Fabric: red shantung, purple satin lining. Approx 3m
Pattern: Truly Victorian
Photos taken by my mom
So…things did not exactly go to plan. I used the Victorian Pagoda bodice but for some reason it turned out looking more 15th century/ren fair than actually Victorian. At first I was rather disappointed that it looked so “costumey” — I do wear all these things I make in “normal life” but there’s something very cheap-looking about this pairing. I’ll probably wear more of the walking skirt with other things.
Anyway, the actual making of the top was relatively hassle-free, even though there were two things I tried for the first time. There’s boning in the top (going in the darts) though I used zip ties because I couldn’t be bothered with buying it. It’s also the first time I’ve lined a top and that went surprisingly ok.
The buttons are from Aliexpress and I LOVED them, in fact I purchased more and they’re on the way. The gold braid is the same as the skirt, purchased from Spotlight. On hindsight I think the gold braid made it even more costumey. Ugh
There was also a slight issue with the fit near the shoulders, and maybe I used a size larger than I was supposed to. If I do use this pattern in the future I will definitely redraft the shoulders to be smaller as I had to even after cutting into the fabric, it’s still wider than I would like. Nonetheless, I really like the outfit especially after seeing the photos!
Steffi Heloise 