My Downton Abbey Bridal Shower Costume

My mother-in-law (to be!) threw me a gorgeous bridal shower last Saturday - a Downton Abbey Tea Party! She even asked all the guests to come in costume! Ironically (for all my love of the show) I had not yet created an Edwardian or Victorian gown for myself, and knew I'd have to do some last minute sewing to get something done in time. 

Thankfully my awesome sister-in-law (to be) gave me this gown which I was able to use as a base. Not having to sew and hem the skirt make it all a ton easier! The bodice wasn't going to fit right, so I simply chopped it off, removed the waistband and took out the zipper.

Then I put it on my dress form and adjusted the waist darts slightly. (Please forgive the poor camera quality, I did the whole project in one evening and was just taking snapshots with my phone)

I didn't have time to mess around with a pattern, so I just took some fabric from my stash and started pinning it to the dress form, marking darts and cutting away excess fabric.

After getting the underlayer done, I took some chiffon, serged the edges, and pinned it down the front in the trademark Edwardian 'v'.

I stitched the chiffon down, then used a zigzag stitch to attach a piece of black brocade to the center inset.

I then used some thin velvet trim to cover the seams.

More pinning to bring the edges of the chiffon into the waistband and sew the sleeves.

I also had enough chiffon to make a quick and simple overskirt, which I quickly hemmed with black thread and a narrow stitch on my serger.

For all my hurrying, I wasn't able to get quite everything done on the machine on Tuesday night, and spent some time handsewing the zipper and waistband after we'd reached my in-laws (to be).

To finish the ensemble, I added a necklace from my sister-in-law (to be) and my dear friend Amanda curled and pinned my hair in a Downton Abbey style we found on Pinterest. I also added a camisole under the dress for further modesty. The waistline got a bit higher than I'd originally wished, but for such a hastily thrown-together dress, I think it turned out very well.

Opening shower gifts with Nathan :)

A better look at the whole dress.

A look at the dress from the side, in action! (Also you can see the red velvet gloves, another accessory on loan from my sister-in-law-to-be).

Update: In January, 2017, for our third wedding anniversary, we got to visit the Downton Abbey Costume Exhibit at the Mall of America. Check out my write-up on the experience here!