Dress Diary!

[isabelladangelo]

The inspiration for this gown comes from Portrait of a Venetian Lady by Veronese and from A Musical Evening by Ludovico Pozzoserrato. I have to fix the sleeves I made for the gown but I think, by the end, you can see what I was thinking.

The above is the pattern I used for the bodice. It's based off the pattern I created for my Eleanor of Toledo gown.

The bodice before I added boning to it. It's over my 1540's/1550's corset. It's made out of the black taffeta I got from Fabric.com, lined with regular muslin, and interlined with canvas. I used muslin for the lining because it's cheap, still breathable, and no one will see the lining anyway.

The gown before I added a bunch of stuff to it. The taffeta, of course, sticks out on it's own, which is lovely.

I apologize for the darkness of the photo. This is the finished gown. I added bows of black taffeta to the waistline. The overskirt is silk chiffon. I gathered that, put a finishing strip across the gathers (basically, a waistband), and then placed the rings to hold the overskirt to the dress on the outside so the "waistband" would be hidden and flipped under. It also give the overskirt an extra bit of fluffiness at the waist.

I have a couple more pictures up on my flickr account if anyone wants to see the back views. You can also see close ups of the photos I posted here.

Comments

[cathgrace.livejournal.com]

It looks very nice, it's hard to tell the scale without seeing it on, but if you are open to a friendly suggestion let me know.

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

Yeap, I'm up for any suggestions. I do have a better picture of it up now here, where the skirt is closed (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jubileel/4020315096/) rather than being left open. I also added more ties for the sleeves. They still need to be re-worked a bit but it looks better from that angle.

And a close up of the bows (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jubileel/4019555549/). I'll add a partlet or try my hand at the more fancy collars later bit, for now, the gown is pretty much done.

just my two cents that can be taken or left.

[cathgrace.livejournal.com]

look at where the end of the sleeve is on your portraits vs the waist. none of those dresses have their side or back waist lower then the elbow, your dress's waist is much closer to your full sleeve length which can add wrinkles to the bodice and can add to the "off" look that is difficult to identify but one can feel is there.

I know you have a finished dress here so you probably don't really feel like pulling the skirt off to raise the waist, but that is something I would maybe keep in mind when creating new dresses.

Sorry, I know you weren't soliciting suggestions, but I think you are in the right direction it's just the little things.

[cathgrace.livejournal.com]

your sleeves do look a little lower in the new pictures, but still longer then the elbow (although I would love to see it on you for exact scale.) Your dress is beautiful and the colors are great, good work! Are you wearing this for 12th night?

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

No, I was actually going to wear it today but got too sick to really do more than stay at home and drink a lot more tea. :-) I didn't want everyone else to get sick too.

For 12th Night, I plan on tackling Catherine Parr's portrait gown. I have the materials (tons of cutter coat fur and brocade) but I'm hesitant to play with the fur just yet...

And you are right, I probably could raise the waistline an inch or two on the sides. Based on how it fits on, I'm thinking just an inch next time.

[bluedoran.livejournal.com]

I think the dress is really pretty.

When I get finished moving into the new apartment, I'm going to get out my SCA print-out guides and start working on making dresses again. (I'd gone to a bunch of websites and found scaled-down patterns for dresses from archeological sites, with some help from other SCA members -- I've been hanging out with Bright Hills people more often.)

Your sewing always inspires me. lol. I'm thinking of commissioning a dress from you for the OHF Spring Ball this coming April, if that's a possibility.