Padme Cut Senate Gown

Aaaaand, the collar.

This is just draped out of duck cloth with a piece of jewelry wire in the back seam. I am thinking of two options, there's this fusible stiff pellon stuff which I'm going to make the mock-up with, and horsehair canvas with wire in the seams. I would have draped the sleeves while I was at it, but I don't have any netting on hand. I'm going to make a full undersleeve (though seamed at the elbow and plain fabric underneath) and make a poofy under-sleeve out of netting to support the velvet oversleeve.

Padme Update

Just a little update on where I'm at! Still at the beading. I over-dyed my drape fabric but it didn't turn out as dark as the sample so I have to do it again. Here's the beading.

And I've started draping the over-dress, its just the skirt and bodice at the moment. I'm not entirely sure about how it looks from the front, but it looks plenty full in the back at least.

The current state of my craziness

Alright, I've been thinking lately (I know, dangerous) that what I'm going to do about the corset is... I'm scratching Steampunk as an official project this year (crappy start to a new blog, but what can you do?) I think I'd be pushing it trying to finish it in time for Dragon*Con with my Padme since I probably have to rebuild a corset. I'm going to build a waist cincher, not as fancy, to get the right torso curves, and sew a softer, probably corded, unboned, and padded top to force that damn curvy shape I want! And I'll do it as a casual build-it-when-you-can project.

I wasted a bunch of time trying to make the steampunk work, but now I'm back to Padme. Hem and zipper and the underdress will be done, I should be draping the overdress by next week. And I've made some progress on the collar beading.

And that's all I'm up to, still in the tedious phase before having picture-worthy results!

Corset Silhouette Question

So, continuing on with my corsetry struggles. I always feel like I'm just one step shy of making my corsets right, and I think a big part of that is it's very hard to take a slight figure like mine and force it into some of these shapes, I don't have a lot to work with. I was having problems with the fit of my victorian corset I made, when I tried to drape a shirt I was getting this 'ridge' going on, and then it was empty up top, I don't think I have the chest shaped quite right. I added some cutlets inside my chemise to see if I could smooth out the shape, and this is what I got. The problem is, I'm not sure at all if I've really achieved a Victorian Silhouette, so I need some outside opinions. What do you guys think? Not the shirt I'm using, but I just threw one on to see how it looked.

Garb 01

This is what I've been working on the past week. Nothing special, really...

I started the body of the dress last year and never finished it. My old SCA garb has had it, it's all over 5 years old, so I decided I needed something new for the Ren Faire. Since it's so hot at faire usually and, hey, it's REN FAIRE, I'm not too worried about period accuracy, more about practicality and comfort. It's still based on historical research, but with modern techniques. I couldn't make any of the period sleeve patterns I found work and still be able to lift my arms, so I added an under-arm gore. It's made of burnt orange linen, all machine sewn except for finishing. I did hand-sew all the button holes and I need to finish the sleeve button holes before it's wearable (and fix that damn 1/8" that got weird at the neck). I am wearing leather 'scottish ghillies', (again, probably NOT period, but it's what I've got), and if I get my kankelon hair in time, I'm going to make braided extensions and do a simple rams horn hairstyle.

The upholstery fabric is something I worked with when I was with the Shakespeare Festival last year to make a doublet, and I went out and bought up the last of it since I loved it so much. I plan to make a sideless surcoat out of it, and use the left-overs to make a purse/pouch I saw in one of my books. I will also add white tippets to the sleeves and maybe I can squeeze a hood out of the left-over linen if it looks like rain. So long as the dress is done, though, I will be ready for Ren Faire shenanigans!