Getting Victorian

   Recently, I was invited to attend a contra dance on New Year's Day. The dance was themed as styles from long ago. Well, being the super nerd I am, I decided to go with a Victorian style dress. Since I did not own a dress of this type, I had to make one.

   My first thought was to see if Walmart had the fabrics and pattern I needed. I quickly found a good pattern. Then came the hard part: picking out the right colors. My idea was to go with a theme of green, gold, and black. After about an hour or so, I found the perfect fabrics to use in those colors. I went to get the lengths cut and found that my "project" would cost close to $100 dollars or more. The sleeves alone cost $20! I could definitely not afford such a price.
The kind Walmart employee saw my distress and pointed me in another, cheaper direction. She told me that I could simply buy a used/cheap dress and make it Victorian. The idea was simple, but great!

   I immediately went to Good Will to look for the perfect dress to restyle. I found a red dress that had a black silk covering. It had a v in the black silk up the front just like a typical Victorian dress. It was already half way there. The sleeves were short, though, and the dress body was tight and not flowing. It could not be danced in. I had my work cut out for me.

   When I got home, I asked my mother if she could assist me. We ended up taking this leftover red velvet material from another craft and making beautiful flowing sleeves. The tips of the sleeves met my fingers. We then took that same material and added 9 inches to each side of the dress to give it that wider bottom for dancing. As an extra thing, we also put some red velvet up on the neck so as to retain some modesty. In the end, the dress only cost about $10.00!