IRCC II - The Prep Work Continues

Well, today I ordered linen for my camicia and the lining of my bodice and hem. It was quite nerve wracking to try and color-match the blue silk of my gown fabric when I haven't yet received it but I haven't the patience to wait...and one can always find a use for blue linen.

I've made a bit of progress on my ideas about my under layer too. It's all still in the speculative phase, of course, but I've been contemplating making a second attempt at the more fitted & gored style of camicia. Among other things I have been wondering if it would be possible to use the bust supportive techniques of the Gothic fitted dress in a low-necked camicia. Certainly my bust can use all the support it can get and it does seem like it might make a great combination with a supportive bodice and a partlet...

I hope to actually do some bust support experimenting this time around.

And I may have the beginnings of a workable idea for the embroidery!

IRCC II - So Excited!

I just took a look at the challenge entrants page and we are up to 24 participants! WooHoo! That should make for some really interesting exchanges, and many pretty pictures!

In terms of my own plans, I've been busily reading about padded bodices, and hems, and pondering the need for chopines--and the extra height they bring-- to balance out the deep point of 1590's gowns. (although I really suspect it was the other way round. Longer skirts lead to an increase in the depth of the waist to trick the eye into normalizing the proportions of the figure.)

I think my available fabric will prevent my going for chopines and a train on this gown so I expect to be concentrating on the details of fitting the gown and making fabulous accessories.

Possibly fabulously naughty accessories!

I've yet to explore the Courtesan aspect of my persona in any depth. A shame, really, as there are endless opportunities to spice up my garb in a way that would resonate with Venice in the late 1500's. So, I'm thinking about:

Embroidered drawers - I'll probably leave the entire crotch seam open. For(ahem) convenience. And embroider some truly raunchy period poetry along the opening. I'm thinking one of Arentino's banned works.

Erotic jewelry - years ago I bought a phallus-shaped natural pearl on e-bay with the intention of making it into Courtesan jewelry. I hope to make a classic 'winged phallus' pendant to wear...probably on a gold chain....hmm...maybe even one with a collar and leash?

Figs - as a symbol of the female, figs would be highly appropriate for use as a topic of embroidery on my camicia. And they would be rather easier to wear on my more modest days than the, also tempting to continue, winged phallus theme!

I'm still working on ideas for how to really play up the Courtesan aspect in this outfit. It's especially interesting for me because I find most period 'erotica' to be both misogynistic and sex-negative, at least the written stuff, and yet it can also be so delightfully forthright! I expect I could have a lot of fun putting forward my modern sex-positive, feminist spin with period-sourced words and images.

IRCC 2 Planning. OK, I Admit It. I'm Weak.

Well, many of my 2nd IRCC gown choices have just been decided (by implication, at least) by my purchase of some fabric. Not quite as much as I'd like--there were only 4.75 yards available and I prefer to have 10 yards on hand when I start on a gown--but such stunning fabric that I just couldn't resist any longer!

I am going to make the best outfit I can based on this cloth:





In a way having such a scarcity of cloth feels authentic to me. I'm going to have to wait until it gets here to figure out how to make the best use of the fabric--I certainly don't have any to waste! And this may just be the outfit which makes me let go of my modern insistence on matching the pattern...I guess we'll see!

I have to admit that even the simplest of dresses would be amazing in this fabric.

(And it's mine! All MINE! Bwwahahahahaha!)

Things I'm wondering about

I realized that my response to comments in response to my last entry was oh-so-full of...let's call them typographical errors. So I decided to see if I could edit my comment. Being the enterprising I-will-learn-to-use-blogger,-I-will! kind of girl I am, I decided to go poke around in the features of the comments tab and see what I could do.

Presto! No more comment.

What, I wonder, is the purpose of having both a delete option and a modify comment option if the modify comment option simply deletes it also?

I'm thinking it's all about entrapment.

IRCC II - O.K. I'm in!

I've been pondering whether or not I was going to join in the IRCC this year.

I've realized that I don't really enjoy the competition aspect of such events and that what I'd really like to join in on is a group of people working on longer-term personal challenges to make one incredibly hand-work-intensive article. Like maybe a 4 month challenge to produce our dream camicias, or something...

Still, I find that the IRCC is a great catalyst for me to try new things, meet new people, and get some sewing done. I really like it all up until the judging!

So, pondering aside, I'm in. Now I just have to decide what I'm going to work on. I already have the fabric for several gowns in my stash but I'm torn between making up one (or possibly more) of those long delayed Venetian-style dress projects or taking on a portrait gown. I've never tried to make the best copy I could of a specific dress and it sounds...kinda fun!

Of course, the fact that the dresses I most want to copy are all crazy elaborate (for one reason or another) is rather a drawback

Hmm......

Right now I'm leaning towards concentrating on trying out new techniques. I'm happy with the support offered by a bodice with a hemp corded supportive lining but I've been wondering what the results would be of combining that technique with the support and smoothness offered by the technique of padding the bodice with layers of wool felt. Would it be more supportive? Perhaps it would eliminate the tendency of my outer fabric to develop small wrinkles?

I'm also interested in trying out the documented techniques of a period style padded, clipped and tucked hem, and maybe even padded pleats at the waist. I took on the challenge of sewing an outfit entirely by hand years ago but I'm not particularly wedded to it at this point....hmm...what to do....?

New Skirt Stage One

So, I loved the bugs but I never did like the leafy stripes so stage one was to cut off the borders, remove the stripes in the body of the fabric and reassemble the resulting bug filled strips into a length of cloth. I've now got a chunk of fabric which is about 30" wide by 4 yards long which I intend to cut into four pieces of equal length. (Matching the pattern of course. How could I not with a design as linear as this?)

I haven't figured out the pattern repeat yet, but I hope to have a small band of bugs left to use as applique for a coordinating top. No plans yet for the two leafy stripes I took from the body of the fabric....maybe I could make a purse or cover some shoes...but I plan to use the wider border for the hem facing of the skirt.














I love the new fabric! To me it is just as loud, but somehow darkly mysterious and definitely not as clownish. My Clarence said it is weird like me. How good is that!?!

It's going to look great on a summer night.

And the skirt is finally finished! (Well, OK. I still need to add hooks and eyes...but almost finished!)

My next step was to decide what type of pleats I wanted to use (I decided on unpressed box pleats) and then set in the zipper.

Since I wanted the zipper to be placed on the center of a pleat I opened my seamline to the depth of the zipper and pined it in place on the basting stitches from my first attempt at fitting the tube of fabric to my form. I then clipped the seam allowance as necessary and pinned the other side of the box pleat in place to fully expose the zipper on the inner side of the skirt.

Phase One

Phase Two















I also stiched on a small piece of fabric to reinforce the skirt at the bottom of the zipper.

All Stitched















Once I could use the zipper I tried the skirt on again and adjusted the angles of my pleats/darts as necessary. Remember that I said that my waist-to-floor length varies widely? You can see that take effect in the stitching lines below.

The stitching to the left is a side-back seam. Note that my waist is smaller and higher at that point than it is at the seam on the right. The waist continues to descend as it progresses around to the front of the skirt. (2 1/2" in total.) This adjustment (and my subsequent work with scissors to even out the built-in waistband to an even 3") is my usual skirt length adjustment needed to fit my figure.


















I removed the original basting and tried on the skirt again, it fit well so I stiched all the dart/pleats in place, ironed them open into box pleats and 'stitched-in-the-ditch' to keep the pleats in place.














I used the same pink and white houndstooth ribbon to reinforce/face the waistband and voila!














I feel so Spring-y!



Just because I like you, here is the fabric for my next skirt project. Loud, isn't it? :)