As far as I can tell, I am in the ending stages of the doublet...and I'm expecting as usual, that finishing this thing will take the long amount of time.
Last night, I worked for another 4.5 hours. I cut silk and made 3 or 4 yards of piping with a 1/8 inch cord from the hardware store. The piping I made the night before was with a cord that is probably 1/16, and very thin. Though we can use this piping somewhere else, I didn't think it would work very well in the main seams of the doublet. Since I have very little experience with piping, I knew I might have some problems. First, I pinned the piping so that the cord was just outside of my seam allowance, I started with the side back piece. I used my zipper foot then attached it by machine. Next, I pinned the back piece to the side back and tried to get this seam as close to possible to the piping. It was't close enough, so I decided to do these seams by hand. This worked really well as I could feel the piping with my fingers as I made my next stitch. I was happy with the results. I did the same with the two front seams of the doublet, also attaching them by hand. Then because I had the back pieces and the front pieces done I started to get very anxious and wanted Brad to try it on...of course this would be useless, even if it did fit because I am mostly insecure of the changes I made to the neckline and collar (which were mostly right with the mock-up) and that's what I was most curious to see. So I basted the collar on, and the right side of the doublet, but that took a while to do by hand, and I was already ready to quit for the night, so I pinned the other side and had Brad try it on. It looks like I'm going to have to take the doublet in at the sides, but that's the biggest alteration that I can see! I'm very excited, but I know I still have alot of work to do, you can read the quick list if you like, by clicking "Read More". (estimated work time: 4.5 hours)
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Last night I got the interfacing attached to the doublet pieces that needed them, first by using basting spray to place them then I sewed them in place using diagnoal stitches across the interfacing like the pattern specified. I will get a picture of these steps in the next doublet, but I figured since I don't know how things are going to turn out, it may not be as important to document them now.
I traced the pieces I cut for this doublet on paper because I added some length since the last mock-up, and hope the next doublet will be put together much more quickly if I"ve got a good pattern to start with. I'll need to remember to take notes of any changes I made from this point on so the pattern remains accurate. I cut silk and made about 4 yards of piping, now sure how much I'm going to need, but I at least have a start for when I need it. After that I used basting spray to keep all three layers of the doublet together. After reading, I guess I'll need to cut another layer of fabric for the lining...Ugh! I thought all the cutting was over with. I think it's odd that this pattern calls for a flatlining fabic, THEN for another lining. In my experience, if I have flatlined something I have not had to make another lining but I guess this is menswear...I haven't made any before, and we will want this piece to look pretty on the inside as well...I just don't understand why I'd flatline it if I am also going to make another lining...maybe I should just pull off the flatlining fabric and use it for the lining, then I wouldn't have to cut...Hmm...it's not too late to do this yet. Anyway, I'm really excited with all the work I did last night. I spent alot of time and feel I got much accomplished, but still have to sew a seam, which I hope will happen tonight. We start with attaching the collar to the neck, then the side backs to the back. I'm thinking since we're planning on piping the front seam that maybe we should also do this on the back. I have yet to place piping into a seam before, so I'm not sure how well this is going to work without a few tries. estimated time worked: 4.5 hours The weekend passed with various small sewing and cutting tasks achieved. This weekend was more about seeing family and helping friends than getting any big piece of a project done.
Thanks to Brad's willingness to help, the interfacing pieces for his doublet are cut and so are the misc. pieces of the lining that needed to be cut. Also, I think I've finishing piping the trim for my Venetian sleeve upgrade, and now need to handsew the rest of the trim onto the sleeves. I won't bore you with my very detailed to do list, but you can see if you click the link below. There are so many things I'd like to get made I thought I should start listing them:
for Brad: brown & black doublet (wearable mock-up) black and yellow doublet black linen venetian breeches Cloak Victorian Day Wear for Laura: finish "Work Dress" Blue underskirt for Venetian Venetian Sleeves Halloween costume 18th Century stays & undergaments Elizabethan boy Elizabethan undergarments Elizabethan forepart & bodice Renaissance lower class dress Cloak I am short, 5'2-ish...
But that's not what this is about. I've almost fully completed adding the guard the hem of my dress, and after 4 hours of additional work, of course I was excited to see what it looked like on...I put the dress on over my pjs, and MAYBE the corset will make things fit a little, tiny, bit differently, but do you think it will effect my hem very much? I guess I could...so before I completely rant and rave, I'll just say...after all that work and sore fingers I think my skirt is now too short.... As a remedy, I think an underskirt with a nice trim at the hem will work. Eventually, I might go back to the split skirt idea, but for now, and underskirt will be a quick & easy fix :) (famous last words). Yeah, this post is a little late, but I had to make sure to get my schoolwork done yesterday, and since I'd rather not do schoolwork while I'm at home, that's what I spent most of my freetime doing yesterday at work.
We had a great Labor Day weekend! On Saturday we visited the Minnesota State Fair, one of my favorite things about living in Minnesota! I found a necklace I'd been looking for for several years...someone I know had told me where to find it, though I was never really sure, and this year we happened upon the dealer! That made the weekend! Sunday, after a heartfelt effort, I didn't finish adding the velvet guard in time to wear the dress to the Renaissance Festival! We were meeting a friend out there, so had to go either way, and I went in "mundanes" for the first time in 5 years! Hated it! Hopefully I will never have to do that again! Monday was laid back, I did some reading for class, and started working on adding the velvet guard BY HAND, I feel working with the sewing machine would have been too frustrating as trying to do it by machine the day before lead to severe failure. Some pictures of the MN State Fair 2009. I'm repleating my Venetian skirt today, at work. Then Crystal made her new Venetian gown, and though I thought about repleating the front of my skirt (I had to take the bodice and didn't do a great job of repleating the front), her pretty little pleats made me want to repleat the entire thing, so that's what I'm doing. I don't think that I'm going to recut the bodice back to make it a "V" but it sure is tempting at this point. I started to repleat the skirt, and wanted to make sure I remembered how, so I double checked how at this fantastic website to refresh my memory! www.elizabethancostume.net/cartpleat/ And, just because pictures are good, here's a picture. I thought I'd update while waiting for the clock to say it's time to go home.
I thought it pointless to log on while the phone says it's 4:57, then I looked at the phone again and noticed the time switched back to 4:56, what does that give my employer? 2 extra minutes? Dumb! I've been working on the dress, making velvet guards, and cutting new sleeves. I thought I'd add trim to the sleeves like these in these portraits: http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/wardrobe/IsottaBrembatiGrumelli.jpg http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/wardrobe/FasoloAIC.jpg But, my "day is done" bell just rung, so I've gotta go! |
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