Wednesday, June 12, 2013

The Eleonora Gown - the final installment


I finished a couple of new accessories for my Eleonora dress, and had a bunch of new, amazing pictures taken by the incredible Daisy Viktoria and her very talented personal photographer (aka boyfriend) Chris. Thanks Daisy and Chris!

I made a gold ribbon partlet and a hairnet/snood. For both peices, I created the pattern, drew the net grid on it, then laid out the ribbons and pinned them to the pattern. I then went over and hand tacked the joins in the net together. Once everything was tacked in place, I sewed a pearl to each join. After the net and pearls were together, I tacked the sheer silk backing in place.


I finished the visible edge of the partlet with a wider piece of gold ribbon folded over. The edges that end up under the gown when the worn were finished with a wide piece of white ribbon folded over. For the hairnet/snood, the entire circle was gathered to the correct circumference and stitched to a wide piece of brown grossgrain ribbon that blends in with my hair. This was hidden with a braided bundle of gold cords to match the portrait.

The look is finished with a girdle/belt made from pearls and red glass stones. Since you can't see the girdle in the original inspiration portrait, I copied belts worn in portraits by Eleonora's daughters. I'm not sure that exact belt style would have been worn with this dress, but I love the style. And I felt that the bottom portion of the dress could use more pears. :-)

So, Pictures!


Here, I'm showing off my awesome Pianelle:


And this, I think, was my favorite picture of the day:


And thanks again to Daisy for use of her amazing camera!