I had a dress design all ready for it MONTHS ago, but ended up getting sick and being busy with other things, and thus, didn't get started on the mock-up stage until a week before the ball. AHHH!!
The design for the dress is a mash-up of several different time periods... mostly modern inspiration for this dress though. The gathering neckline is reminiscent of the 70's, but I've noticed it has recently made a come-back, as a lot of vintage and retro styles have. The short raglan sleeves are a 30's inspiration, but are also re-appearing in the modern world.The skirt is a 70's/modern flared cut. The belt shape inspiration came from a late 1930's/early 1940's dress I found on Pinterest. I found some blue cord and a star pin to give it a patriotic flare. :)
The mock-up gave me fits, and being in a hurry wasn't
helping me think through problems clearly. Refashioning a stretch shirt pattern
into this bodice was probably not the best choice either, but it had the
sleeves I wanted... so, it's what I used. ;) I nearly gave up in frustration
after making 4 mock-ups with each looking somewhat better and somewhat worse than
the last, but then I put on the first mock-up, and decided that one was almost
right, and to work with it again... so with Mom's help I fitted it, added
darts, and adjusted the collar... the next mock-up worked! I had a momentary
scare when I tried it on over my shirt because I was in a hurry (note to self:
never EVER try a mock-up over a shirt unless it is for a garment intended to be
worn over a shirt *facepalm*)
Shirt Pattern vs. Bodice concept art. (I intend to make a new belt with a floral embroidery design similar to the picture)
For the skirt I copied the shape of a dress with godets in the skirt, but I re-drew the seam lines, so instead of godets in the skirt, the skirt seams flare out. I love how
spinny it is! :)
I copied the mock-up onto paper and made a pattern envelope.. so now I can make a dress exactly like it again if I want... :) I pasted my design drawing to the front of the envelope for identification. :)
I didn't finish the mock-ups and start on the dress until
Wednesday the week of the ball. (Major scary! 2 days to make a dress!!!) The dress zoomed together and was at the
basically finished point by Wednesday night... well, it looked like a dress and
I could get into it anyway... ;)
Thursday Mom and I went shopping and picked up all the
snacks and beverages we needed for the ball. Which left only the evening to
finish the belt of the dress, fix the fitting issue in the back zipper area
(for some reason a mock-up of muslin pinned at the back, and crepe back satin
zipped up the back fit differently... ;)), and measure and sew the hem... I
finished! At 2:00 in the morning... :D
We had fun decorating the hall with Independence themed
decor Friday morning. After decorating the hall... we proceeded to decorate ourselves...
;)
Red white and blue EVERYTHING! :)
One of the other girls painted my nails for me.
I accented my dress with a brooch and a pair of screw on
earrings that used to be my Grandma's. :) Unfortunately, you could hardly see
my earrings, since I made a last minute decision to wear my hair down.
We had a blast dancing! This year I split the calling up
evenly between myself and 2 of my dance class members, so I only had to call 3
dances! It was really nice to get a "voice break" in between calling.
Discussing something (obviously very serious ;) ) with Mom and Dad
Oldtime Country Dancers Independence Ball 2015 Attendees
Oldtime Country Dancers Class Photo at the Independence Ball 2015
My hard dance class and I once again performed some of our
harder dances for the parents to see what we'd accomplished, but this time we
did it as a medley. We strung 4 dances together ... The Pinewoods Reel, The
Petronella (the hard way), The Bees of Maggieknockater, and Back to Bach twice
through (by far our hardest dance).
