1840s Inspired Ball Gown
This is actually the first major costuming project I worked on, and it was my Halloween costume in 2015. It’s the only thing on this website that’s completely based off of a pattern, which is Butterick B5832. It’s designed to look like day dresses from the 1840s, though I decided to make it into a more formal dress. Over all, I really liked this pattern, though it is a challenging one to make, and there are a few issues with it. However, I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to start exploring historical costuming.
Embroidery
This embroidery is the only truly original work I did on this dress. It runs along the entire bottom hem of the skirt in a repeating pattern, and is entirely designed by me. It features white roses on a gold vine, and while it was a lot of work to get it all done in time for Halloween, I’m really happy with the final outcome.
Bodice
Even though the pattern isn’t my original work, I did want to highlight the details in the bodice and, below, in the sleeves. The pleating on the front of this dress is really beautiful, though it is a bit difficult to line everything up correctly.
The back is also really nicely done in a way that highlights and accentuates the waist, and makes it so the zipper isn’t too badly obvious.
My main critique of this, though, is that the skirt doesn’t connect to the bottom of the waistband. As can be seen in the photo below, the waistband pulls up from the skirt and reveals the white fabric underneath. This is partially due to the sheer volume of fabric present where the skirt attaches to the waist, and can be mostly fixed if the wearer also wears a corset underneath. However, a good corset can be costly, and since this pattern seems to be designed to be worn without one, it’s a little disappointing to see this issue. If I were to make this dress again, I would sew the waistband down to the skirt, and would probably also reinforce it with interfacing, which would stiffen it and make it harder for it to bunch up or shift.
Sleeves
Another really nice part of this dress is the sleeves. Like the bodice, they have some really lovely pleating along the side, and are fitted to the arm, opening at the bottom with a button. They’re comfortable and surprisingly easy to move in. Interestingly, the pattern doesn’t follow the usual straight sleeve model, instead going for a curved pattern, which makes sure that the sleeves don’t bunch up at the elbow when you bend your arms.
Acknowledgments
Thank you so much to my mom, who helped with the pleats and embroidery, and was a great sounding board for tricky problems!