Jennie wore the new 1860s Sheer Dress that I made her for the first time today when she portrayed First Lady, Harriet Lane at Wheatland. My mother and I went along to talk to guests about the fashions of the 1860s. Above Jennie and I pause for a picture.
Jennie's dress is made from a beautiful sheer cotton organdy fabric. It's really not quite as bright blue as it appears in these pictures. She looked perfect for her part as Harriet Lane.
Back View with Slight Train.
The bodice has small pin tucks as decoration, just like the original.
Nice!
ReplyDeletevery beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAw, so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWOW!! LOVE BOTH DRESSES! The small checked print silk dress with that 2 pointed bodice and box pleating is just simply stunning and even Miss Lane's dress is JUST as gorgeous with that wrapped bodice with a fantastic sheer of eye popping robin's egg blue and the dainty little lace trim just adds the character!! Great job on the dress, Linds! PS. is that the Wheatland House?? That's where Rob Skeel's been quite a few times and talks often of it, and how splendid it is inside!! That's where Pres. James Buchanan lived as well, right? I'm quite positive it is! Anyways, good job on that dress!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, gotta post again, hehe, just that blue dress is GORGEOUS! I actually had a question though.. I see you're holding a folded parasol, where did you manage to find that?
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSo slpendid! Nice work(s)! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the lovely comments!
ReplyDeleteSamantha - the blue silk parasol is an original frame that was recovered by Marta Vincent. Here's some more information about her work: http://www.originals-by-kay.com/samples_of_work/Exparasol.htm
Parasols are not overly tricky to recover, especially if the original frame still has parts of the original covering that can be used as a pattern. You'd want to make a mock-up first out of a fabric similar in weight to the silk that you will use to recover it to make sure that it fits properly. I've recovered parasols before, and it's a lot of fun. Original Parasol Frames can be found on Ebay, and also at antique shops sometimes.