Henriette's Dress

A friend of mine who is living in Nigeria, asked me to make a dress for her as a surprise for a visit home. She told everyone she was coming for a visit in July, but made it home for a big SCA event in June. I did my best to keep it quite on what I was doing.

I consider myself a pretty good seamstress but I knew her figure would be a challenge. She's pear shaped and a lot bigger than me.

She chose a dress from "The Romance of Alexander", but with buttons. So she ordered the fabric online and low and behold, I got it just 3 days later. The buttons were also speedy, I received them in about 4 days.

We'd had her take all of her measurements which in itself was tough. She couldn't find a tape measure for about a day. Sending the cook in to the village to purchase a chicken or something, she asked for her to pick up a tape measure.

So after getting measurements, I set out to make a pattern for her. I took one of my patterns, copied it and quartered it. The stretched the pattern out to fit her figure. I know I made it too large, but I'd rather take it in than panic and have to add inches.

It was a standard cotehardie with tippets on the sleeve and buttons down the front. I made a simple gold underdress for her, gores in the back and on the sides, pull over in style with long sleeves that would cup her hands in a style we both like. Who wants a tan line on their hands? I don't and I knew she wouldn't either.

The overdress was made the same way, but with the buttons. Tiny damn little buttons with a long shank  on the back. 25 buttons in an 18 inch space. Worked out fine, but were a bit of a pain to sew on though. The tippets on the sleeves in the illumination are lined with fur, you can tell by the little seam lines where the white furs were sewed together. She did not want fur, we used white linen.
                                                             
Two days before she was to wear the dress, she landed at LAX. But first things first, she had a business meeting to attend and then she would be mine for a few hours for the only fitting.

We took up the underdress a little bit in the front and quite a bit in the back. The sides were fine and so were the sleeves.  She tried the overdress on and we had to adjust the back seam and I shortened the shoulder seems a little as well, I didn't want her to have the gold chemise showing above the blue at her neckline.

It took me about 5 hours to do the hems, combined there were about 6 yards of hemline.

Her friend added the gold leaf fluer's
along the bottom of the dress after I
had turned it over to her.

A different friend made the cauls for
her hair and they were so freeking cute!

She loved it and looked marvelous!

Cristal's Elevation Dress

My friend Cristal was offered to become a member of the Order of the Laurel for Period Cooking a while ago.

Being me, I offered to make her dress. She chose an illumination from the Romance of Alexander, the blue dress to the right of the picture.

So we planned a weekday trip to the LA Garment District. It turned out that the forecast was rain, and I mean rain.  We went anyway and luckily for us, we found 3 patterned fabrics that she fell in love with: all in the same store!  Getting samples cut from the fabric guy, we wandered around for a while and dreamed and then settled on a medium blue with a dark blue and white swirly design. I don't think we could have found anything more perfect.  Then we found blue velvet for the faux sleeves and short white faux fur for the sleeves.

The next week, we got together at my house and began the task of cutting
out the dress from a pattern that she liked. (I liked it so much, that I copied
the sleeve pattern to use on another friends dress!)  She wanted a gore at
each of the 4 seams of the cotehardie.

I'm a pretty quick seamstress and I had the basic dress finished. The front
looked funny though. We'd done a gore in the front and it just didn't look
right. It made the dress hang funny both on the mannequin and from a
hanger so I removed it after a consultation. The picture to the right
is the before version.

Then I tackled the sleeves. Learning from my last dress, I cut the fur from the backside after tracing the pattern on it. For the top half of the lining, I used a very fine linen.  The idea of the sleeves is that a little of the turn shows on the outside. It was a bit of a challenge but I got it done. The fur wanted to roll under the fashion fabric so I tacked it down a little using invisible stitches.

After attaching the sleeves to the dress, I tackled the fore sleeves. Cristal wanted a curved sleeve to cut down on bunching in the elbow's. I love the idea!  It took me several attempts and about 3 yards of scrap fabric, but I got it figured out. I've never sewn on such fine and delicate fabric and after we got the pewter buttons and I sewed them in place up the arm, they look fabulous.

The day came at last, the day before her elevation she got to try it all on.  It fit really nice, the sleeves were a bit snug on her arms with the faux under sleeves on. We hadn't taken that in to consideration.

The only thing I'd do different, make the sleeves a little wider (which we plan on) and to wash the fabric before hand.  I always wash my fabric but because she wants to dry clean the dress, we didn't. I think it would have been much softer to work with and the smell would have gone away.

Katherine Parr Dress

This is the dress I wanted to make. I knew mine would not be an exact replica, that would be near impossible unless I was to weave my own cloth and to hire a jeweler.

The dress has a stomacher, fur lined sleeves, a drop front waist which means it probably has a bum roll and it the wearer has on a farthingale or hoop skirt. Pearls on the stomacher, fore-sleeves and the fore-dress. a jeweled chemise, don't forget the hat, belt and jewelry.

After several trips to the LA Garment District to find material that wasn't the standard "Oh look, she used the same fabric as the pillow's on my sofa",

material, I located what I wanted and purchased it. All 14 yards... just for the

overdress. I found the fabric, (another 12 yards) I liked for the fore-dress or underskirt and fore-sleeves at a local discount fabric shop.

I started off by making a "Dorthea"

style body, that is I made a corset. The original portrait has an elongated, low front. Mycorset needed to provide the under shape for theovergown. It was, I thought, pretty easy. I took my usual coset pattern and added a sloping point in the center front and then boned it well with metal stays. I added two eyelets to the center front down low for my bum roll strings to pass through. The strings need to stay low in order to keep the front of the roll out of the way of the stomacher's smoothness. The strings feed back to front. I also added two large snaps at the center front waist that the petticoat would fasten to.

I already had a chemise made that had red gems sewn around the

neckline and large sleeves with a bit of gold tone lace-like trim that looks to be embroidered at a distance. Perfect.

I needed to make a kirtle/petticoat or skirt for the underdress. I tried first, to make a boned kirtle with the skirt. It did not hang to my satisfaction and puckered right at the front where it needs to be smooth. Using one of the The Tudor Tailor's suggestions from the book, I made a Henrician petticoat. While I am not pleased with the pleat I made on the front sides, it looks great. I like the low cut front and back, those fewer layers made it cooler to wear. Each side is laced and has a minimal use of boning. At this point, I marked the front of the corset and attached my snaps. Yes I know, I should have used hooks. Bite me. :)

Then to tackle the bodice of the gown. I wrote to the ladies at The Tudor Tailor in England for a bit of advice and they suggested that for the part of bodice that was to be

under the stomacher to use some type of canvas. The photo to the right is my first attempt. The center point would have been to narrow and to short once the skirt was attached. Also the plain canvas was just wrong. I went to Jo Ann's Fabrics and found some nice tan canvas to use both as a lining and as the forefront where the laces are.

I revamped my pattern and cut a new front section and attached sewed it all together. The new design and fabric color made a nice difference.

First I knife pleated my fabric, making the pleats flow from the center back towards the front. Then carefully, I pinned the skirt to the bodice, checking every few pleats to make sure I had them even. There is nothing worse than sewing something like this and then having the silly pleats not be even! I also needed to attach the skirt in the front at a lower point on the fabric to keep the design going around me, even.

With great delicacy and a lot of care, I basted the skirt to the bodice using the longest stitch on my sewing machine. Before I did the final sewing I double checked the sizes of the pleats and where they landed on the bodice. I was in luck, I only needed to adjust one. Before I did the final attachment, I loaded up Regina the mannequin with chemise, bum roll, farthingale, and adjusted the height to match mine. It looks pretty spiffy at this point. After the skirt was sewn on and the bodice finished everywhere but the sleeves, I let the dress hang for 3 days before having a friend pin the hem's for me. Traveling to Paul's house, I dressed in the full undergarment regalia and the petticoat and stood on his coffee table while he pinned the hem. Then adding the gown, we did the same. Once I arrived home, I decided to use hem tape to make the bulk less and sewed both hems.

To make the fur sleeves, I followed the advice of David and cut from the back. Using a perma marker, I traced my pattern onto the back of the faux fur and then cut with a razor blade. This allows for the fur to be cut but not the individual hairs! What brilliance! Carefully pinning the fur to the outer sleeve every few inches, I basted it on, turned it and looked how the fur laid around the seams. It was pretty cool the way the hairs were kept from the seams. The few places that needed to be fixed I did by pulling the hairs with a corsage pin and then sewed the two together. I do not have a photo of this but you get the idea.

The only thing I had left to do was the fore-sleeves, the part that shows from under the fur. They were simple enough to make but took me all day to do the pair. I had made my pattern, cut the slashes, backed the slashes and turned them. Adding a strip of linen to the back of the sleeves, I puffed the fabric and stitched the backing and linen down by hand. There is a minimal amount of beading on the sleeves, they don't show much below the massive amounts of fur.

The hat was made by cutting out a crescent shape where the points would lay just in front of my ears. I used needlepoint plastic and covered it with black linen and made a coif of black linen. The beads and trim were hand sewn. The jewelry was easy to make, finding the right beads proved to be tough. The belt was made of cording and had knots and large holed beads. The original girdle or belt is made up of cording with mini cameos and a small clock at the base above the tassels.

Now that I have worn the dress there are a few minor changes. I need to trim the amount of fur from the underside of the sleeves around the elbow. I need to add a little more beading to the petticoat and I need to fix the hat, it didn't quite curve right over the head. Overall, I am very pleased with it.

Absent friends

HA!

Gotcha, I don't have any followers, so the absent friend has been myself.

After the last post a friend talked to me and said I hadn't been a happy camper for a while. They had noticed a decline in my attitude. Well yea, I hurt. So I talked to me Doctor and got a prescription for Celexa or happy pills as I like to call them. Damn it, after just three days of taking the little gems, I felt better. Wow, what a difference.

So I tackled a new dress to wear to Coronation in early November. It was based off of the Jane Seymour dress and other than one thing, I nailed it. My error was to lace the dress up the back instead of the front and then cover the lacing with a plastron, I didn't think I could that sleek/smooth front. Dresses back then were 99% of the time, laced up the front. And I even made the most uncomfortable hat in the world.

So my next task is to make a dress in the style of Katherine Parr, the one with the fur sleeves. And I will lace it up the front dog gone it.

I've been working on making a gambeson for my husband, it does not appear to fit but the person I got the pattern from said do the buttons and we'll take a look at it. Okay....

Vacation

First off, I can't say how much fun it is to travel with a suitcase instead of a cargo trailer.

We rose early last Wednesday and drove to LAX for our flight to Portland, Or. A pleasant trip aboard Alaska Airlines with snacks and a beverage. Landing about 11am, we quickly found our rental car and were out of the airport proper in record time. A nice airport on the edge of town that was easily accessible to the freeway.

The trip along the Columbia River gorge was beautiful as always. We didn't stop anywhere to sight see because we had a goal. For lunch we stopped in Hood River at a Taco Bell. Man the wind blows there! No wonder they call the river from there to The Dalles the wind surfing capital.

The main reason for the trip was to see my junior and high school friends that I haven't seen since oh, age 20 and to see the 101st Pendleton Round-Up. Big rodeo!!

We pulled into La Grande at 3pm, had a little ice cream at Dairy Queen and checked into our hotel then headed over to Shannon's step-fathers place for dinner and a get to know you again evening.

Over a few beers we talked over old times and what we'd been up to. Shannon's husband Scott is a nice fellow and he and Richard got along well. I was happy with that, kept them out of our hair! Shelley isn't married but us three girls gabbed for a long while.

While Scott cooked the burgers, we got the salads and burger topping ready. After dinner and a couple more beers, we went to our respective homes for the night.

At 8am on Thursday, we met Shannon and Scott for a day at the rodeo, landing in Pendleton about 9:30am. Finding the perfect free street parking about 3 blocks from the rodeo, we went wandering. We knew that another school chum had a shop there and we quickly found it and met Russell and talked for probably half an hour before heading off to Hamley's for lunch for good BBQ.

Heading toward the rodeo grounds, we found our seats and the festivities started promptly at 1:15pm. And it lasted till 5pm! Never have I been to a rodeo that lasted that long. They had 700 entrants and four days to get through them all.

After the rodeo was over, we wandered to the Safeway parking lot for more BBQ then headed to the Happy Canyon pagaent. It was interesting to say the least. A nice story about the indians and their history, the taking over by the white man and then a truly corny show about the old west that we could have done without. The same show for 96 years!! It was like seeing an old spaghetti western but with real indians.

Friday we all went our separate ways during the morning hours. Richard and I took a drive, went out to Hot Lake then to Nells N Out (56 years old) for a burger, sweet potato fries and a Scottie. Then we went to Hought's 24 Flavors (40 years old and looked just like I remember) for ice cream, we both had huckleberry.

Richard stayed at the hotel for some work for his new job and I went to see Shannon and Shelley again and to see Shelley's mom Bea, still going strong at 95 years. We went through the year book and discovered all sorts of memories. We left there about 5pm to go pack and then Rich and I went to dinner at Ten Depot St, a nice restaurant for salmon, veggies and rice.

Saturday morning we pulled out of La Grande and drove to Portland for a stay. We drove quietly through downtown Pendleton, it was a little erie since many of the inhabitants were at the rodeo Finals.

Stopping at Multnomah falls in the gorge is a must. The total height of 620' is divided into two falls, the top fall is 542' with a 9' break and then a 69' fall for the bottom drop. We had a snack and a hot beverage amount the drops of rain before getting back into the car.

We'd had good weather on the east side of the state and it was gloomy and drizzly in Portland. We visited the old China town that was more like a... a... red light district with drag queens and porno shops. We did visit the Chinese garden, it was lovely. We found a nice restaurant for dinner near the hotel and had salmon again with the best parmessean mashed potatoes.

Sunday we wandered the streets, we made two attempts to go to VooDoo Donuts but the line was long (30+people) and not moving. Taking a drive out to Beaverton then returning via Washington Park and the Japanese garden that was truly spectacular.

Arriving back at our hotel around 4pm, we talked about where we wanted to go for dinner and the Emmy awards started. Now the Emmy awards are filmed on the west coast at 5pm and in LA we get them at 8pm on the TV. Can someone tell me why we have to wait till 8pm to see them??? We ended up getting Subway sandwiches for dinner after the show, it was within walking distance.

Monday dawned a little clearer and after breakfast we packed our suitcases for the 15 minute drive to the airport and home.

The cat was VERY happy to see us.

"If Ceara were to be invited to court, what would she wear?"I have been assigned to make an "OMG" dress for Twelfth Night.  That's right, a dress than when people see me in it they go, Oh my God! You look fantastic!

So I picked out a couple of portraits and put them before my laurel and he of course, chose the one with the fur on the sleeves. It has taken me a couple of days to figure out said under sleeves and how I want to put it together.  That said, I'm looking for just the right fabric to make it out of.  I believe I have part of it figured out and now to find the rest.

I'll post pictures as I go along.

A bit of sewing

So, I've tackled a new bit of clothing for my husband. It is taken from The King's Servants, by Caroline Johnson. I'm making a pair of hose, a doublet and a coat. So far it proves interesting because I have to wait after each new step to see if it will fit Richard.

I have also been tackling the issue of Pentathalon in 2012 and what to do. I think I have a new task that involves embroidery, sorta.

Grin!!