Analysis of the new garments
Aug. 22nd, 2010 10:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serindeSo I finished...or enough to wear, anyways...three items for this Pennsic, not counting chemises:
1) A red wool under-kirtle ("restrictive layer", as Tasha phrases it)
2) A checked wool over-gown (which I did wear at Mudthaw, but now the actual closures are on &c)
3) A pair of blue-and-cream cotton "brocade" (by which I mean upholstery fabric) sleeves to wear with the gamurre
Results:
1) I am immensely pleased with the red dress. It fits well, it holds me up, it looks fab. The drape of the skirt is awesome. I did intend it for an underlayer and it will do fine as one, but I successfully wore it alone, too. It does want a touch more work, though:
2) The checked wool dress is far less successful. The main issue there is that, lining notwithstanding, it stretched like nobody's business, so when I put it on it was gapping in all sorts of directions, particularly at the neckline. (Beth opines that some of this probably happened when I was ironing it mightily to get the lining all nice and tidy.) I nearly burst into tears when I put it on for the first time. But, at the base of it is a good dress, so here's what we're going to do:
3) The sleeves worked great. I ended up sewing them on when I wore them, because I hadn't gotten around to putting lacing holes in them (and I am also learning that it is a stone bitch to try and put in un-agleted lacing cords on your own sleeves), but that is a perfectly period solution anyways. And they looked good with both gamurre. I just need to attach/bind/hem all the raw edges. Maybe I should line them but I really want them to be as lightweight as possible.
1) A red wool under-kirtle ("restrictive layer", as Tasha phrases it)
2) A checked wool over-gown (which I did wear at Mudthaw, but now the actual closures are on &c)
3) A pair of blue-and-cream cotton "brocade" (by which I mean upholstery fabric) sleeves to wear with the gamurre
Results:
1) I am immensely pleased with the red dress. It fits well, it holds me up, it looks fab. The drape of the skirt is awesome. I did intend it for an underlayer and it will do fine as one, but I successfully wore it alone, too. It does want a touch more work, though:
- I need to pull off the right sleeve, take a dart out like I did on the left side, and re-attach.
- It isn't hemmed yet.
- I have to do the lowest several eyelets.
- The lining is still pooching out above the neckline a bit. There are a couple of options; I could run another line of stitching around further down, or I could face it with silk or grosgrain ribbon or the like. The latter is probably more correct, though now I have to go get ribbon, grump whine moan.
2) The checked wool dress is far less successful. The main issue there is that, lining notwithstanding, it stretched like nobody's business, so when I put it on it was gapping in all sorts of directions, particularly at the neckline. (Beth opines that some of this probably happened when I was ironing it mightily to get the lining all nice and tidy.) I nearly burst into tears when I put it on for the first time. But, at the base of it is a good dress, so here's what we're going to do:
- Finish hemming it, for one. The pins came out of the last third or so.
- Take it in.
- Face the neckline with something good and sturdy, and try and undo the stretch.
- I may, while I'm at it, redo the sleeves because I'm not really happy about the untidiness there.
3) The sleeves worked great. I ended up sewing them on when I wore them, because I hadn't gotten around to putting lacing holes in them (and I am also learning that it is a stone bitch to try and put in un-agleted lacing cords on your own sleeves), but that is a perfectly period solution anyways. And they looked good with both gamurre. I just need to attach/bind/hem all the raw edges. Maybe I should line them but I really want them to be as lightweight as possible.
