Red Swiss waist!

Over Memorial day weekend we decided to go to Greenfield Village and got all dressed up for it. Saw a few sewing academy ladies (It's so interesting to see some of those creations in PERSON!!!) and I wore my red Swiss body/waist for the first time. Even though temperatures were in the high 90s I actually was quite comfortable in my lovely big skirt and nice sheer cotton bodice. I could seriously feel the breeze, and from the waist up was wearing lighter clothing than most of the modern stuff I wear in the summer time!

The skirt is a lovely wool/silk blend that I got for an absolutely WONderful price, the Swiss body is a black/red shantung with very little in the way of slubs, leftover from a modern (well, ok, repro 1950s) dress, and the bodice is white cotton dotted swiss with a muslin half-high lining. Patterns are mine own! The skirt is made with double box pleats (basically a box pleat on top of another box pleat) and the back is gauged. I made the back of the swiss waist pointed which I think I might change because the point is not curved enough and sits on top of the skirt, bending it out from the body. Not really pretty... The Swiss waist is lined in twill with some plastic boning, self-fabric trim with hand sewn eyelets and a black satin ribbon (VERY thin) as the ties. The bodice has a half-high lining which is not attached to the outer layer. It's short-sleeved with cotton lace on the neck and the sleeves. It's darted to fit. The outer layer is gathered in the back and front at the waist and attached to a waistband, the closure is hook and eyes.