Have you made this dress?
Yes, I have!
What fabric(s) is this dress made of?
The Jacket is made of velvet, satin and lining, the skirt and sash are satin and the insert is lace.
What pattern(s) will I need for this dress?
These are just the patterns I used:
The Jacket: Butterick 3665; A
The Skirt:Simplicity 9484; D
The Sash: No pattern
The Dickie:Simplicity 9484; C
What extra touches does this dress take?
The 'lapels' are embroidered and the skirt has a gather in the front.
How much time will this dress take?
Depending on your experience and how accurate your embroidery is, between 1-3 weeks.
How much will this dress cost me?
Velvet, Lace and Satin are quite expensize so this dress will probably be over $50.00
What alterations will this dress need?
The skirt doesn't have the gather. So, you need to put a little insert at the bottom of the skirt and gather up the front to get the effect.
Anything else?
Velvet and satin are very tricky to sew with and velvet has a nap! Be careful!
Ok, how do I make it?
The Jacket
With the pattern I used, the jacket requires more modifications than any other part. Firstly, the real flying dress doesn't meet in the middle, or zipper up. So, when you are cutting out the jacket, just fold the front part in about 3 or 4 inches, and don't sew in the zipper when you get there. Secondly, the real Flying dress didn't have pockets. So, just leave those out.
I'm sure that you've noticed that the real flying dress jacket isn't all velvet. It has satin 'flaps' on the side at about the waist. They are about 10 inches long and are embroidered with little flowers. Once you have hemmed the pieces, embroider them and hand-sew them on to the rest of the jacket. Make ABSOLOUTLY SURE that they are even. It will look terrible if they are un-even.
You also need cuffs. I didn't bother to figure out how to do them just like the movie, because I just didn't care that much. If you REALLY care and want to do research and how to do it right, be my guest. I can't help you there. What I did is made little bands of silk and sewed them on at the sleeves.
The last part is the collar. Just be sure to cut the top out of satin.
Thats it for the jacket! Moving on....
The Skirt
I didn't do the skirt exactly like the movie either. If you want to, it's considerably harder. Otherwise, just sew skirt the way the pattern says to.
The Sash
I didn't use a pattern for the sash. I simply measured around my waist then made my own pattern that was just a rectangle. You then sew them together and voila!
The Dickie
For the dickie, I just used Pattern C of Simplicity 9484, which worked well. I would recommend adding straps to yours as mine does not stay up very well. Otherwise, just sew as instructed.