A Peek at the Mandragora Gown!

I love taffeta!! My favorite dress as a child was a black velvet bodice with a black and white gingham taffeta skirt edged with a black velvet band at the waist and hem. I got to wear a stiff petticoat under it and would spend as much time as possible twirling around the house. I can't wait to see this all come together!

Those colours are magnificent. So looking forward to seeing this come together!

So excited to see this project!!

It’s going to be drop dead gorgoeus. 1890s are also on my to do list and loooong overdue but I have to get over my creative block first. Can’t wait to see more of your project! ❤️ Btw. Background in the latest video (dress with long all in one sleeves) is EVERYTHING 😍

Hi Bianca, I'll try to be brief today. Lets see how that turns out, shall we. I wrote an essay earlier today on the channel about voice and coughing. You might remember that I don't know much about sewing, but you might not know that I know a bit about voice. Some 15+ years of opera training can do that to a person. I won't go into all of that here too, but I will say this the coughing you do in this video, and what it's doing to your voice, you could likely get rid of fairly easy. Ask me not how I know. When you feel the urge to cough do something else instead. Take a sip of water, take a lozenge. By paying attention to when you want to cough and not doing it will most likely cure you in a couple of days. All this of course if you are bothered by it, if you're not ignore this. And for everyone else, I'm not American so you can't sue if this doesn't work for you. Well you can but it won't work. I'm just an old singer passing on some advise to a friend. This upcoming project is very exiting indeed. I look forward to see how the organza on the bodice turns out. From what you were saying I saw the organza pleated separately on top of the main fabric, and I look forward to seeing how you're actually going to do it. We already established that I have no clue when it comes to sewing and sadly I have even less when it comes to artistry. I saw a pile of double gauze in your stash. Do you have any plans for it? I'm asking because I might have bought some myself, and now have to figure out why I did it, and what to do with it. Get well now if not sooner. Yours, Ann

Very excited to see this come to life.

So excited for this project! And yes to all the gothic dinner parties

I audibly gasped at the color and the ribbing, incredible <3 can't waaaaaitttt

I really like the design and the silk. Looking forward to this one. Layering the black organza over the same silk for the centre panel seems a little bit tame, though. A more toxic colour contrast might be good ... like a purple or red, maybe with a tonal pattern through it (eg watered silk). There are many toxic colour combinations in the spider world. It'll be beautiful however you do it, though, I'm sure. I just wish I was even the remotest bit capable of sewing something like that. I have quite a bunch of beautiful silk fabrics ... and don't dare cut into any of them and subsequently ruin them.

Wear it to the library, the store wherever. Consider it a gift of fabulosity to those around you :)

Oh that colour!!! Looking forward to watching this creation evolve into an amazing Victorian-Goth masterpiece. Hope you feel better very soon. Sending healing vibes and best wishes from Down Under 💚🌹🇦🇺😎

So excited about this beautiful new gown!!! Love the olive color!!!

That’s going to be lovely! I am imagining an appropriately matching piano, maybe a vintage Steinway Louis XV as the woodwork resembles the spider web design. 🕷

This silk’s color makes me think Egypt all the way. But PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make moths!!!! I love them so much more than butterflies! You could make a hat with moths on trembler wires! LoooooVe the design. Your make up test was perfect. And do line it with the black! I’m so excited it is historic gown time!!!!

That silk is beautiful!!

Oh, good, another gothic gown! I love gothic everything.

I’m looking forward to the new project. Mazel tov!

Oh my god that silk...... I could cry. I just moved into my new home and its historical, in need of a lot of work which I will be attempting to do by myself and as historically accurate as possible... on a budget. lol.... I found an 1890's (possible earlier) couch which is dark (faded now tho) yellow'y olive'y green velvet. The walls of the room are going to be a DARK purple (slightly on the warmer side) and I've been struggling to find a loveseat to go in the room and I've been thinking of the color palette over all and what color I should make the decorative pillows. Its obvious I'll have to make them, anything that might look remotely historically accurate is definitely not in the ballpark Im looking for as far as color/pattern and $$$ goes. This project is so close to the aesthetic/essence of what I envisioned for the sitting room. I was thinking of following that pillow video Christine McConnell did, with a velvet and silk taffeta fabric.. and then do a few other pillows that are more plain but with this sort of beading on them. Id like to incorporate some pagan symbols into the room as well since Im pagan and it will definitely FIT with the room. I want that and bugs and birbs and snakes and mice and muSHROOMS, ALL THE CUTE THINGS. I might end up doing some beading AND embroidery with the pillows which means I definitely need to step up my embroidery game which is currently non existent...... ANYWAYS I love this project Im SO excited to see more and thank you for always putting your ideas out there and therefor inspiring me further / giving me the creative push to ACTUALLY follow through on my ideas!!! I have a feeling I'll be dreaming about that silk tonight....

i'm so looking forward to this project. I am all for you switching the videos up. That makes the delicious anticipation of the bodice video all the more exciting. Especially with all the beadwork and detail going into the bodice.🥰. So happy in supporting your endeavors in projects like this. I always want to make clothing like this but really have no energy to make them. So I love living vicariously through you and a few other people I support on Patreon like Bella Mae.

Can't wait for the Mandragora dress project. Will you be making a hat as well?

What a great project!! The stand up collar is going to look amazing!! Enjoy the creating and happy to hear your voice again! . Take good care of yourself.

I'm in love already. 😍 Re. the curviness of the corset: modern corsetry is very emphatic about both sides of the centre back of the corset being parallel, but that wasn't the case back in the day, as most corsets were off-the-rack and you couldn't expect a perfect fit. So don't be afraid to cinch the waist in and leave the hips looser. I even read an article from a 1900s magazine (I can try and find it again if you want?) that recommended having three separate laces: one laced through a few pairs of waist-level eyelets, a second one through the eyelets above the waist and a thrid one through the eyelets below the waist so you could adjust the fit of each area independently. EDIT: Found the article! It's on pp55-57 of the January 1901 edition of The Delineator. A digitised version is free to access from the University of Iowa.

Ooooo! That fabric is beautiful! Can't wait!

That is GORGEOUS. Can't wait for the project

Looking forward to this! That fabric is amaaaaaazing 😍😍