Teasing pictures of Dickens outfit

First of all, since everyone seems to have pictures of their cat sitting on their fabric, I present my dog snuggling with mine. I apologise for the partial shots. My mirror is very narrow.

That's Amos. He is a good boy.

After about twenty minutes of struggling, I finally managed to get my corset on by myself. I took it in, but its still too big. Essentially, even with the back laces meeting completely,  it's still my same waist size.

On the upside, the steel spiral boning make it super comfortable. I wore it most of the day so I wouldn't have to struggle into it when I tried on my skirt.

I found a really poofy bridal underskirt that gives the right silhouette. So it's going to have to do for now until I can make my own ruffled petticoat.

I don't even want to KNOW what's it's made of

I did make a regular petticoat. It's just three one yard panels make from a sheet and cartridge pleated to the wastband.

And then the skirt. Also cartridge pleated.

It's poufier than it looks in the mirror.

I really love cartridgle pleats. They add zero bulk to the waist, so you can wear several layers and they look nice.

Not shown, the three times the pleats came out before I realized I was using my thin decorative cotton thread istead of my super sturdy buttonhole thread.

Using plaid fabric really helped with the spacing of the pleats.