Regency Bodice Mock-up

According to my new rules for fabric-buying, I have to use my first purchase of fabric in over a year - this lovely remnant of royal blue velveteen - by February 8.

I also have an upcoming event on February 9, for which I would like to wear something new.  I have very little fabric to work with, so I can't afford to make any mistakes.  With this in mind, I started drafting a pattern for a Regency bodice.

I'm going for something like this.

I draped muslin over my blue day dress on the dress form, pinned it in place and drew on it with a fabric marker to mark the seams of the dress.

Then I drew diagonal lines to create the diamond-shaped back I desired, and draped another piece of muslin across the front, over the top of the shoulder, and under the arm to overlap both seam lines.  I did a bit of shaping in the form of a dart at the front of the armhole.

I used the muslin pieces as my pattern to cut the mock-up bodice from sacrificial fabric - in this case an old lavender sheet.  Since I had only marked the seams and the neckline and waistline, I added a 5/8" seam allowance all the way around, and sewed the mock-up together.

I made some adjustments to the positioning of the back side seams after trying the mock-up on my dress form and myself.

If my revisions are successful I will use the same pattern for a planned open robe from sari fabric.  And now that the lavender sheet fabric is on my radar, I totally want to make a pelisse out of it!  So this is now three projects in the works.  Am I being an over-achiever?  :p

A New Bonnet (in the works)

So, my parents are coming to visit me next month!  :D  We'll be hitting up Colonial Williamsburg, of course, but then I also had the brilliant idea to take my mom along to a Regency Society of Virginia event so we can dress up together!  I may have even orchestrated just such an event for that very purpose...  ;)  We will be attending a Ladies' Tea at the Victorian Station in Hampton.  You can buy tickets up until October 1, if you're interesting in joining us.

But!  Now that we have an event to attend, I need to make sure my mom is fully outfitted in Regency raiment.  I have a dress she can wear, as we're basically the same size, and I have shoes and stockings she can borrow.  I do not, however, have more than one bonnet.  Clearly, this needs to change.

Oh, the possibilities!