Friday, August 24, 2012

The Jane Austen Fesitval . . . and THE DRESS


This July I attended the much-dreaded Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, Kentucky.  I have to admit, after the initial mis-step, making the dress for this thing wasn't so bad.  They do provide you with directions, after all.  Sewing is kind of like making cookies in that respect.  And it doesn't make you fat. The worst part for me was when I tried to do something called a flat-felled seam.  I think I goofed up and did some other type of seam instead.  But no one inspected it, issued a grade, or even frowned, so all in all I was pleased.  I even put the dozens of pleats in without crying.

The dress was so heavy in the back that the front part kept riding up high over my chest - instead of UNDER the boobs it tried to creep up near my neck.  Tons of safety pins solved that problem. 

So, what did I wear, exactly?  I wore a chemise.  Overtop of that, I wore a hand-made corset (really).  Then, overtop of that, I wore a petticoat.  And at last, overtop of that, I wore the gown.   

Et, voila!
 

 

I swear, I'm actually much skinnier than this dress makes me look.  It made me look twenty pounds heavier than I actually am, and since I am currently carrying an extra twenty pounds, this was not a good thing.  All in all, when my sisters and I (and a new-found cousin) finally got together in Kentucky and went to the festival, we had a wonderful time. 
 
And in the end, that's all that matters.

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