I’ve finally started to put together my Civil War dress! I originally got started because I thought I was going to my first event on Saturday, but that was canceled. I’m continuing to work on it, though at a slower pace.

I am using Simplicity #4551. I don’t recommend it, even though you can get it cheap. I would have rather waited to order Elizabeth Stewart Clark’s Practical Prinkery, which has instructions on how to draft your own.

On the left in the above picture is my basic fitted bodice. This is what the lining looks like, and what I was going to use when I was short on time. On the right is how my bodice looks now. When I found out that I didn’t have to rush, I decided to change my fitted bodice into a yoked bodice. It was quite simple, all I did was cut on the white horizontal line, cutting off the part I wanted to be fuller, forming a yoke style line. Then I cut the lower piece into strips and spread them out parallel to each other on a large piece of paper to make a pattern for the full part. I just used that pattern to cut out the fabric, gathered it to fit and sewed it on!