Costume Diary- Lucy's Camp Dress.

Brace yourselves, lads (or lassies). This will be a long'un.

A few months ago I was commissioned to make an adult-sized replica of Lucy's Camp Dress from "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe". I was to do the sewing, she the embroidery. I live on the East Coast. The buyer is from California. We do not wear the same size. Could this BE more of a challenge?

We worked it out, though. We were meeting mutual friends in late June, and were able to have a fitting while there. :-) Very thankful we did, because I'd made some small miscalculations.

I started with this pattern, discontinued but avaliable for sale on Etsy!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72585911/simplicity-9162-size-a-8-10-12-14-16-18 Bought it ages ago- a basic princess line dress with all sizes in one envelope, on sale, was hard to pass up. I'm thankfull I did, now. It's nearly impossible to get princess-line dress patterns these days.

As you can see in the link, the pattern features a low V-neck in the front and the back. The dress I'm making has a high round back and a shallow V front with cut outs. So some pattern alteration had to be done. Newspaper became my stand-in for the usual vellum or parchment (both more expensive than necessary).

Alterations were as follows- redraw front and back necklines, add a seam at the waist on either side, draft new oversleeves, draft a mock underdress (including taking the point out of the fitted sleeves), and make a placket for the back.

In the end, the dress didn't turn out quite accurate. Technically there should be no side seam below the waist, but for ease of cutting, I added one. There also should not be lacing on the sleeves, and the back cording should be sewn in at the top. But when one takes a design made for an 8 year old and turns it into an adult costume, liberties must be taken.

...and there's the call. I must run. The good news is, I've finished the rest of the stuff I planned for the beginning of the week, so I can get on this first thing tomorrow.

ALSO! Stay tuned for a very special feature on Gayl's Goodies ( www.etsy.com/shop/Gayl1956 ) in the next few days!