Elizabethan Burgundy Gown: Sleeves, forepart, and parlet

I've been busy last night and today, and have gotten a few more pieces completed. The sleeves and forepart are made from upholstery brocade that I found on sale. It's dark green with a lighter green scale pattern, and alternating dots of burgundy and gold. When I found it in the fabric store, I thought the color and pattern would go well with the burgundy velvet of the gown, but now that I see the entire thing put together, I'm not sure that I like it. And, it looks a little Christmas-y. But luckily, everything's detachable, so I can mix and match.

The sleeves are made to be a little roomy the upper arm, and become more fitted toward the wrist. They're lined with the rest of the natural-colored denim that I used in the bodice, to stiffen the fabric and make it stand out more. Seven ribbons are sewn into the top of the sleeve to tie directly in to the seven ribbons around the arm of the bodice.




The forepart will eventually be stitched to the front of a kirtle or petticoat, but for the moment I just have it pinned to the farthingale, as the fabric I was intending to use for the kirtle is too small. Elizabethan clothes have so much fabric in them.

I've also finished my ruff and partlet today. They're both made from a white-on-white embroidered thrift store curtain. The ruff is about three inches wide, and is sewn into a one-inch wide piece of grossgrain ribbon. I made alternating marks on either side of the ribbon every 1/4 inch, and marks on the ruff material every inch. Then I started folding the ruff fabric accordion style, lined up the marks, and attached the ruff material to the ribbon with a couple of whip-stitches at every mark.



Once I got the fabric pleated into the ribbon, I added two hooks and eyes to close it, made a partlet and tacked the ruff to the partlet. It's pretty awesome, and gives you that nice head-on-a-plate look.




But here's the whole ensemble thus far. The gown still needs to be trimmed, and the hat is still to come as well. And I may ditch the current sleeves and forepart and come up with something in a color I like better. But I still like the whole effect.