A Dirndl

Hello dear readers! I am so excited to be sharing this dirndl with you all today! I would title this post as a “What I Made” or some other such title, except I actually didn’t make this dress (though I did have a hand in it); My dear tailor husband made it for me!

The idea for this dirndl came about after my little Buster Boy was born, and I DESPERATELY needed new clothes, as all of my old ones didn’t fit (yet). Now, having a newborn and all doesn’t make finding time to sew very easy, so Gabe offered to make me a dirndl if I drafted the pattern. I drew up a gridded miniature version of the pattern that I wanted, which Gabe then scaled up to a proper full size pattern.

I picked out some wool suiting from Gabe’s stash, and he whipped me up this darling dirndl. I was so happy to have a new dress! It just needed one thing… A blouse! I have other blouses that I can wear under this dirndl, but I had a very specific look in mind, of an 18th century men’s shirt inspired blouse. So, in the few moments I could catch here and there in between all of my daily responsibilities, I started working on this blouse.

Hat: Christmas Present | Necklace: A Gift from Gabe | Blouse: Me-Made | Dirndl: Made by my Tailor Husband | Socks: OLD | Shoes: Bought from Vixen Vintage’s closet sale AGES ago

Shall we talk about design details? Splendid! First off, I wanted this whole outfit to be nursing friendly. I had come across this delightful blog post all about different dirndl styles several months ago, and it had a diagram of a dirndl that had a gathered front bib that buttoned on the side. What a perfect design for nursing!

My blouse is cut in the style of a man’s 18th century shirt, so literally the only adjustment I had to make to it to make it “nursing friendly” was to cut the front slit low enough (since it would be covered up by the dirndl anyways). The blouse fastens at the collar and cuffs with handworked buttonholes and Dorset buttons.

It was Gabe’s idea to add a pop of red (my favorite color) to the dirndl by adding piping at the waist, and to make it slightly adjustable in size by lacing it up the back. There is boning on the inside edge of the lacing, so it won’t distort the fabric. Now you may wonder, if it laces up the back, what about the skirt? The skirt has a zipper set in a deep box pleat in the back that goes up to the waistline where the lacing starts. We haven’t worked out all the kinks for it to work properly with the lacing being adjustable and all, but it works for now.

I LOVE how this outfit turned out! It is the perfect combination of folkwear and historically inspired dress in my opinion. I feel so put together when I wear it, not to mention my favorite red hat tops it all off delightfully.

So, for those of you who didn’t want to read all that 😉 here is a summary of the details:

Just the details if you please:

What: A Dirndl and blouse

Fabric: Dirndl: Wool Suiting from Gabe’s stash (most likely from Mood Fabrics); Blouse: Bleached White ILO19 Linen from Fabrics-store.com

Pattern: Dirndl: Self drafted, inspired by the diagrams in this blog post. Blouse: Self drafted based on the methods for making an 18th century men’s shirt.

Notions: Dirndl: Thread, lacing, boning, buttons, and zipper-Stash. Blouse: Thread, and thread for Dorset buttons-Stash

Design Details: Dirndl: Laces up back, with zipper closure for the skirt; gathered front bib with buttons down the sides; machine sewn, except for buttonholes and finishing details. Blouse: Fastens at neck and cuffs with Dorset buttons; partially machine/hand stitched.

And now, just because I like to be funny sometimes, here are a few outtakes from when we took these photos the other day.

It was WINDY!

And VERY COLD!

There are already two more dirndls in the works, with slightly different details, so, hopefully, you will see those on the blog at some point. Next week, I am either going to post a techniques tutorial, or a sneak peak of the next Brijee Patterns. Which should it be?

What do you think of my Dirndl?

Have you ever worn a Dirndl?

Should I do a techniques tutorial or a sneak peak post next?

Blessings,

Brigid E.

Author: Brigid Everson | Photography: Gabriel Everson