my sincere apologies for being absent for so long. all i can say is, i have been busy:
we've been putting together a new costume shop for the opera department, which is certainly fun but takes a lot of work to make usable. and at the same time, i've been working on designs for the next opera, sondheim's "a little night music". i have 65 edwardian costumes and 4 restoration costumes to complete, all of which require shoes, wigs, hats, and jewelry--and i only have until september to be ready to fit them on the cast. so for this production, i am doing something different--i'm reconstructing existing clothing, turning them into period costumes.
my first experiement was to figure out how to add a train to an existing skirt, WITHOUT ADDING NEW FABRIC. my goal was to make the skirt look as if it had always had a train. i didn't want to try this on the good skirts, so i did a quick experiment on a tester that i bought just for this pupose. the original skirt was a very non-descript flared denim skirt, front button closure to the hem, welt pockets on each side, elastic back waist (click any picture to see an enlarged view):
the first step was to cut the sides off the skirt, making it a straight slim skirt instead of a flared skirt. i made the cuts in such a way that i was able to preserve the welt pockets (this is the first cut, of course i made an identical cut on the other side):
i restitched the side seams closed, then opened up the center back seam to within 7 inches of the waistband. why 7 inches? because the first skirt i plan to try this conversion on has a back zipper that is 7 inches long. :)
i took one of the pieces i trimmed from the side and inserted it into the back seam like a godet:
next, i opened the seam in this godet, and inserted the other side piece like a godet. this gave me two pieces at the center back that were stair-stepped down from each other. in side view, the skirt looked like this untrimmed:
like this trimmed:
and like this when pressed and finished:
a very passable rendition of a train. i have a few kinks to work out, but i am completely satisfied that this process will work, if used on the right type of skirt. with some trim and an appropriate petticoat, i think it would be just right. and the neat thing about this is it only took 45 minutes start to finish!
i have documentation for a train similar to this, it comes from "period costumes for the stage and screen" volume II, by jean hunnisett. on page 123, there is a line drawing of a 1880 skirt with a similar train, and the description says, "the skirt has an extra panel starting about halfway down the centre back, which opens the train out from about knee level and can be cut very long." 1880 is several years earlier than the setting for "a little night music", but most styles linger a few years anyway, and besides, its a costume. :D
