A while ago, I discovered this beautiful bodice remnant on etsy. I got it for a steal. When Edwardian Ball came around again, I decided it was high time I made something new from this beautiful piece.

Here is the bodice as it was received:

I reinforced the garment and trimmed it down to better incorporate it into a new piece. Then I headed straight to Britex Fabrics in San Francisco to see if I could find a matching velvet. And I did! A gorgeous blue velvet that matched perfectly! I also located a beautiful piece of silk at StoneMountain and Daughters in Berkeley that matched the medium blue color on the embroidery.

Using a Truly Victorian Pattern I created a silk skirt that was true to the time period, then set about to modifying the bodice to create the typical “pigeon front” look for the time period I was aiming for.

It still needs quite a bit of work, and I may do some more refashioning. I am teaching myself to embroider so that I may add some matching embroidery details to the finished piece.

Although it’s not as finished as I would like, here it is in action:

And here are two more of it, in the gallery window at Redux.