Technical Question

[wataya]

I'm doing a 1850s dress with a heavily flowered fabric. I'm thinking of maybe doing two to three flounces on my skirt. Do I really have to use the same fabric for the skirt (under the flounces) or can I cheat, and use a red fabric (my fabric is red) ?

I mean, if I dance in a flounced dress, one is going to see under the flounces, right ?

That means a great difference in the amound of fabric I need.

This is just a so bloody expensive hobby we have...

Comments

[jennylafleur.livejournal.com]

I would be very reluctant to piece your skirt with a solid color underneath the flounces. One gust of wind or a twirl while dancing and the cheat is revealed.

I have never heard of it being done in the period (although this isn't one I've studied a great deal so please don't just take my word for it). The point of most gowns of the period seems to be to use the most amount of fabric possible! :>

A more period solution might be to make your skirt a tad less full in order to eek out the flounces. That is what I did with my brown linen petticoat. :> Using a gathered flounce rather than a pleated one will also save fabric (you can cheat quite a bit with gathering I’ve found). Certainly piecing the flounces (or the skirt underneath) would be period. I have a c.1900 gown of heavily flowered wool that has a deep flounce at the bottom. Both the flounce and skirt underneath it are pieced in places (particularly in the back). The flowered design makes it very hard to tell. :>