1870s Polonaise in Ivory Satin - Truly Victorian #410

Pattern: Truly Victorian #410, "1873 Polonaise".
Fabric: Matte Duchess Satin, blush-ivory, 100% Polyester.

Alterations: I extended the hem of the front-side pieces to allow the center fronts to meet all the way down to the hem. The sleeves are NOT from this pattern. I took the sleeves flounces from an 1871 Harper's Bazar blouse pattern, which I have made once before (see HERE)

Available on Etsy HERE
Available on Ebay HERE

I have made this polonaise several times over the years, but since this blog is new and I have not yet made any references to it here, I decided to make another one. Now, I came up with this dress is rather a "backward" manner. I had 12 yards a very nice tassel trim that I wanted to use, and then built the rest of the dress around that. Kind of like dressing to match your new shoes instead of buying shoes to match the dress, eh? LOL

I regret not taking very many constructions photos with this one, but the directions that come with the TV pattern are quite clear and easy to follow, so that isn't much of a concern. I did make some alterations to the inside construction with regard to the lining.

The pattern calls for this polonaise to be flat lined and have facings at the neckline and front edges. That makes perfect sense, and sack lining something like this really wouldn't work too well. Still, I really don't like flat lining, mostly because I don't like the extra work that comes with dealing with those raw seams inside (binding them and/or whip stitching them down, etc.). So, I did up the lining pieces separate for the back section and the fronts, then flat lined the whole pieces together, so the only "raw seam" inside is the two side seams.

 Here you can see the inside of the back of the dress, with the puff tapes and such visible. You can see how I did the back lining here.

~Finished~