Clara Oswin Oswald-Barmaid
As seen in The Snowmen​
As soon as the promotional images for The Snowmen came out, I was obsessed with Clara’s red barmaid dress. It was the perfect equation, a character I had already fallen in love with, plus a dress style I adored and had experience in, combined with my favorite color to wear! My eye were glued on it for the Christmas Special and I even bought the episode in HD off of iTunes just so I could study it even more. I’ve had many messages about how I made the dress. so here’s a walkthrough of how I made it, as well as an analysis on her dress.
Clara’s dress is a bit simple by Victorian standards. Simple bodice, overskirt, and an underskirt with three worn pleated ruffles. I was lucky enough that I already had the patterns I needed, all from Truly Victorian.
Bodice and Overskirt
The neckline of Clara’s bodice just touches her shoulders with lace going around the top.There are four darts in the front extending over her bust. There are seven buttons on the edge which appear to be nonfunctional due to how they hang and how close to the edge of the front opening they are. The fabric is dark red with embroidery covering it with swirls and leaves.
Her overskirt is a standard front apron which falls to about her knees, just over the top ruffle of the underskirt. It’s made of the same fabric as the bodice.
For her bodice, I took the 1875 Ball Gown Basque (TV416), which is $13 on the Truly Victorian website. The only adjustment I had to make was the sleeves. I just used the sleeves from a different pattern instead. Aside from the sleeves, this pattern is perfect, from the neckline to the dart placement.
I used the 1883 August Overskirt (TV365). I needed to shorten it to make sure it fell properly (I’m not sure if it’s because it runs long or because I’m vertically challenged). Be sure to measure from your waist to your knees, add a half inch for seam allowance, and shorten your overskirt along the line that says “Shorten/Lengthen here" so you get the correct length. It sells for $14.50.
In order to get the look I wanted for her bodice and overskirt, I layered three different fabrics.
The top layer was a burgundy vine organza which I got for about $5.50 a yard. I bought four yards so it costed $22 for the extra look I wanted. (Of course, if you have an embroidery machine, you can try to do it yourself.)
I bought 4 3/4 yards of wine tonal calico from my local JoAnn’s. It was going for $7.99 a yard, so it cost me $37.95.
The final layer was for support, not appearance. I used a dark burgundy twill as the interlining. I chose to use interlining instead of interfacing because 1) It’s historically accurate, and 2) I hate interfacing. I used this only for the bodice, not the overskirt. I was able to get 1 3/4 yards for $9.78.
*Fabric Tip*
If possible, try to avoid buying velvet or costume satin. If you get you picture taken and a flash goes off, the fabric might appear too shiny. If it's all you can get, use the wrong side of the costume fabric face up and flatline the velvet to something to give it more body when you make the overskirt and bodice.
I decided against putting a lining in my bodice. It was not historically accurate and I didn’t want any unnecessary additional cost. To get the finished look, I sewed the right sides of the twill and calico together at the top and bottom with the sheer overlay in between. I turned it right side out and ran the edges where the seams would be through my serger. I sewed the pieces together according to the pattern instructions.
I sewed the two layers for the overskirt together, ran it through my serger to prevent fraying (if you don’t have a serger, you can do a zigzag along the edge or trim it with pinking shears), and sewed the pieces together according to the instructions in the pattern. After that I hemmed the overskirt with a half inch seam allowance.
After setting the sleeves in (don’t flatline the sleeves with the twill), I added seven pieces of boning for extra support. I trimmed the neckline and edges of the sleeves with red lace I sewed in by hand. The lace was insertion lace I cut in half that I was able to get for $1.49.
Buttons
Clara’s bodice has seven buttons. The first three appear to be spaced out wider than the following three. One button appears to be missing between the sixth and last button.
These were as close to the buttons as I could get. I ordered them online but I can’t remember where or the price. They shouldn’t cost you more than $9.
Back of the Overskirt
To my extreme annoyance, it was nearly impossible to get a look at the back of the Impossible Girl’s dress. I carefully watched the entire episode and all I was able to get was this screenshot.
I DID MY BEST! All I really did was play with it until I got the look I wanted. The pattern calls for three strips of twill tape to hang from the waist where you gathered the back. The skirt is marked where you should attach it to the strips, but doesn't say where. The best thing to do when you're trying to figure your skirt out is to safety pin the fabric to the strips. After that, you can either hand tack them down or keep them pinned.
Underskirt and Petticoat
Clara wears a burgundy underskirt with three rows of worn pleated ruffles over a red petticoat and black tights.
The skirt stops a bit higher than what you would expect from a Victorian dress, stopping a few inches above her ankle. Something I noticed by the silhouette and the movement of the skirts is that she’s not wearing a bustle support, yet she’s wearing a bustle dress. This causes her skirts to hang lower in the back (kinda like her modern day dresses, huh?). Personally, I think it makes sense. A bustle would only get in the way while walking between tables, plus a barmaid might not be able to afford a bustle support.
It’s a small detail, but there’s a strip of fabric covering the top of the uppermost layer of ruffles. I created that look by cutting a strip off the selvage of the fabric The selvage of mine was already frayed on one edge so I ran a straight stitch along the other edge and pulled out fiber by fiber until the other edge matched.
For the petticoat, I used the standard petticoat pattern (TV170) which is $10.50. This is the pattern I use for all my petticoats, but I needed to shorten it to match the length of the overskirt. I used View 3 and 4 1/4 yards of plain red cotton at $6.99 a yard.
While I’m pretty sure any bustle underskirt could work, I used the 1885 Four-Gore Underskirt (TV261-R) to go with the Late Bustle Overskirt and it was $13. I bought 8 1/2 yards of it to cover all of the ruffles I’d need. I didn’t make the bouffant in the back because, come on, isn’t eight and a half yards of fabric enough?! Anyway, the fabric for that put me back about $33.67.
I actually took a lot of pictures while making the ruffles. You can find the full tutorial here.
Finally, the shawl. I’ll be honest. I was so detailed out at this point that I just bought a burgundy shawl off amazon for $7.68 and was done with it.
Earrings
I couldn’t find the right earrings anywhere. I ended up just making them out of odds and ends I had lying around.
Well, there you go!
I bought the materials of the dress on March 28th and sewed on the last button on May 30th. I’m not saying the dress will take you two months to make, since there was a lot of procrastination on my part. ^_^;
Cost
Patterns: $51.00
Fabric: $103.40
Extras: $20.97