Elven outfit

Due to the lack of time of a friend himself very talented with needle and thread, I designed and sewed this outfit for him. It is modelled after a few of Elrond's garments from LotR, but I decided not to stick to a particular one but to mix and match what looked best. From left to right in the picture: fabric for underrobe, robe, and lining.

The underrobe is made of olive green fabric, very soft and flowing, and BTW rather crappy to sew. Focus has been put on the sleeves, which are leaf-shaped. The yoke is modelled after Elrond's grey underrobe, and yoke as well as sleeves and collar are embroidered with gold thread.

The sash is the same fabric as the underrobe, with a narrower sash of the robe-lining in the centre.

The matching velvet robe is lined with reed-green-brownish fabric that has a wonderful, soft touch (hence would be ideal for an elven bathrobe *bfg*). Also here, the sleeves are leaf-shaped, but as long and wide as the amount of fabric I bought allowed (and I bought all there was left). As with the underrobe, the sleeves and the collar are embroidered in gold.

Baroque traveling outfit

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.

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 ;)

Ball gown of cherry-red silk damask

What a surprise - this time it was going to be a 21st century gown to enhance my wardrobe. The fabric being showy enough, the cut, on the contrary, is very simple.



The floor-length skirt is a three-quarters-circle with hand-sewn hem and was the product of a relaxed evening, partly in front of the tv. It is worn over an underskirt of 20 metres of white tulle worked in four layers and finished off at the hem with red bias tape. The main idea was that the skirt must get enough volume to look pretty without restricting me when dancing, like a hoopskirt probably would.

The bodice had to be fitted, strapless, give a nice shape and let me breathe - kind of a jack-of-all-trades device. The result turned out very nice - I used the pattern of a well-fitting corset to be worn over a strapless bra. The mock-up was made of rather stiff cotton and, as it fitted perfectly, was used as the middle layer of the actual bodice. It's boned at the seams and sandwiched between the outer layer of red silk and an inner layer of pale red taffeta.

Both parts are sewn together invisibly and close at the back with a zip fastener.

Green and black renaissance dress

Fair warning, this dress is not period. But it's the first historic costume I ever made, more than ten years ago, so I'm not ashamed to wear it still. I virtually sketched the draft for the bodice off my body and just went on sewing using a scrap of fabric I had found in my mum's sewing box. I daresay, considering the lack of my experience, the result turned out pretty nice.

The bodice is double-layered and stiffened only with a cardboard-triangle (as I said, lack of experience; and lack of material) that was afterwards enhanced by sewing three pieces of steel boning to the lining. In any case, the thing fits its purpose and makes a formidable bust without having to wear a corset underneath! Back fastening with two rows of eyes and black cord lacing, decoration consists of black frill around the extremely wide leckline and (added afterwards) black satin ribbons sewn to the front in the shape of a stomacher. The flounce to visually join bodice and skirt together was added afterwards.



The sleeves are very thight at the forearm and elbow, just wide enough to slip in - the strip of black, ruffled fabric I set into the seam was pure improvisation when I noticed I wouldn't fit in otherwise. Looks nice, though. The upper sleeves have four slits, each backed with a sewn-on patch of black taffetta.





The skirt was actually plain black cotton, as there was nothing left of the green I had used for the bodice, but it looked weird, a green bodice and a black skirt, so I decided to improvise an overskirt. As soon as I found some fabric that halfway fitted the original green, I made the overskirt that is fastened to the waistband of the underskirt by means of hooks and eyes, decorated with black satin ribbon all around. Both, skirt and overskirt, are made of a normal length of fabric pleated into the waistband, instead of cutting the material and making a smooth, bell-shaped skirt as actually was done in renaissanc times.

Yellow baroque peasant's dress

Promised I'd post this ;) I bought the fabric accidentally (happens often, hence the crammed wardrobe, hehe!) and decided to make a simple renaissance/baroque dress that I could wear to faires or at other events instead of the medieval stuff. Medieval clothing gets boring after a few years... So, having almost finished my dress form, I took a few indoor pics, so I wouldn't have to dress, put on make up, arrange hair and whatnot. Terribly practical, having such a dummy, saves a lot of work ;)



The skirt circumfence is three metres, pleated into waistband as always, two lengths of brown ribbon at the hem. Closes behind with two eyes and a ribbon through them.

I bought the blouse, so no comment on this ;)

The bodice is based on a renaissance-dress pattern from 'Patterns for Theatrical Costumes'. Each of the four parts is cut out twice, sewn together at the seam with some allowance to join them together afterwards, then turned and the two layers fused with fusing material. The four slightly stiffened parts are then sewn together. It's important that the parts fit well already before you cut them twice and fuse them, only then you'll have a nicely fitting bodice with very clean seams. The flounce is attached, then everything decorated with ribbon. Closes with hooks and eyes.



This costume showed me that my new-and-not-even-finished-yet dummy is a little disproportionate, as the bodice fits me perfectly but is rather tight over the dummy's belly. Gotta change that...

Taylor's dummy

Oh deeeear!! *excited squeal* I almost forgot to mention it, I'm finally making my own dress form! Actually I'm already halfway through, my sis helped me to wrap my torso in tape, following one of the many instructions on Youtube & Co. The dummy-torso is already stuffed with rolled foam (over a roll of cardboard that fits perfectly on the stand), fiberfill and pieces of newspaper - trying to stuff the dummy so it can be corsetted if necessary, means hard at the back and softer in the belly-region. I also flattened the breasts so I can use it either for corset-shapes or, with an additional, stuffed bra, for normal shape. I just have to cover the whole thing with stretch fabric and take pics. I'm always slow at taking pics, I know...

***

Ok, time for a project update. During our last collective sewing-session, I found courage and leisure enough to refine the dummy. Golden rule when letting yourself be taped: keep your shoulders *really* straight, or you'll have to correct it afterwards by applying layers of paper and tape to the dummy to give the shoulders the proper shape. At any rate now all my dresses fit the dummy perfectly, which means that I have no excuses anymore for not starting my late-rococo projects. Except that the dummy has to be covered and the neck and bottom closed with wood. I think I'll take a trip to the fabric store today and to the DIY-store tomorrow... :D