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A blast from the past. I thought I should try this dress back on and see why I completely ignore it in the costuming closet. Now I know why. Apparently when I made this particular bodice I was a bit more roundy. It’s completely loose now. Wow.

The skirt was originally made to go with a different bodice (we’ll call that one Red Bodice A – RBA for short). As RBA was my first go (aside from my wedding dress) at a proper bodice using the Eleanor of Toledo model, it was a bit difficult for me to get myself dressed. So I can only surmise that my motivation in creating this bodice (Red Bodice B – RBB) was so I could get dressed without having to hunt down the master of the guarderobe (aka my poor husband) and wait patiently while he tried to lace the darn thing up.

That being said, the sleeves that were made to go with this bodice were recently untied, altered and put with the Sage Green Elizabethan Dress where, in my humble opinion, they look much better. So for this photo shoot I went ahead and tied in the long sleeves that originally went with RBA. That left my chemise sleeves showing. All in all, not such a bad effect.

I will note though, that the sleeve points need to be fixed as they just don’t cut it anymore. But since they were the first pair of separate sleeves I made, I figure I should go a little easy on my critique.

So, details of RBB that I should point out.

• unlike RBA, this one is not self boned or even reinforced. What was I thinking? RBA and my wedding bodice were so heavily boned , someone could gut punch me and I’d not know it.
• I was inexplicably pleased with the way the white ribbon embellished the bodice.
• heavy gold trim was just that – heavy.
• Firs time I tried tabs. Why did I use two different styles on one article of clothing? I have no idea.
• Overall, RBB needs to be taken apart, taken in and boned.

On to my absolutely favorite garment ever….the loose robe.

A small bit of history about this particular piece. I was at my local upholstery store when I saw this fabric. It was a bit pricey (for me at the time) but I inexplicably fell in love with it. Not my usual color, but I was so stunned that I rushed home, grabbed a swatch of the red material and drug Chad to the store with me. That’s how overwhelmed I was. I was concerned I could not possibly determined (with any certainty) that the two materials would go together. I have never had such a reaction to fabric since. It called to me.

Flash forward and I had completed the loose robe (again pattern courtesy of Janet Arnold and her fab book). At the time it did not have sleeves. Which was period. But after a triumphant first showing, I decided I wanted to actually wear the thing. I had just enough material to make sleeves.

And I must say, there is something completely majestic about putting that robe on and walking at a brisk pace. The pleats allow the material in the back to billow out. Talk about making an entrance! I’ll also add that I saw the actual garment that Janet Arnold took the pattern from while we were at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London a few years ago. You have no idea how thrilled I was when I saw that my back pleats were a very good likeness to the original!

 

It had been a while since I’d made an Elizabethan dress from scratch and I was starting to get the itch to sew. The end result is this sage dress. (Although I will admit I scavenged the beaded sleeves from a previous dress.)

The sage material was originally purchased for and made into an Italian-style Renaissance dress. I was happy with that incarnation, but the material called to me, begging to be made into something more extravagant. So after being worn only twice, I had a photo shoot and then took the seam rippers to it.

One of the little details that pleases me to no end, but isn’t generally noticed by others, is the blackwork collar. The chemise was originally created several years ago when I was just learning to do blackwork. And I foolishly picked the back of the collar for this piece. I then decided that adding blue glass pearls & beads would be a fabulous idea. A lot of work went into this piece.

Most of my other bodices are modeled after the Eleanor of Toledo bodice in Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion (c1560 – 1620). The downside of that model is that I have to have someone lace me in. For a change I went with a front opening on this bodice. Which left me with a bit of a conundrum. How do I fasten it?

My answer arrived at the last possible minute when I recalled how I had fastened some other garments. I simply sewed buttons on alternating sides of the split and then added ribbons opposite the buttons. Easy to fasten and holds tight. Problem solved.

The glass pearls on the overskirt,  bodice, skirting & shoulder tabs were all sewn on individually. It took quite a bit of time, but the end result was well worth the effort.

The underskirt worked out by happenstance. I’d run across it at a fabric store on the remnant table. For years it lived in my fabric closet until desperation sent me to excavate for a suitable fabric. I suspect that eventually I will add beading to it.

The overskirt will also receive some additional embellishments. As it was I ran out of not only time but glass pearls before the dress’s debut. I am nothing, if I am not a procrastinator. I used the cheaters method for cartridge pleating, having done the entire method by hand at least four other times. For this skirt I used drapery tape that gave me even pleats and reinforced the overall effect.

A veteran creator many Elizabethan stays, I thought I’d try my hand at what was billed as a Civil War period corset.  I happened to be at a local fabric store when the Simplicity patterns were on sale. So for 99 cents I snatched this pattern up.

The end product didn’t exactly match the cover art, but I was pleased with the results.

What I should have known from previous experience sewing from store bought patterns was that:

1. the size I measure for is always too big

2. the pattern pieces don’t always fit together

3. i don’t like store bought patterns.

The good news is after some adjustments I ended up with a garment that fits me fairly well. I changed up the front a bit as I couldn’t find a busk anywhere in town and was under the gun to finish it up. So I improvised and put in grommets. But instead of lacing the front and back, I then added silver buttons up both sides of the front opening. The silver buttons were attached (by sewing through the grommet holes) to plain buttons on the inside of the bodice. Run a thin ribbon around the buttons and the corset is closed.

Double Click on the individual photos for a full size view.

Halloween is my second favorite holiday (right after my birthday of course – yes I am stuck on me). And I do so adore getting all dressed up. There’s just something about getting dressed up that let’s me be a little more outrageous than usual. And how better to be even more over the top than putting on a HUGE dress made with yards and yards of fabric and tons of pearls. Just don’t ask me to count how many specifically, I’m trying to not focus on it right now.

Imagine the look on the bellman’s face when he saw our luggage as we checked in. The poor man finally he just asked what the heck the hoop was for. I guess not everyone shows up with their own farthingale any more. My how times have changed.

Not ones to be wallflowers, our merry group paraded through the Greenbrier, led on by Uncle Sam. You have no idea how amused some of the guests were…and the other half seemed to be quite confused. Earlier in the day while on the elevator one of the guests looked at Chad, Kris & I and said, “You’re the first people I’ve seen without grey hair.” Which would probably explain the confusion we caused in the dining room.

I was pretty happy with the inagural wearing of my dress, it fit, it stayed assembled and it was comfortable.  And as far as I could tell, I didn’t lose any of the pearls or assorted beads from it. I’d call that a clear victory! The green dress fit Kris almost as if I had made it for her, instead of my sister-in-law. The wig though, well after the parade I declared it unfit and chucked it.

After our circuitious route through the hotel, we headed back to the Florida House and indulged in food, drink and general frivolity that is the hallmark of Halloween! Who says this holiday is for kids? Please…

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