The NOT ACC dress

Holly was originally going to do this gown for her ACC entry, but she decided to pull out of the competition….but that also means that I got to do it for her instead!
The gown itself isn’t anything new, it’s the same side-back lacing bodice style I’ve been enamored with lately, with the addition of a teeny tiny train.  (This was a last-minute addition, so I didn’t end up doing a gore in the skirt, but it turned out quite nice nonetheless!) 
What I’m totally excited about are the freakin’ cute sleeves.  Holly wanted something ‘different’, so she brainstormed and surfed portraits to show me some of her favorite elements.  This is what we came up with:

The teeny tassels really make the dags *pop*…..I’m really excited about them. 
I didn’t really do any dress diary pics, but rest assured, I futzed and agonized over the best way to go about making the sleeves, and I changed my mind (as is my prerogative, right?) at least a dozen times.  I’m pretty pleased with how they turned out!

The jewelry, of course, is Holly’s own work, and more information on how and what she did can be found on her blog.
We only had a short while to grab pics before she had to leave, so the lighting is atrocious, but you’ll get the idea, right?  I’m hoping to get better pics this weekend at Collegium, with her own partlet and chemise, and hair done properly!

		Holly’s Gold Gown VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Still left to do:

• Second row of stitching on padded hem
• Steam iron the heck out of the hem
• Button/loops for sleeves

Full Day!

I got Holly's skirts cut, sewn and pleated; just need to get them attached to the bodice.
Val came over today, and I got her set up with the basics for a steampunk costume. (She may be coming back tomorrow to make a hat, but we will see....)
I also tested out a new hairstyle on Holly (courtesy of my cousin Jessicas blog)....I'm quite pleased with the result!

ACC Accessories: Muff

 

“Venetian Women of Mature Age, and Dismesse”Vecellio, Cesare, Margaret F. Rosenthal, and Ann Rosalind Jones. The Clothing of the Renaissance World Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas. London: Thames & Hudson, 2008. Print.  (pg. 136)

Muff detail:

“…muff of fine fur lined with silk, velvet or some other fabric for the winter…”

 

“Winter Clothing of Venetian Noblewomen and Other Wealthy Women In Our Time”Vecellio, Cesare, Margaret F. Rosenthal, and Ann Rosalind Jones. The Clothing of the Renaissance World Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas. London: Thames & Hudson, 2008. Print. (pg. 130)

Muff detail:

“At that time of the year they also wear a muff lined with fur, which protects their hands against the cold.  These furs are marten or sable, and the muff is of black velvet or some other silk fabric, fastened shut with buttons of oriental crystal or gold.”

~

I decided on a gold patterned brocade as the outer shell, as gold is fairly neutral and would match multiple outfits.

As I am not fortunate enough to have either marten or sable in my stash (and no, I’m not going to disassemble one of my precious zibies to obtain it!), I’m finally going to use my plucked and shaved beaver pelt*!  I’ve had this fur in my stash for about umpteen million years, and have always been terrified to cut into it, but now is the time!

This fur is the most soft and plushy thing I’ve ever felt in my life, it’s delicious!

The pelt is roughly 13” x 15” in the middle, with various hangy parts that if needed, can potentially be pieced for a larger finished fur.

I need to double-check my stash, but I do not believe I have any gold or crystal buttons or beads that would be large enough for buttons, so I most likely will be substituting thread-wrapped buttons for the closures.

Both muffs pictured below have a relatively thick border around the edges – I have yet to determine what exactly I’m going to do about that. 

I’m also wondering if I want to do some couching on the brocade to give it a bit more oomph – I guess it’s time to sit down for realsies and figure out exactly what I’m going to do!

 

 

*Say that phrase until you giggle!

Happy Birfday to me + some sewing updates

I woke up this morning to a birthday email from my sis. It really made my whole day! :D My mom and dad gave me a beautiful topaz ring (purple, of course!), and a JoAnns gift card.


My sweet hubby gave me a great camera! I think the quality of my posting pictures is going to improve greatly!


My happy birthday mood was ruined somewhat by the two-and-a-half hour commute in the snow. Grrrr.

But when I got to work, I was greeted by even more birthday wishes, so it all evens out in the end. :D

Last night I was able to finish up the frogs - I just need to make the buttons and attach them.....then the over gown is finished! Yippee!


Also, here are pics of the sleeves that I worked on over the weekend....


And, the infamous shoulder treatments - DONE! (Well, they still need to be attached to the dress) They look kind of dumb lying flat - they're curved to fit the shoulder, so they look super nice when worn - not quite so much like lumpy black slugs! I ended up doing a four-strand braid with a thread button at each cross. I think it ended up quite nice! (even though they are a bit uneven - I should have done them both at the same time! The one on the bottom is pulled tighter than the one on top - it's not terribly noticable, I hope!)

More Gown Photos

Because sometimes, I just can't get enough of myself. (in case you missed it, that statement was *dripping sarcasm*)

The overall look, with hair that is going a bit flat and not-so-fluffy. I was kind of worried that the bodice would look funky without stays, but everything worked out just fine with the kirtle lightly boned, and OMG, this dress was SO comfortable All. Day. Long!


Closeup of the bodice and belt by the ever-fabulous Aine. I'm so happy with the way that the frogs turned out, I'm itching to make more.


Closeup of neckline - necklace and earrings by Aine, of course! (I added the tineh widdle bows, tho!)


Closeups of sleeves and belt. I still am totally in love with the sleeves, and they survived a full day event with no noticable deterioration! Yay for pinking!


The veil I decided needed to be dyed about midnight the night before the event.....heh.


I need to fix my camacia neckline, and change out the sleeve ties, but other than that, I just can't wait to wear it again!

Teehee!

After all the angst, I think this my be my favorite outfit I've made for myself - evar!

Two nights to go, can I make it?!

The kirtle bodice is done, done done! Yaaay! At the last second, I decided to not wear stays under the kirtle, and to bone the bodice, as per descriptions in my new book of goodness and awesomeocity.

I didn't have quite as many bones as I would have liked, so the front is just a smidge bit woobly, but not too bad, I think (especially if it's worn underneath another gown)


I haven't done hand bound eyelets in....years! I usually end up doing hook and eye or rings for just about everything. I'm happy to report, I remember how to do them! :D

p.s. The fabric looks totally polyester and shiny in these pictures, I assure you, it is not IRL.




Kirtle bodice, no stays, with coat - all seems well in the world! (I did try on my camacia, and I think I'm going to need to fix the neckline down the road....just not right now)


w00t! Frogs sewn on! I finished tacking on the last one about 1:30 am last night, so hopefully they end up OK. That top one looks eerily crooked, I hope it's a trick of the camera.....I'll check it when I get home. (Oh, and there's actually 5 of them, not 4)


Still left to do:
-tea dye camacia (it's harshing my ivory mellow)
-pleat and attach kirtle skirt
-find and wire veil
-attach trim to bottom of kirtle OR hem kirtle
-pattern/make partlet
-tack on rings for sleeves
-attach aglets to sleeve ties OR trim to length
-whip out a hood for my poor neglected husband

All this must be done, with a full day and a half of work and only 45 hours left to go. Sheesh. Every time, man!

Dress - second look.

yeeeeah.....my collar is not mimicing the portraits very well at this point. I think it is too high. I shoulda cut the collar down like I was thinking. Poo.

My inspiration portrait looks like there may not be *any* points - rather a sloping curve. This *might* be a perspective thing, see how the black line kind of dissapears into the ruffle on the right? My back-up portrait most definately has points, but they are much lower.

I'm trying so hard not to be bummed out about this dumb collar yet again. I'm having the worst case of I-suck-at-everything-ness.

ZOMG! SLEEVES!

TA: Motion passes - White sleeves it is! (I know, I know, I'm skipping the next Roberts step, but who wants to vote, anyways?!)

Ok, back in the day when I was first wiffling about this project, I was kind of smitten by the white sleeves a la:


I was originally forcing myself to use *only* what is in my stash, but it just so happens that last week I added to my stash a whole lotta white silk taffeta ($3/yd!!!). I had forgotten about the original idea of white sleeves since I changed focus to my specific inspiration portrait:



So, here's the question.....is my friend Sofonisba wearing white sleeves? *Could* she be wearing white sleeves? If I do sleeves of white silk, I'll probably do tiny slashes and decorative braid.....if I do sleeves of black velvet, I'll probably do paned sleeves, even though I'm not seeing a whole lot of examples. How much am I allowed creative licence??

Shoulder Treatments?

After hours of messing around with strips of velvet, I *may* have come up with a plan. These pictures are terrible, and don't really show the detail, but *meh*.

(One day I'll get a new point-n-shoot!!!)
On Bertha


Laid out flat


Yeah, that doesn't tell you much about it......black lumpy snake! Maybe some MS Paint, perhaps?


I'm pretty sure I like this weaving pattern, but now I'm stuck with what else to do with it! The corners of the open squares need to be tacked, whether decoratively or otherwise for everything to keep its shape.

Option 1 - tack braided trim along edge/parallel to edge, put buttons at each tacked corner of open square


Option 2 - tack corners of open square, attach buttons in the middle of the strap. May or may not add trim....


*Ponder*