Venetian: almost a dress
As promised, pictures of my almost finished Venetian dress:
I forgot my chemise so you'll have to imagine the white t-shirt is a low-cut, puffy sort of shirt.
I like how the back looks...not as puffy as I thought it would be which is ok. I sort of wish it was appropriate to have a train on this dress. Wouldn't that be sweet? It's a bad idea to walk around at the renaissance festival (or most places) with a train, though.
These are the shoes I might wear this weekend. I got them at Target and while these shoes are more appropriate, I'm just not that dedicated to historical accuracy.
I noticed that the back of the neck was gaping a bit. This is because the angle and placement of the straps in the back is not right. During my pattern making, I added an extra inch to the center back of the bodice to compensate for shrinking when the bones were placed. Turns out, it didn't shrink as much as I expected. This means that the straps are in a different spot than I thought they'd be. And now I have two ways to fix the gaping issue: I can either sew darts at these two points or I can manipulate how the front straps meet the back straps. I think I'd rather try the latter because it'll be less work and there's less chance for disaster. It's not ideal but my shirt will be puffy around the edge of the bodice and might cover up the adjustment.
Either way, I think the dress is mostly a success! I'm working on sleeves so hopefully I'll have them done in time. If not, I'll wear the gold set from two years ago or possibly a red set I have.
Click here for the next installment.
I forgot my chemise so you'll have to imagine the white t-shirt is a low-cut, puffy sort of shirt.
I like how the back looks...not as puffy as I thought it would be which is ok. I sort of wish it was appropriate to have a train on this dress. Wouldn't that be sweet? It's a bad idea to walk around at the renaissance festival (or most places) with a train, though.
These are the shoes I might wear this weekend. I got them at Target and while these shoes are more appropriate, I'm just not that dedicated to historical accuracy.
I noticed that the back of the neck was gaping a bit. This is because the angle and placement of the straps in the back is not right. During my pattern making, I added an extra inch to the center back of the bodice to compensate for shrinking when the bones were placed. Turns out, it didn't shrink as much as I expected. This means that the straps are in a different spot than I thought they'd be. And now I have two ways to fix the gaping issue: I can either sew darts at these two points or I can manipulate how the front straps meet the back straps. I think I'd rather try the latter because it'll be less work and there's less chance for disaster. It's not ideal but my shirt will be puffy around the edge of the bodice and might cover up the adjustment.
Either way, I think the dress is mostly a success! I'm working on sleeves so hopefully I'll have them done in time. If not, I'll wear the gold set from two years ago or possibly a red set I have.
Click here for the next installment.