Waist and Shoulders - done!

I'm not 100% happy about the fitting. Linen, I believe, is the prime suspect. My brand new linen stays are s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g. (I know I'm not shrinking!) Also, I did my toile up in linen, which also stretches. The end result is the non-stretchy silk isn't as smooth as I'd like it to be. I also think that my shoulder straps are too short, pulling the back up much higher than it should be. I need to put everything on again with a clear head and take a good long critical look at everything. It may be OK enough for me to say "meh, it's my first attempt, so bite me".

I am also loathe to rip out hand stitching...it's much more painful than ripping out machine stitching! I've only sewn the lining and the center back of the gown by machine, everything else is all by hand. I back-stitched the waist to give it a bit more substance, since part of the side back is on the bias, I didn't want it stretching all wonky.

At any rate, here's the waist all done up: (I've pinned a pillow to Bertha's butt to give a bit more poof....)


Here's the shoulders: (I cut the strap extra, extra wide so I would have plenty of room to play around with the sleeves. It will end up about half as wide as it is now, I think)



Yeah, the arm hole is extremely wonky, I know. But that just means I have plenty of extra fabric to play with to get the sleeves right.....


Also, while I had the gown on Bertha, I had a bit of an idea.......how 'bout a zone bodice? Yes? No? Were zone gowns ever en ferrou'd? Hm. Something to think about, anyway.


Next up: Sleeves. Argh. Sleeves.

:(

I hate my arms SO much, they're the worst part about sewing for myself. I think most striped gowns of the period have the stripes running around the width of the arm, rather than down the length - how much do I care about period accuracy versus personal vanity? I don't need my tubby arms looking any more tubby than they already are. It'll take me a day or two to angst through drafting up an acceptable sleeve pattern, so I don't have to decide straight away.






And bonus: TWO comfy goggies!

(How do I ever get out of bed in the morning with so much comfy snuggles to be had?!)