Working on the collar and cuffs This is finally the point where it starts to look more like the photo. Months of planning and sewing finally coming true! The first breakthrough was making the bunches of grapes larger. As soon as I put the first one on the collar, it was like *ding* success. Yes,…Continue reading Black Edwardian gown: part 6

The collar I have known for a while that the collar for this gown would be tricky. At fist I thought it was a velvet collar with some appliqué grapes. No big deal, right? That was before I read the description of the gown from the Kyoto Costume Institute. The description says it is a…Continue reading Black Edwardian Gown, part 5

Hemming the black velvet gown.

Black Edwardian gown part 3 -so many black velvet covered buttons.

The blouse Here is a link to part one. Many huge thanks to Facebook groups and friends for helping me figure out what on earth was going on in the photo. With their help, recreating this black Edwardian gown has been far less challenging. Not easy, but possible. Turns out that during a very few…Continue reading Black Edwardian Gown part 2

Jeanne Paquin, 1903 The first step to creating this gown is getting the undergarments right. Many months. Then it was time to order 6 yards of silk chiffon and 5 yards of black velvet. Starting with the skirt, the first step was to hand stitch the chiffon to the velvet for the skirt. Hurrah for…Continue reading Black Edwardian Gown part 1