Three Burgundians Before Twelfth Night - Preview

I'm ecstatic to report that I was able to finish the three Burgundian ensembles (one for myself, two for friends) before my self-imposed deadline of December 18th. I'm going to be visiting family for Christmas and New Years, then we're wearing the gowns to Twelfth Night on January 5. More pictures are, of course, to come, but here's a preview photo. It's at an odd angle, as it was taken with the camera self-timer from a stump in my back yard. I'm looking forward to the event. It should be exciting!

Yet Another 1480s Florentine dress...

... But this time, I think I finally perfected my pattern!

I've made two other attempts at this style, here, and here.

The first rendition, the blue gown, had some weird issues with the front closure. I learned a lot on that one. The second one, in turquoise, is much better on the front closure issue, but the bodice pattern isn't quite right. It's not as supportive as it needs to be - things creep downwards, and have to be periodically readjusted.

But no longer! May I present the purple gown!

This is my, "Ta da!" pose.

I basically took the bodice pattern from this project, moved the closure to the front, and took it in a good three inches directly under the bust, and inch or so from each seam. There's no way for the bust to creep downward, so everything stays where it's supposed to be. With no boning whatsoever. And, it's more flattering.

The skirt is still a giant rectangle knife pleated to the bodice. And on this gown, all stitches visible to the exterior were sewn by hand. It does develop a crease under the bust after wearing it for a while, but this doesn't bother me terribly.

The sleeves are in two separate pieces. The top portion laces to the shoulder and extends to just above the elbow. This is laced to the bottom portion, which is open along the outside of the arm, and held together with ribbons. This allows for some nice chemise poofs at the elbow and along the back of the forearm.

And here's some photographic proof of my hand stitching:

I also got some pictures in my overgown. Which looks awesome with this dress.

I also had to get a profile picture, like in so many of the period images.

One more...

Thanks to the crazy-talented Daisy Viktoria for taking all these pictures for me.

I've got several projects that I've been working on. I'm making three (count them, three!) Burgundian ensembles before Twelfth Night. Because I am overly ambitious, and perhaps a bit crazy. But seriously, why make one when you can make three? And I'm working on my red silk Eleanor of Toledo gown. Not as quickly as I'd like - I've been out of town too much recently for serious sewing. But I'm getting back to it now. More updates are coming soon!

Going Greek (as it were....)

Highland War is a small war/large camping event that my local group hosts every labor day weekend. In the desert. And it's reeaaaallly reeeeaaaaallllly hot.

So hot that I wasn't able to face the thought of lacing myself into even my coolest linen 15th century dresses.

So, what's a girl to do? Go Greek, of course. It's pre-period, but worth it for these very hot wars. These are very simple ancient Greek dresses. I'm not sure that it even counts as sewing. It's a tube of fabric pinned at the shoulders. They're all made of linen. I also brought a couple of friends, and dressed them up in Greek dresses as well.

Here's Lizzy:

Here's Joella:

And here's me:

Here we are pretending to be Greek statues:

And here we are being Grecian Urns from that one scene in The Music Man:

We also took a normal picture:

I made a second Greek dress for the following day, when sadly, my friends had to go home. This one is handkerchief weight linen, and silk for the top layer. My face is slightly sunburned from the previous day.

I was really proud of figuring out the hairstyle. I pretty much copied it from a picture of an actual Greek statue.

More actual sewing soon. Also, adventures in shoe making.