modern dress. A friend of mine has a Spoonflower account and enjoys designing and uploading fabric prints in her spare time. One of her designs is this collection of 18th and 19th century swords, available in various sizes. Spoonflower recently had a sale on their cotton sateen, which is one of my favorite fabrics to work with, so I asked my friend to adjust the spacing on the print a bit to work better for the design I had in mind, and finally ordered the fabric after having the idea in my head for months.
Because the background of the print is all black, the printed fabric (Spoonflower prints their fabric, they don’t dye it) ended up feeling a bit like it was coated. However, the coated feeling works for the drape of fabric that I needed and the print did not run at ALL when I pre-washed it, so I’m not too bothered by it, though I know some people might be, which is why I mention it.
I used the pattern that I drafted for my map dress (that you can see buried in this post), but I second guessed myself on the seam allowances for some reason, and at first the fit of the bodice came out completely wonky and everything I did to try to adjust it just seemed to make it worse. Luckily I hadn’t trimmed anything down with scissors yet, so I just took out the seams where I had tried to “fix” things, went back to my original cuts and seam allowances, and magically, the fit was just fine. Little slivers of my gray lining fabric are visible here and there, but nothing too noticeable. I finished it off with an invisible zipper in the side seam.
Front
Back
Bodice Front
Bodice Back
I can’t wait to wear it! Especially with the new season of Game of Thrones starting soon. Now it’s back to my various 18th century projects…
The Victorian Archivist 