Past Patterns #803 Pioneer Dress Modified

So, I tried on my old clothes to see if they will still fit for trek. Unfortunately the dress I drafted myself, is just a tad too snug to provide the comfort level I want this time around. I can get into it, I just don't want to feel squished. I'm sad because I really love that dress: the fabric is just so soft and the pattern, so pretty, but losing weight... well. I've remade the bodice three times already and the skirt is already cinched down because I originally used it for maternity, and I didn't remake it with a smaller waistband, I just ran a string through it, so I really shouldn't feel bad making something new.

I would have liked to have, as I've said before, make a corset or more likely a stay, and then draft a new bodice, but I'm going for speed right now, so I pulled out my Past Patterns #803 Pioneer Dress.  As I was working on the dress, up popped a post on the Civilian Civil War Closet by Beth T. with pictures of the original dress that this #803 was based on:

I suppose I could have used the pattern I drafted as my base, but I was a little worried about upsizing it. I've kind of wanted to use the lining patterns of #803 anyway to see how they come out as a bodice. May I say, you can also make a bodice out of the lining pattern pieces. How great is that? Two dresses in one!

After I made the bodice, I came across this lovely dress on Pinterest. It's pleated at the front of the skirt and gathered at the back, I'm pretty sure. It has bigger buttons than what I've often seen. I really loved the little shoulder ruffle.

I couldn't for sure tell if the ruffle was on a cap or stuck in a low armscye, so I messaged Liz Clark. She thought it was a cap over the sleeve. The armscye in #803 is pretty low, so I wondered if I were to stick the ruffle in there, the placement would be just about right, but I was worried it might stick straight out. I did some practice runs on my "muslin" and a little on my real thing, but between bringing the armscye up to where the original's is, my piping, my cap, and my sleeve, there was just too much fabric, my arm was a little too chubby, and I was worried about permanently messing up my armscye. So, with that, I took out my piping and kept the ruffle on my low armscye. I think it will do.

I chose to do bigger buttons like in the original. I just wish I would have made my buttonholes a little closer to the edge of the fabric. I'd originally done a waistband like in #803, but when I saw the pretty dress, I took it off and just added piping at the bottom of my bodice. I didn't account for the less bulk, so now the waist is actually a little too big, so in the picture, I'm holding about 2" to the back.

The original dress says it's cotton, but definitely a finer cotton than mine, maybe more like my blue dress. I wish I would have made my skirt a tad fuller (Sandra Ros Altman says up to 120", and I was about 10" less than that).

I still think it's pretty, and it will be a good trek dress. Looking at it on, it looks like I still could have taken the waist up a little.

I'm pretty proud of some of my hand stitching:

And I do love all those little gathers lined up so perfectly (this is all gathered in tight just for fun, I did have to loosen them, but it got them lined up really nicely):

I think my neighbors going on trek think I'm a little crazy for getting so into this, but I just really love it! This is a work of art for me. When I was sewing years ago, I could get a basic dress done in around 8 hours. I'll say this one has taken at least 20. I wasn't planning for that.