.jpg)
YouTube Companion Video: https://youtu.be/TJXJqZcm0zg
The Fabric and Pattern
When the Downton Abbey television series was inspiring all costumers with 1910s and 1920s fashion, Andover Fabrics offered a collection of cotton fabrics fitting the personalities of the characters.
The Dowager Countess:
Lady Mary:
Lady Sybil:
.jpg)
Lady Edith:
There were other collections and companion fabrics and a favorite of mine was the image of Downton Abbey, Highclere Castle in real life. I used the fabric with a pattern documented to 1908 to create a dress with touches of turquoise and made a matching dyed satin tea rose for my hat.
I wore that costume to Costume College that year. As I was planning another trip to Costume College where I would be teaching Ribbon Flower creation, I wanted something that would pack and travel well and be extremely comfortable. What luck! The perfect pattern is already in my stash! A Decades of Style Pattern Company 1920s Tier-rific Ensemble. An iconic 1920s style. Simple and stylish, comfortable and creative, and with the use of different fabrics, can go from day to evening effortlessly.
As I publish this dress diary in 2025, the pattern is still available and I'll leave a link.
Although the Andover Fabrics Downton Abbey collections are no longer offered, these fabrics can sometimes be found on the secondary market. I was fortunate to find one of the companion fabrics in a brick red with feather design.
Since I won't have enough of the Downton Abbey Andover fabric for the complete ensemble, I use a remnant of black Kona cotton for a portion of the dress.
With the fabrics washed, dried, and pressed, it's time to cut the eight pattern pieces.
The Underdress Bodice Front cut from the black Kona cotton.
The Underdress Bodice Back also from the black cotton:
The Underdress Skirt Front and Back, both cut from the Andover Downton Abbey cotton:
The Upper Tier pattern is in two parts which are assembled and the fabric cut:
The Lower Tier pattern is assembled and the fabric cut:
The Overblouse Front and Overblouse Back are cut from the Andover Sownton Abbey cotton:
To make sure I like this design I pin everything together on the dressform.
And here I realize that the wrong side of the fabric will show on the tier drapes and think about a solution while I begin sewing the dress.
I also make sure I like my plan to use satin bias binding around the neckline and armholes as well as on the tiers and overblouse lower edge. This will eliminate the need for facings and coordinate well with the 1920s Cloche hat already made.
Sewing the 1920s Tiered Dress
The pattern illustrations and instructions are very easy to follow. They begin with the Overblouse construction. The front darts are sewn in the Overblouse Front. The Overblouse Front and Back are sewn at the shoulder seams.
The pattern includes a really great tutorial for creating bias binding. I've purchased a spool of pre-made doublefold black satin bias binding and machine stitch it to the right side of the fabric, and handstitch it to the wrong side for the entire dress.
I bind the armholes before sewing the side seams.
With the side seams sewn, the lower edge is completely bound with the satin.
The Overblouse is finished!
Now to construct the Underdress. The darts are sewn in the Bodice Front.
The Bodice Front and Back are sewn at the shoulders. Satin bias binding is also sewn to the neckline and armholes of the Underdress Bodice to allow the Underdress to be worn without the Overblouse. Don't look too closely or you may notice that my binding overlap is at the bodice front. But I hadn't handstitched it to the inside yet so I redid it so I could sleep at night. I'm not a perfectionist but that would have bugged me every time I slipped that dress over my head. Can you relate?
The side seams are sewn.
The lower edge seam allowance is pressed to the inside of the bodice and the bodice construction is complete.
As I had noticed the wrong side of the fabric was showing on the tier drapes, I stitched enough of a black satin remnant to the wrong side just to the point where the drape began. Then the exterior edges of the tiers have the satin bias binding applied.
The satin bias binding on the overblouse, underdress bodice, and tiers, and the tier drapes lined with black satin, are, I feel, a nice recreation of the pattern illustration.
Moving on to the Underdress Skirt. The Lower Tier placement is marked on the fabric.
The Skirt Front and Skirt Back are sewn at the side seams leaving the the left seam open for a slit at the hemline as marked on the pattern.
The Lower Tier is sewn to the skirt where marked.
Then the Upper Tier is sewn at the upper edge of the skirt.
Before I sew the Underdress Bodice and Skirt together I try a bit of the satin bias binding around the hem and side slit to see if I like that treatment. I do and apply the binding.
The Underdress Bodice is sewn to the Skirt with a lapped seam and edgestitched.
The Finished 1920s Tier-rific Ensemble
With the satin bias binding on all edges of the Underdress, I think it could be easily worn for evening. Here I've added a bead and organza necklace and floral brooch at the upper tier.
With the Overblouse for daytime wear:
With the bead necklace:
With the 1920s Cloche shared with you in a separate dress diary:
The 1920s Cloche YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AukfncReVJI
The 1920s Cloche Blog Post: http://theperfecttouchvictorian.blogspot.com/2025/05/sewing-1920s-downton-abbey-cloche.html
A brief try-on in the bathroom and on Tasha Puppy's cooling mat in the living room.
Ribbon Flowers and Costume College
To make this dress and hat perfect for teaching my Ribbon Flowers class at Costume College I was inspired by this embellishment on Christina Ricci's dress for Z: The Beginning of Everything.
I was teaching a variety of ribbon flowers and embellishments and was experimenting with several ways of displaying finished flowers with the 1920s Tier-ific dress.
In the end, I decided on a simple satin leaves and gardenias for both the dress and cloche.
The Ribbon Flowers class is always fun to teach. For this class I've decided to again teach the Gathered Rose, the Basic Leaf, and the Pansy. I've added the Gardenia and two embellishments designed by other creators: the Tahitian Gardenia and Pineapple.
The kits for the Costume College students included all cut and prepared ribbons and supplies and instructions.
To create all embellishments in a single class would have taken six hours so I decide to limit the class to two hours, introduce the components of the kits, and demonstrate the techniques for portions I know have been problematic for previous students. So here I am in class with my 1920s dress and cloche and although I've remembered everything for the students, I've left my own Gardenia embellishments at home in a nice metal box to keep them safe over 2 weeks of travel! Oh well! I forgot all my stockings too and had to Uber to a nearby store to shop and then found my stockings nicely packed in a side envelope of my suitcase. Wouldn't those floral stockings have been a perfect touch?
I created YouTube videos of the introduction to Ribbon Flowers and Embellishments and step-by-step videos of the Gathered Rose, Basic Leaf, Pansy and Gardenia. The students can follow the videos any time they wish using the kits I made for them. And for you I'll link the Playlist in case you want to learn this beautiful art yourself. Watch for future additions to the Playlist such as the Daffodil which I did not include in this class but will offer it in future classes.
.png)
The Costume College photographer, Mark Edwards, took some fun photos of the 1920s Downton Abbey Tier-rific Dress and Cloche in action.
Thank you for sharing your day with me!
Hugs,
Jeanette
Historical Sew Monthly - March 2024
March: Made to Move: Make something designed for movement, such as physical work, sport, or dance.
What the item is: Dress with tunic
How it fits the Challenge: The tiers of the dress are separate, layered, free at their lower edge, and end with loose ties, and are perfect for interest and movement when dancing.
Material: Andover Downton Abbey licensed cotton fabrics.
Pattern: Decades of Style #2044 1920s Tier-rific Ensemble
Year: 1920s
Notions: Satin bias binding and thread.
How historically accurate is it? Sewn from an historically accurate pattern.
First worn: July 2024 teaching a class at Costume College.
Total cost: $48
What the item is: Dress with tunic
How it fits the Challenge: The tiers of the dress are separate, layered, free at their lower edge, and end with loose ties, and are perfect for interest and movement when dancing.
Material: Andover Downton Abbey licensed cotton fabrics.
Pattern: Decades of Style #2044 1920s Tier-rific Ensemble
Year: 1920s
Notions: Satin bias binding and thread.
How historically accurate is it? Sewn from an historically accurate pattern.
First worn: July 2024 teaching a class at Costume College.
Total cost: $48
No comments:
Post a Comment