Taking Shape

Status: We have a plan

OK I’ll admit I’m backing into the first parts of this.  The materials were accumulated over a year ago.  I’ve made a lot of Italian gowns so I have base patterns to work from though the fit has to be debugged for each fabric.  I was a good way into the project before I thought I’d blog it so I'm catching you up. 

Status: Limits: must be wearable for an event in January, so deadline Dec 31. I wish I’d tracked the hours & $ to date but I didn’t. Suffice it to say expensive in labor and $. I also know better than to do a project this big in spare time in a 2 month window, but apparently I’m a glutton for punishment. It would have been reasonable to do this over a 12 month period. So I will not be the one surprised if I miss the deadline.

Status: Material substitutions: I’m using modern materials which have the look but are heavier and won’t move as well.  The fabric is brocaded cotton velvet.  I’m using cotton canvas inside the bodice for stability and to keep the expense down some.  That will also give me something sturdy to anchor to for closures b/c the velvet is a bit fragile despite its weight.  Plastic buttons for the jeweled sleeve clips b/c they were the right shape and scale. Premade cord trim instead of corded gimp for the neckline & sleeve openings, and the base is black not linen.  If I bother to blackwork the chemise it will be done by machine.  I will substitute metallic soutache or trim for the lucet cord used in the partlet and hairnet because I’m not competing with this, just wearing it.

 

 Status:Authenticity Level: Close but not authentic. Sleeve strips lined in silk.  Brass rings sewn inside for closures.  Hem guard.  Material substitutions as noted.  Machine sewn because I’m not a martyr (see handwork reference above). Chemise is silk. All goldwork is synthetic. Pearls are real.

Will it look like the painting? Um, nope. Eleanora di Toledo was a much smaller woman than me.  Janet Arnold notes dimensions on the extant burial gown to be about 26” at the waist and 31” at the bust, which puts her near a modern size 6-8 and she seems unusually flat chested compared to other paintings in her period.  We’ll  see in the end how much difference the neckline makes to the illusion.

Status: Pattern drafted & tested.  I started from a 1550s Italian I did that mostly worked in the wearing.  The front waistline and neckline had to be reshaped for the dipped front and to accommodate as much of the brocade motif as possible.  I made a mockup of the bodice in another brocade & lined with the canvas so I could use it for another dress some other time.

Bodice mockup front

Bodice mockup back

Once I had the fit issues worked out in fabric I traced the parts on transparent paper & tweaked the lines to accomodate where the brocade motif would fall.

Pattern front

Pattern back

Strip sleeve upper & lower front.

Note about the strip sleeves: the strips on this one are wider at the top than the wrist by a decent amount. They’re also shaped to get that roll effect at the top. I took a liberty by curving out the front underarm and curving out the back one (freehand so you don’t see that on the pattern). I can’t prove they did it, but it makes the sleeve work better when the fabric is this bulky.

 

Bugs: That neckline.  I tried every possible trick to get it higher but the geometry won’t work.  Before you say “wear a period corset” think a minute.  I fitted it over a period corset. I’m not a novice. I’m also not a 31A.

Status: Dress cutting complete.

Status: Bodice & sleeves partly assembled.  I did the strips as tubes & left the wrist end open so I could do final length adjusts in the finishing when the dress is fully assembled.  Strip sleeves can be bulky and these have really heavy trim for the edging that makes them stiffer.  I might want to shorten the strips later.  The trim all had to be hand applied.

 



Raw edges on the armholes will be hand finished & reinforced for the rings to tie on the sleeves.



 

 



 



 

Now you are caught up, I have spent an entire day learning how to blog, and I need a cookie and a more user-friendly editing interface. I can't begin to explain why the photos refuse to line up but oh well. Ciao!