Courtesean Gown: The Gown

The pattern for the bodice.

The bodice sewn.

And a closer look...

...and another from the side (exciting, isn't this?)

I tried to get a picture of the fabric in the sun, but the sun and the camera didn't get on well.

Felted wool, for backing the skirt pleats.

A 3/4 view of the skirt pleating.

The same view, much closer.

A closeup of the pleats at the side.

The skirts from the front...

...a 3/4 view...

...the side...

...and, finally, the back.

05.19.02After sleeping half the day and only dragging my sorry self out of bed because no fewer than 17 @$*!!! telemarketers called to hang up on my answering machine, or assure the machine that they're calling in response to my inquiry about golf clubs (the same online golf supply idiots call me roughly 5 times a week - and I *don't*golf*), I figured that if I was awake anyway I might as well get some work done. I patterned the bodice for the actual gown, which wasn't very exciting at all (put fabric on janey, cut where seams go), then set to cutting and sewing the actual bodice. I even tried to line the fabric up so that I would get the sam motifs on each side of the bodice. I failed, sorta, but I tried. It's lined in plain muslin. I sewed the lining to the muslin, and the costume gods started to smile. My sewing machine, which has refused to believe that I am allowed to reset the stitch width for straight stitches for almost a year, suddenly decided that it was willing to do bigger stitches (it's been working around the 1 setting, and just jumped to 4, and actually paid attention when it got bumped down to 3). Needless to say, this made things go much faster. And the bodice went together beautifully, with no pulling and stretching, and I was practically humming, and the gods were still smiling, possibly even grinning, and I as I was clipping my little seam allowances, the gods finally lost it and collapsed in collective hysteria. That's about when I realized that I had *sewn*the*wrong*side*out*. Yes, yes, I put the side with the white satin ground and the oddly yellow figures and lambies outside, when I meant to have a yellow ground with white satin lambies. And the wailing and moaning and general lamentation progressed, as did the ripping of the seams and the resewing, which took about 6 times as long as it took me to make the mistake in the first place.

So, once the bodice was back together, I started on the skirts. There's 4 panels of 58" wide fabric for the skirt, which is a great muckin' lot of fabric. And the pattern match neatly at each seam. I want extra credit for that! (Note: No matter what you are doing, watch that little space in the center of the presser foot. Do *not* watch the needle. If you watch the needle while you sew, your eyes will cross every time. I must remember this....) There's a dip cut into the front of the skirt panels, since the skirt is going to be cartridge pleated all around and I want to pattern to stay roughly level. I'm not lining this, since a) the reverse side of the fabric is pretty too, b) I couldn't find a darn thing I liked for lining at the store, and c) it's supposed to be godawfully hot this summer. I put about a 4" strip of felted wool all along the top of the skirt to allow me to finished the cut edge neatly, and to help the pleats hold their form. I started pleating the skirt, but after the 3rd time I ended up with a surprisingly sharp needle under by thumb, I gave up and went to bed.

11.05.02 -- This is where the diary begins to be a retrospective, rather than a true "blow by blow" accounting. The skirts were cartridge pleated, although they put up quite a fight about it. Fortunately, I picked a fabric that didn't bloodstain easily. The felt at the top of the skirts did a wonder to hold the pleats out nicely. In fact, it did a little more than I had expected, but after a few days of setting, they settled down to a more acceptable level of poof. The bottom of the hem was finished with bias tape, and trimmed with a pale green and antique gold braid. Why? Because I had the braid lying around and it saved me all the trouble of thinking up a way to *neatly* hem the skirt without lining it. (Really, why do you think they used to put braid and tufted fringe on the bottom of skirts? Just to watch it fray?) And that was about it for the gown.... At least, that's what I thought at the time. ;)