Late Victorian Two Piece Suit
Made for: J.Edwards
Made to be worn walking the slopes and cliffs of North Devon, this two-piece suit 
was created to be functional, comfortable and yet still holding to the true original design. The Dress she had seen and wanted replicating was from the Minnesota Historical Society and was one of their online images (please see to your right). It’s from late 1800’s and creates an incredible silhoette.
Ms Edwards chose the fabric and chose beautifully. It makes a vast difference when the fabric is good for what you’re making and it helps when you like it!
As we couldn’t get our grubby mitts onto the actual gown (and do things like lift the collar to see how it was laid out) we had to sample our pattern a couple of times to get the best lay out for the lapels and sailors collar.
Front View of Bodice
Back View of Bodice
The original silhouette would’ve been created and encouraged by under clothes all of which, Ms Edwards felt was going a little too far to be walking in and
climbing up on buses: us modern gals like our comfort as well as our beauty. But actually, the final effect was more similar to the original dress than thought.
We also had a fitting before making up the final garment and here’s some quick
photo’s from that – we changed the length of the frill due to the fitting so you’ll be able to see that it’s much bigger in these beneath photo’s.
The Fitting
Ms Edwards has been a super star to work with and we hope the best for her business. She looked great in the final dress and since this fitting, she has also come back to us to have a Victorian Style Belt made and a warm Short Cape (Please see the relevant pages for those items!). There is also the most gorgeous full Cloak with sleeves and cape in the pipes and we are so looking forward to working on that!
We’ve also included here just for sheer fact that we have a scanner, a copy of just 2 of the many hastily scrawled pattern cutting notes that we take while Pattern Cutting.
Our Illegible Pattern Cutting Notes
Ms Edwards organises Walking Tours in the historical Village of Clovelly. For more info please see her website at:
