By the amount of time I'm currently investing in raising the number of my baroque outfits, one can tell that there might be another baroque event in the nearer future ;)
The traveling outfit is planned as the female version of the musketeer outfit I did last year: hat of the same style, skirt and jacket made from the same fabric.
The hat is the same making as the musketeer hat: two pieces of double-layered felt for the crown, a double-layered, stiffened ring for the brim, edged with 1.2 mm wire zig-zagged to the outer edge of the brim and covered with the matching yellow ribbon. Brown ribbon went into the hat as a hat-band (mainly to cover the seamline of brim and crown). Slender brown trim on top of the yellow ribbon makes the outer hat-band that also holds the two white ostrich plumes. The right side of the brim is turned up and secured to the crown with invisible stitches.
The skirt is is made from 4.5 metres of brown cotton/linen-fabric gathered evenly into a waistband to be closed by means of hook and eye, decorated at the hem with two rows of gold-yellow ribbon.
The jacket is a modification of a 1660s jacket that I found in a Janet Arnold book (I think; have to check...). It took me a while to find the guts and the nerve to alter the pattern so it would fit me, and again it turned out surprisingly nice! The fabric with its striped pattern this time isn't worked in a zig-zag but is mainly straight, lined with matching cotton and interlined with stronger fabric to carry some boning along the seams and at the front. All the seams are covered by slender brown trim. On the first outing (again time was pressing; and it was hot; and we went to shoot with bow and arrow, where too much of a sleeve would only have been a hindrance)) I left the sleeves aside and finished the armholes just with epaulettes, which will, in the second, proper version, accompany the actual sleeves. Maybe I'll just tie them in with eyelets. Let's see... A narrow peplum in two parts finishes the jacket, and it's laced in front.
I bought enough fabric for two male outfits and the female jacket, and with a little luck it's enough for three male outfits. The musketeer-outfit I finished years ago. Now in the enthusiasm of sewing we threw in another well-we-could-make-this-and-that-as-there's-still-some-time-and-fabric-left to have a matching outfit for the "couple". I fear MY male outfit will be a game of pattern-tetris!
The chemise this time has to be long-sleeved and will be my first attempt at making a baroque chemise. Up to now I always substituted baroque underwear with rococo underwear. Well, details... ;) At least I've already chosen the antique lace that will go around the neckline and the cuffs.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Burgundy baroque dress
It's always the same: once you find the (almost) perfect fabric for a project, it turns out that half a dozen other fellows from your circle have already bought exactly the same!
The novelty is that the fabric is synthetic fibre (baaaaaad!) which I usually avoid, but colour and design looked so nice that I decided to make an exception and give it a try. Big plus is that I would be able to machine-wash the dress and wouldn't have to bother with cleaning the hem and train by hand after every play. Weeeell, that was the plan until I opted for metal trim, which - of course - is not machine washable.
The pattern is that of a 1660-gown, styled very much like Elizabeth's burgundy dress in PotC - which is, actually, a baroque pattern, except for the neckline. Kinda crossover of that PotC-dress and the dresses in "Stage Beauty". Of course it's trained, the bodice lined with raspberry-red fabric, and decorated with golden trim.
Beneath it goes a chemise of cream-white soft-weave cotton with wide, elbow-length sleeves. The extra-wide neckline as well as the sleeves are lined with broad tulle lace and gathered with a narrow satin drawstring that's simply stitched through the fabric right above the lace. I bet it's not period bit the fabric is strong enough and it perfectly does the job.
The dress itself can be worn without stays, as it is fully boned with soft plastic boning zig-zagged between two layers of cotton. (Not period at all, but it saved me the additional labour of making period stays...) This, in turn, is sandwiched between the top-layer of brocade and the lining, each of the four layers cut and sewn together so you get four separate bodices that are then put together. I cut the brocade and the lining a tad too small, so I finished the neckline, front opening and stomacher with bias tape cut from the same fabric. It's invisible anyway, as it's hidden under the gold trimming. The front closes with hooks and eyes, which this time I bought as ribbon by the metre. I was on a tight schedule yet again... Worked quite well, after a bit of fussing with symmetry. Mind to sew in the hooks and eyes, THEN finish the top layer, or wou'll see the stitches, and finish with the trim. The lower part of the bodice is finished with tight zig-zag-stitch on the parts that remain hidden under the skirt. The skirt itself is sewn to the bodice with a short slit at the front where the bodice opens. This part is strengthened with a piece of ribbon on each side and closes with hook and eye, the bodice then closes over this part and hides it.
I wear the dress over a small hoopskirt and my four-layered tulle petticoat - which is not period, but it'll have to do until I've made a decent hoopskirt. I still had fabric left and made an underskirt the same colour as the lining. It hardly ever peeps out, but anyway, I know that it's there :D
What's still waiting to be finished is a hat of the same fabric, broad-brimmed like a musketeer's hat with lots of plumes and trimming and baroque frippery. In the picture I'm wearing a tricorn, which looks quite nice but not nice enough yet ;)
The novelty is that the fabric is synthetic fibre (baaaaaad!) which I usually avoid, but colour and design looked so nice that I decided to make an exception and give it a try. Big plus is that I would be able to machine-wash the dress and wouldn't have to bother with cleaning the hem and train by hand after every play. Weeeell, that was the plan until I opted for metal trim, which - of course - is not machine washable.
The pattern is that of a 1660-gown, styled very much like Elizabeth's burgundy dress in PotC - which is, actually, a baroque pattern, except for the neckline. Kinda crossover of that PotC-dress and the dresses in "Stage Beauty". Of course it's trained, the bodice lined with raspberry-red fabric, and decorated with golden trim.
Beneath it goes a chemise of cream-white soft-weave cotton with wide, elbow-length sleeves. The extra-wide neckline as well as the sleeves are lined with broad tulle lace and gathered with a narrow satin drawstring that's simply stitched through the fabric right above the lace. I bet it's not period bit the fabric is strong enough and it perfectly does the job.
The dress itself can be worn without stays, as it is fully boned with soft plastic boning zig-zagged between two layers of cotton. (Not period at all, but it saved me the additional labour of making period stays...) This, in turn, is sandwiched between the top-layer of brocade and the lining, each of the four layers cut and sewn together so you get four separate bodices that are then put together. I cut the brocade and the lining a tad too small, so I finished the neckline, front opening and stomacher with bias tape cut from the same fabric. It's invisible anyway, as it's hidden under the gold trimming. The front closes with hooks and eyes, which this time I bought as ribbon by the metre. I was on a tight schedule yet again... Worked quite well, after a bit of fussing with symmetry. Mind to sew in the hooks and eyes, THEN finish the top layer, or wou'll see the stitches, and finish with the trim. The lower part of the bodice is finished with tight zig-zag-stitch on the parts that remain hidden under the skirt. The skirt itself is sewn to the bodice with a short slit at the front where the bodice opens. This part is strengthened with a piece of ribbon on each side and closes with hook and eye, the bodice then closes over this part and hides it.
I wear the dress over a small hoopskirt and my four-layered tulle petticoat - which is not period, but it'll have to do until I've made a decent hoopskirt. I still had fabric left and made an underskirt the same colour as the lining. It hardly ever peeps out, but anyway, I know that it's there :D
What's still waiting to be finished is a hat of the same fabric, broad-brimmed like a musketeer's hat with lots of plumes and trimming and baroque frippery. In the picture I'm wearing a tricorn, which looks quite nice but not nice enough yet ;)
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