1860's Plaid Dress

I made this dress years ago, literally. However, this is the first time I got to wear it to an event! Like all first wearings, it has a couple of minor issues but I wanted to show how the original dress looks in comparison to this one.

Here is the link to the one I was basing my gown off of. Below are a couple of the pictures of the dress.  I also used this one as a how-to to do the insides of the dress.  The inside is completely lined in linen.

As you can tell, the plaids are slightly different, but the color match was so good, I had to make this plaid into this dress.  Despite this not being my normal color combo, I really love this dress.  It was too small at the time I made it - I remember trying it on and it being too tight at the waist.  Now, however, it fits perfectly.  Yay!  I have one decent 1860's dress!

I made the sleeves slightly differently due to a lack of fabric.  I had slightly under 4 yards to work with and that meant every last bit counted.  

For some puffiness beneath the skirt, I wore my quilted petticoat.  I could have worn my hoops but: a) driving and hoops are not friends b)it's 34F in the day.  Quilted petticoats are a blessing when it's this cold.

I'm just happy right now that I have at least one thing that is Victorian that fits.  We aren't talking about what happened with the bustle dress I made earlier this year.   I would have worn it but ummm...the bodice fits over my sweater right now while wearing all modern clothing and not corset.   ..,So a new bustle dress is in the future!