Right now, I’m avoiding going back to working on the black francaise. I got the back seams done earlier, and I could totally see why sewing them by hand would have made sense. But I did it on the machine because it was a smidge faster (well, a lot faster by me) and a lot
Closeup of the finished ruff, worn at SCA 12th Night 2009 — complete photos from the event (and full outfit images) on Flickr.
Kendra RULES!!! She draped a 18th-century francaise on me. It’s black dupioni silk, thus hard to photograph, but trust me, it’s great. The fit is perfect, and she pinned it all together so I just have to sew it down. Last photo has some of the contrast fabric and trim thrown about to give a
Beading — Hard to tell but the red dots are faux garnet beads between each curl. About a quarter done. Man, iPhone camera blows for macro pix! Looks better in person, promise. But I’m sick of sewing tonight. Gonna finish off this bottle of wine and call it a night 🙂 *sigh* Wish I had
Ruff has been painstakingly heated ‘n pleated. Used a vintage curling iron heated in a dry saucepan (which I might have ruined in the process; should check that) — could get about 8 pleats set until the iron cooled off. Then I could pin down 8 more while the iron heated up again. And I
Ingredients: 4 yards cotton or linen, tightly cartridge-pleated 4 yards lace trim*** (optional, but recommended) cotton or linen neckband to fit sturdy thread 2 cups liquid starch 2 cups water metal safety pins Assemble first four ingredients into ruff. Mix liquids in bowl, and soak ruff in liquid thoroughly. Wring out liquid and let drip-dry
Yes, I’m actually baking my ruff. See page 126 of Patterns of Fashion 4. Hope this works!
We leave for Carnivale in one month and 26 days!??!!11!!!!11!!!??!!!!1! *** This freakout brought to you because I finally looked at the little counter app thingy on my iPhone. And, um, gulp, I don’t have a SINGLE STITCH of my costume done. PANIC!!!!11!!!1!!!!
I just found these tatted lace masks on Etsy (via Instructables, where I was doing research for work, honest). That could be perfect for Carnivale! See, at Antonia Sautter’s atelier, I tried on a lace mask that fit pretty nicely over my glasses. It was intended to. And I’d thot about trying to make such
Finished hand-sewing gold lace on edge of hemmed fabric strip for 1580s/1590s head-on-a-plate ruff. Now, I guess I start cartridge-pleating the ruff and/or make the neckband — that is to say, assemble the ruff? Later that day… Fingertips iz sore. Finished cartridge-pleating a smidge less than 4 yards into a 16″ neckband. Didn’t attach it
Started working on my ruff for 12th Night. A quarter of the way through applying the lace by hand (ew, but necessary).
Next on the docket, that head-on-a-plate ruff for my 1580s gown. Because I hath seen Patterns of Fashion 4 and it doth rock. Yea verily forsooth!
I finally got to wear this Jacobean jacket at Mists Bardic and received compliments & queries about how I made it and what it was all about (update: I’ve worn it many times since, and people always ask if I embroidered the whole thing — heck no!, I tell them :-). I wore it with
Finished something! Well, except for closures (doesn’t everyone need a little closure?). But there’s enough trim on the black Jacobean jacket, enough to call it baked. ‘Cept do I want bows or not? I could add pink ribbon bows up the front, prob. four of them. Might still need to close with pins because there’s
I just sewed a bunch of trim on the Jacobean jacket and I’m still kinda drunk. And I think the jacket could use more trim. That’s what I love about Elizabethan and Victorian bustle eras — shit-tons of trim. Add more, then add a little bit more on top of that. Just in case.