Making a Civil War Dress Part 1

I finally got my camera out while making a dress. The dress that I'm working on is a Custom Order Civil War Day Dress like the one I sell in my Etsy store Victorian Times. I plan to post the Making a Civil War Dress in three parts. So please make sure you come back to see the next two post.

I like to use a dress form. I can watch the dress take shape while I'm sewing. Although the lady who order the dress did not order any of my civil war undergarments I still like to put those on my dress form before I begin sewing. In the above picture you can see my corset and corded petticoat. My corded petticoat need a good starching to hold the cords out better. Women wore corded petticoats rather than hoops when they needed to work. The corded petticoat gives the dress a bell like shape without the bulkiness caused by the hoops. As reenactors, women where corded petticoats under their "Camp" Dress / Work dress. When cooking by the fire you need to be able to get close and a corded petticoat make that possible. When I'm sewing a Civil War Day dress I usually put my hoop on the dress form instead of the corded petticoat. Unfortunately, my hoop is still pack and I can't seem to find it! Hopefully, I be about to find it for the final picture of the dress.

In the picture above I have my petticoat over the corded petticoat. This will give the skirt more fullness. My petticoat can also fit over a four bone hoop.

Above is picture of the fabric I am using for the dress. It is a soft blue with a white paisley design. I'll post a close up picture in part two. In this picture I'm getting ready to cut out the panels for the skirt. I use four panels for a Day Dress, it gives the dress 180" in circumference.

Next, I sew the panels together and pleat the waist. The picture above is the skirt. I like to make the skirt first because I makes me feel as if the dress is mostly finished, even though I still have a lot of work to do. This skirt is wide enough to fit over a four, five, or six bone hoop! In part three I'll post a picture with the dress over a hoop. Part two will focus on the bodice and sleeves. Part three will be on the finishing of the dress.