A Red Velvet Cupcake for Margaret (Part 1)

Ahhh yes, it's that time of year again. Late summer in Los Angeles means that Faire Season is just passed, and we're moving on to more autumnal events like Halloween and of course, the Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball.

Every year the hobgoblins, goblins, fairies, and sundry other costume enthusiasts gather to take in the shows, gawk at one another's costumes, and generally revel in the opulence of the evening. Every year I also spend way too much time and money making a new dress for myself. This year I'm making not one, but TWO early/mid Victorian cupcake-y puffballs! Welcome to Part One of the cupcake puffball monster mash - Margaret's Red Dress!

We did a lot of looking at puffy ballgowns, and went back and forth on bustle vs. crinoline vs. ruffles. Her inspiration pinterest board is here, if you'd like to peruse it. After much deliberation, we finally settled on this image as the inspiration:

image of red velvet dress; Isabelle Antoinette Barones Sloet van Toutenburg, by Nicaise De Keyser 1852

Once the style and cut had been decided, we hemmed and hawed over fabric. Velvet is too warm, but so pretty. Taffeta would be great, but doesn't have the depth, silk is so expensive but soooo pretty &c. &c.

So I ventured forth to the fabric district, and after several tragically flat red taffetas, and icky faux dupionis, i found this glowing red baby right in our price range!

Next step - patterning. I altered my trusty Truly Victorian 1860s ball gown bodice (get it here. Seriously, get this pattern because it's the best. I use it constantly.) so that it had princess seams instead of darts. I fortunately, as I would later find out, gave the front seams 2' seam allowances. I also raised the shoulder line by about an inch. We decided to leave off the sleeves to give the dress a little bit more modern feel. We can always add them on later, right?

The bodice in progress - click to enlarge

The bertha is going to be removable, to give the bodice a little bit more versatility. It's made of several separate strips of fabric, folded, serged at one edge, and attached to a v-shaped base. The seams will be covered with yet another strip of self-fabric. The whole piece attaches to the shoulders and center back with little hook and eyes.

Bertha in progress - click to enlarge

The skirt was just 7 yards of fabric attached to a waistband using a combination of cartridge pleats and box pleats. It closes at the back with a simple bound placket that fastens with hooks and eyes to keep the pleats in place over the hoops.

The best part, though, is POCKETS! Ok, so technically the skirt doesn't have pockets, it has pocket slits, but Margaret will be using separate detachable pockets underneath the skirt for maximum carry capacity.