Planning for a 40s-ish dress

So, I've been invited to a wedding a month from now. It will actually be the first wedding ever that I attend were the bride and groom are friends of mine rather than family or friends of my parents. It is all very exciting and what better to do than to make a dress for the occasion? I have long felt that a 40s dress is missing from my wardrobe and while reading a blog written by a Swedish photographer I found just the one.

For when I make mine I am going to change the collar though and I will probably make it out of green silk.

Basic sketch

This is what I am aiming for. Hopefully I will be able to whip up a pattern this week and start looking for the perfect fabric. Somewhere in between working full time, commuting and crocheting..

Supplies and half a corset

After a long and tedious wait both my orders for corset supplies have arrived! Trying to get away with as little as possible I ordered from both VenaCava and SewCurvy but it is hard to tell if I succeeded because they handle the postage in different ways. Anyway, all of the things for both the edwardian (TVE01) and the victorian (which I haven't even decided on a pattern for yet) corsets are now here and I can finally start with the real job. I am very pleased with the white coutil. So thin, yet so very strong and both the colour and  the herringbone pattern are beautiful.

Coutil, lace trim, flat steels, twill tape, busks, spiral steel, eyelets and laces.

Because I had to wait for the materials but was filled with inspiration and corset enthusiasm I had previously prepared by copying the pattern. I have little experience with both bought patterns and patterns with seam allowances included but while working with the mock up I discovered how hard it was to cut and/or trace the pieces when the pattern piece was cut out. So I tried a different approach and copied all pieces to one piece of paper, all on grain and with appropriate distance from each other. Thereafter they were all traced onto the wrong side of the fabric.

Traced pieces. Bust and hip gore excluded.

 I did not dare cut the two layers at the same time so up until now only half of the corset is cut out and I have also sewn it together. It is an absolute joy to sew and it is turning out very well. The fact that all of the seam allowances are stitched down gives it a very neat appearance.

Half of the corset with busk inserted.

It might not be visible in the picture but I have also added a waist stay. It is basted on from the inside and the plan is that once the boning channels are added they will keep the waist stay in place so that the (not so pretty) basting can be removed.

The next steps will be to cut out the lining and put both that and the other half of the corset together. And of course to crochet like a maniac. I have made progress with the trim but I will need more than twice the amount I have.