Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The Marianne Dashwood Photo Shoot


A dear bloggy friend who shall remain nameless (she knows who she is...) was recently teasing me about my inability to keep a secret.  We were chatting away on Gmail and the topic of Anne-girl's approaching fifteenth birthday came up.   I could not remember how the friend who shall remain nameless might have known that Anne-girl's birthday was coming close, so I asked and she responded with: "You, being as silent as the grave, of course, mentioned on the blog that you are making a Regency-era dress for her birthday and that you told her so way before her birthday."

This (to quote Mr. Knightley) is true.  But it is also true that I was compelled to tell the dear girl about the dress in order to make sure that it fit.  Because you know, it's a dreadful thing, Sparkler, to make a dress and find it doesn't fit.  Especially if it's a first attempt.  (The practice dress I made out of bedsheets does not count, and only Melody will ever know just how dreadful that one was... let's just say I have now learned which end of the skirt is supposed to go At the Top.)  So Anne-girl was accordingly told about the dress, fittings were held, measurements were taken, and then the sewing machine was whisked out and a great deal of work ensued, accompanied by my beloved Pandora (because I cannot sew without music).

The great day arrived, the dress was duly unwrapped and oohed and ahhed over, and shortly thereafter Anne-girl and I hied ourselves to the backyard with my trusty camera to do a Marianne Dashwood photo shoot.   (I dubbed it a Marianne Dashwood shoot because Anne-girl's hair reminds me of Marianne.  Someone back me up on this.)

Due to privacy concerns and creepers on the Internet and flying purple pirate monsters, we have elected to share only the pictures that do not show Sister Dear's face, as I'm sure you will all understand.  You can scroll to the top of the page for a front view of the dress...


...and here is the back view.


Oh, and at this point I should say that I used Simplicity Patter 4055, dress B, which turned out to be quite simple once I understood the directions and had some help from Melody.  (A friend in need is a friend who flies to her computer and frantically emails her Tween for advice when the placket instructions don't make sense.  A friend indeed is a friend who promptly emails back with minute instructions and is even kind enough to scan a pattern piece into her computer when the friend in need is so silly as to lose piece 17.)


I love how the back is so nice and full for ease of movement.
"But I've BEEN on a walk today!"
"You need another!"


When the photo shoot was over, Anne looked at her hair with the help of a hand mirror and said, "How did you do THAT?"  (She's expert at complex hairstyles.  I do ponytails.)
"Um, I grabbed it and bunched it flat against your head and stuck hairpins in until it stayed up without my hand."
"Yeah... well, it's falling out."

Humph.  It was pretty while it lasted.


The dress pattern does not call for trim on the sleeves, but I felt the black lace added a little flair to them and dressed it up a wee bit.  The sleeves are not intended to be this length, either, but at Melody's suggestion I shortened them from their original wrist-length.  I like them better this way.

"Oh, those Lucases are such artful people indeed. They are all for what they can get!  However, your coming just at this time is the greatest of comforts.  And we are very pleased to hear what you tell us about the latest fashions for long sleeves."
~Mrs. Bennet, P&P95

13 comments:

Melody said...

Goosela!! Making me wait to see pictures until they pop up on your blog? Honestly. You naughty little girl.

Are you going to send ME the pictures that show sister's dear face? :P After all, I am not a flying purple pirate monster, to the best of my knowledge. (Speaking of which, a friend of mine was recently wondering--are purple people eaters purple, or do they eat purple people?)

Heeheehee... I'm glad we both had the same pattern, it made things so much easier. ;) And I'm very glad I could help! As Rizzle the Rat would say, "Thanks for makin' me a paht of this!"

The hair looks quite pretty. :)

*applauds* Yay! I'm glad I finally got to see pictures of it on The Person. ;) Now you must make one for yourself, you know. Perhaps view A. :D (One must get full use out of one's patterns, after all.)

Rhoswen Faerie Wrose said...

A very nice dress, indeed. :-)
I know what what you mean about the hair. I do that all the time, myself, and people are always asking me how I did it because it looks so cute. All I can say is I put it up and pin it. LOL! :-)

Kirsten Fichter said...

I love this!! I've always wanted to make a Jane Austen dress, but have yet to sit down and do it! I've made a couple of medieval style gowns, but all without any patterns. I don't know if I could manage a pattern... (sheepish grin)

And Anne's hair is amazing!! My older sister, Beth Grace, is an expert with hairstyles (yeah, I'm the ponytail girl), and she's been recently doing a hairstyle very similar to that on my other sister, Jessa Bri. Love, love, love it!! :)

Bekah said...

Absolutely gorgeous!

And I awarded your blog on:
www.bekahwall.blogspot.com

(it should be in a very recent post ;) )

Miss Laurie of Old-Fashioned Charm said...

Lovely, lovely, lovely!!! The dress turned out perfectly and fits dear Anne so well! I love the lace on the sleeves and the back ties too. Her hair does look like Marianne Dashwood's in S&S 2008, same shade too!
I hope she's really enjoying it, you did a wonderful job Amy! :)

Elizabeth said...

Oo-OO-oo! The dress is so pretty!

Rachel Heffington said...

Beautiful, darling! And I terribly approve of the hair. It was *lovely*

Alexandra said...

IT TURNED OUT GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great job!!!!!! And the hair looks absolutely lovely!

Jessica said...

Very nice! The hair, too. ;-) Maybe you will be able to branch out from just ponytails now! haha

I have wanted to sew a Regency style dress for several years now, but so far have only made them to fit dolls. ;-)

Arielle Melody Bailey said...

Smashing, Amy!!!!!! Love that shade of blue! And the black lace is a very cute touch!

Very pretty hair, too! :)

Hayden said...

Lovely! I think I've used the same pattern, but I'm not sure. Your sister's hair is gorgeous! And such a pretty color...it does look very Marianne-ish :)

Margaret Hale said...

The dress is beautiful! And I LOVE the color!

Jessica Greyson said...

Oh, tis beautiful work and on such a gorgeous model - even though we cannot see her face. :D Congratulations on beautiful workmanship! Sewing is an odd bundle of work, but good :) and yes Music is a MUST while you sew though I must admit I always end up playing all of my favorite period dramas through my laptop for company - the dress gets marked at Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice and part of Cranford..... yup. :D *giggle*

Jessica