A Fractured Fairytale

 First, here are a few links I found incredibly helpful during this process:

Katherine's Tutorial

Kendra's Diary

Pleating Diagram on Marquise.de

I also used the pattern diagrams in The Cut of Women's Clothes and Patterns of Fashion.

Since I only had a month to complete the dress, it is sewn with a combination of machine and hand work. The nature of the dress requires that much of it has to be sewn by hand but I’m using the machine for things like linings, long skirt seams, and petticoat side seams – basically anything that won’t show.
 

The silk taffeta draped on the dressform.

I started by creating a new fitted lining using my basic 18^th century bodice as a base. The line lining has lacing and boing up the center back and I left a 2 in gap at the bottom for adjustability. The lining was assembled by machine and then I draped the back pleats directly onto the lining.
 

Lining pattern

 

Assembled lining

For the back section I used one full width of 54” fabric creating two stacked box pleats across the width of the back. Once the pleats were stitched down with a spaced back stitch, I smoothed the fabric under the pleats and backstitch it to the lining. The excess fabric was then smoothed to the side seam and trimmed to about one inch above the waist, leaving the excess intact for the skirt.

The finished back pleats.

 

Side views of the back pleats.

Up next, draping the front!