I am really surprised at how long it took me to make this gown! In my head everything is so simple, yet the execution took 50 times longer than I ever expected. Real life constantly interrupts me, and I need to find a way to deal with that effectively. .. and I can’t really whine about it, as this is a problem every seamstress in the world shares! If anyone has any tips– clue me in! I am already working on my next project, so this post will be rather prose sparse– but, as I took photos along the way, I might as well show them!
I have a lovely client named Alisa, from The Ladies of History, and for her next cosplay she would like to be Catherine the Great. She sent me three and a half yards of blue velour upholstery fabric and a vintage fur stole to make the cloak with… Only 3.5 yards? With a nap? For a cloak? That has to go over an 18th century gown? I just about fainted. It couldn’t be done! Cloaks need loads of yardage to look nice, a skimpy cloak just looks stupid, especially if you’re going to portray a Queen! I had no idea how I was going to make this work.