Katrina's "Diana" Ensemble

Of all the Edwardian outfits from the "Anne of Green Gables" series, the light pink traveling dress that Diana wore for her honeymoon has always been one of my favorites! Late last year I stumbled across the perfect pink bengaline moire', so I decided that now was the time to reproduce this costume!The Beatrix skirt pattern was a breeze to put together - I finished it in an evening, and added a waistband to the top (I can't remember exactly why, except that I like the way it looked). : ) I kept the slight train (my favorite part of this pattern!) which looks so elegant draping along the ground! I hemmed it by hand using a very tiny hem, since I needed the extra length to accomodate my high Victorian boots.For the bodice I started with the Beatrix blouse pattern bodice pieces, but drew a princess sort of seam down the bodice front and trimmed a couple inches of width down the center back to make for a tighter fit. Once I had sliced the bodice front down the princess seam line, I slashed and spread the center section to make room for all those lovely pintucks Diana wore on her bodice. This pintucked center panel was sewn from cotton voile and lined with China silk. Once the bodice was assembled I stitched the antique lace on by hand. The front flouncy lace was, I admit, much wider and more curving than the film costume, simply because I was unable to find any other lace that would both match the back yoke lace (which is what I used for the front as well). In the back it worked out perfectly to capture that exact shape of Diana Barry's bodice, but in the front it looks much more ruffly than the flat and angled piece of lace from the movie's version.The sleeves were a bit of a challenge, but after combining the flutter sleeve from my Liesl pattern and drafting the lower sleeve cuff, it turned out just fine. The only "non-historical" detail I added was pearl buttons that had crystals in the center of each one. This was a bit of a costuming no-no on my part, but I couldn't resist the sparkly effect!I quickly drafted and threw together the "v" shaped belt around one in the morning, and several hours later I was decked out in a complete Edwardian costume (corset, Victorian boots, and all!) to get the photographs taken.I was so thrilled with the terrific fit of the skirt which is so very flattering and forgiving! You could really use this pattern for all sorts of eras from the Edwardian era and on, by simply shortening the skirt length and widening or narrowing the skirt panels to suit your taste. I used the hook and eye closure you recommended for this project, but I'm thinking about using an invisible zipper for a 1940s length skirt with the same pattern. For this ensemble you can't see the waistband I added since the bodice is tucked into the skirt and the belt is covering that, but soon I will have some pictures taken where you can see the entire project.I did a very detailed diary of this dress on my blog, and you can see more finished photos here.Thank you so much for creating such phenomenal Edwardian patterns, and I will definitely be using them again in the future!Happy sewing,Katrina

WOW! Isn't this simply stunning? Katrina's work never ceases to amaze and inspire me. Utterly gorgeous!