Rosie Cotton's Dancing Dress Costume Detail

I used McCall’s 2793 as a base for the blouse and bodice. The blouse I made from white muslin (I made a second version for a client in 2004, of light blue lightweight cotton), following the pattern exactly. The bodice I made from muslin, cut it up so that it closed in back and had a keyhole opening in front and made it again. It fit perfectly, so on to the real thing. The side panels are just a pretty floral cotton and the center panel is a leftover piece of my model’s own silk wedding dress, that we dyed blue. It had a leafy pattern that seemed close to what Rosie’s center front looked like. I bound the edges with bias tape and the whole thing is underlined with canvas, then lined with muslin. I put eyelets down the back. The skirt is a simple tube skirt in three layers of blue cotton. I had fun choosing leaf stitches on my machine for a little added interest to the bottom of each layer! We found an inexpensive wig that needed a little styling.