Civil war ball gown

Our homeschool group has held a Civil War ball for a few years now. It is our alternative to a prom. The first year I made E13 a dress using the birdesmaid dress pattern from my wedding dress, the second year E13 made her own dress using a pattern we made from Authentic Victorian Fashion Patterns, by Kristina Harris. This year I designed a new dress for E13. She made her own elliptical hoops using a pattern from Laughing moon Mercantile and I made the bodice, sleeves, and skirt from slopers I made for her.
She had decided she wanted a bodice and skirt (which was more historically accurate) rather than a dress. After having studied many period outfits, with many features she did not like, we came up with her version. The bodice was to have a rounded neckline in front and in the back that was not too low, a small puffed sleeve with a cuff,  a sharp point in front and back, corded edges and a zipper instead of hooks and eyes. The skirt, which had four panels, was to be flat in the front, gathered at the sides, lightly pleated at the back and have a scalloped bottom edge revealing a lighter colored layer. We choose a deep plum colored taffeta (the photograph looks blue but the taffeta is a deep plum purple).
I began by taking E's measurements and drafting a bodice sloper on graph paper. After making the paper sloper, I did a quick "eye-ball" fit and then cut the bodice and one sleeve out of an old sheet.
I used the fabric sloper to make adjustments, mostly adjusting the armcyse for her and adjusting the depth of the neck-line, and then cut out the bodice lining and fabric.

Side view of bodice and small puffed sleeves with cuff

To give the bodice an authentic shape, I added boning channels to the lining which I then flat-lined to the top fabric.  Once the bodice was assembled, I inserted spiral steel bones into the channels and hand stitched the openings shut. The zipper was hand sewn into the bodice.

Back view of bodice with a zipper

 

 

 

 

 

 

Front view of bodice

Front view of bodice and skirt with scalloped edge

side view of bodice and skirt

Next I sewed the four skirt panels together, gather the sides, and sewed the skirt to a narrow waist band. To create the bottom edge of the skirt, I hemmed the skirt, then drew vertical lines on the inside to show where to gather the edge. By hand, I sewed a small line of stitches and gather up the skirt. Next, I sewed a hemmed strip of light purple satin to the bottom of the skirt.
The bodice fit E perfectly and as a whole I think the dress was lovely. I think I would still like to get right of the slight puckering and wrinkling on the bodice. This may be due to the zipper as opposed to hooks and eyes and also because I sewed another lining to cover the inside of the bodice. Still E was the belle of the ball. I added a small flower corsge to her left shoulder but otherwise left her dress plain.