1480s Florentine

So, a few weeks ago, I was scrolling around on Pinterest and saw this painting (Portrait of a Lady by Domenico Ghirlandaio, painted in the late 1480s), and my first thought was, "I have some linen in that exact color!!!"

I have also lost some weight recently, and most of my (self supporting) garb doesn't fit correctly anymore, so I needed some new things. And of course, it's way more fun to make new dresses than to alter old ones. So, here's my 1480s Ghirlandaio dress.

And here's a detail of the sleeves. The top of my head got cut off in this picture, but it's so cute I decided to use it anyway.

I made a sheer silk partlet to go with this gown, which is pinned in place with straight pins. And my hair is covered with a simple white linen snood. I found the necklace inexpensively at a consignment shop - I still need to get a pendant for it.

I'm very pleased with this dress. The linen is fairly thin, which keeps everything nice and cool in the hot Caidian summer. The only thing I would have done differently on this gown is change the cut of the front opening. I created this pattern for another gown which closes completely in the front (which I have yet to post about), and altered the pattern for this dress by cutting a couple of inches from the front opening to create the gap. Everything looked fine when I initially tried it on and stood in front of the mirror for a few minutes. However, as I wore it longer and moved around, everything shifted. Because the front opening is curved, the gap doesn't stay even - the top and bottom of the opening are too narrow and the middle is too wide. In the pictures, I just have it laced with some satin ribbon from my stash. I'm going to make a matching lucet cord for it and experiment with the lacing technique to see if I can fix it.

I'm planning to do a post later this week showing how I did my hair.

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!

More Gulf Wars Pictures! 2013 edition

This year, Natalie and I were joined by Brittany, a new SCA convert. :-D I downsized and remade my last year's blue silk Venetian for her. I didn't really wear it anymore, mostly because the shoulders were cut funny, the lacing gap was really narrow, and it was made to go over one of my early sets of stays that don't fit quite right. My patterning skills have improved since then! But it looks lovely on Brittany. She's much smaller than me. So I reduced the skirt from 4 panels to 3, and used the extra fabric to make a new bodice. I also re-used the lacing rings from the old gown - I just cut them out in a strip, and sewed them to the inside of the new bodice. I cut the poof off of the old sleeves and re-attached them. I wasn't sure I liked the poof anyways.

Natalie is again wearing her copper silk venetian from last year.



I also made Brittany a bliaut - the first I've attempted. It's made completely with a rectangular construction method, and the pattern was created from her measurements and the Elizabethan Smock Pattern Generator. It's really a lot of help when your costuming for people a couple of thousand miles away. I' didn't get any pictures of her in it by herself, but here she and Natalie are, being lovely. She wove the trim for her necklace and belt herself!



And lastly, another fauxhardie.



They match!



Brittany and Natalie got to play with hawks again, like Natalie and I did last year!



I had so much fun with these two. Natalie, thanks for hanging out with me and driving me around! And Brittany, welcome to the SCA!!!