Partlet Picture
Here it is. I ended up putting a curve in the shoulder seams, and it fits me pretty well. Of course, it's not supposed to fit me, but hopefully it'll be close enough. I pinned it on the kirtle and it looks like it'll be just barely long enough in front. It may lie differently in real life, and I may have to pin it when it's worn. I'll have to see. The closure in front is three hooks.
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New Design
I've actually done a little bit of sewing lately trying to rebuild the Flemish gown bodice, but it's nothing very exciting to write about. However, over the last couple of days I've completely redesigned this site to make it easier to update and navigate. Hopefully I'll get time this week to finish the gown and make some accessories. After that, pictures!
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Finished (again)
I got the skirt reattached last night, and hopefully this time everything will fit. My model won't be home until tonight or tomorrow, so no pictures quite yet. I may try to whip up a partlet tonight. Judging by the still cold weather I think the black partlet will be up first. Fortunately, it's also the simpler of the two to make.
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Skirt Issues Again
Yet another skirt issue. The two layers went together fine, and I was able to wrestle the pleats into place without too much trouble. However, I put all the pleats from the side seams back, with the entire front of the skirt laying flat. This worked fine on the skirt of the red Tudor dress, but the front of that skirt was conical, not rectangular. I tried the dress on (over street clothes, but close enough), and the front of the skirt just looks awful. My options as I see them are these: Rip off the front of the skirt and rebuild it as a conical thing. Add gores at the side seams. Move some of the pleats from the back to the front. I'm leaning toward option 3 right now, since it doesn't require fiddling with any curved hems. Hopefully I'll be able to get to it tonight. on a side note, I was able to tuck the lacing rings in between the outer layer and lining of the bodice and they look quite spiffy. The tape I have on hand turns out to be a little too wide for my tastes, so I'll have to find something else to use. Twill tape is fairly cheap, so i'm not too concerned about it. I'll post pictures when I can get the whole thing put on my lovely model.
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More Aggravation
No pictures yet because I suck. My tip for the day: do not neglect intermediate fittings. I finally got a chance to put the whole outfit on, and the gown bodice is way way too small. I should have known better, since I based it on the kirtle bodice and left just about zero room to account for the kirtle underneath, with its boning and whatnot. So anyway I need to add about 4-5 inches at the waist and also shorten the shoulder straps by about an inch. All of which wouldn't be so bad if the thing weren't completely finished already. So here's the plan. I'm going to rip out the convenient little panels in the back and take off the back part of the skirt. I'll make new back panels and attach them to the rest of the bodice the way God intended, by working the layers as one, sewing them to the bodice, and binding the seams inside with tape. It won't look as pretty on the inside, but nobody should be looking there anyway. Then I'll re-pleat the back of the skirt and call it done. From the atrocious fitting I was able to do, the skirt looks much better with the pleats distributed more evenly. It looks like it'll probably end up pleated the same all the way around. I'm also convinced that the skirt will never look good flipped up in front, so it just won't ever happen. It's the heavy winter gown anyway, so it shouldn't have to. When I make the next one I'll make the skirt conical in front, and also make it out of a lighter fabric for use as a summer gown. Once I get the bodice figured out for this gown I should be able to use it as is to make other gowns, so I won't have to go through this mess again.
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Test Results
The burgundy material turned out to be a poly-cotton blend, if I interpret the results of the burn test correctly. Since it's for a skirt lining, I'm not too concerned. Incidentally, the white velveteen looks to be all cotton, but that'll be for another project. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to decide how I want to do the skirt. I was going to make it a simple rectangular skirt, pleated into the rear of the dress, but I may make it conical in front and rectangular in back, like this dress. I'll have to see which looks better with the front of the skirt flipped up. I also may just attach the lining all the way at the bottom of the skirt, to avoid a weird looking hem. Hopefully nothing will stretch in an undesirable way.
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Smock And Gown
I was going to make separate pages for the smock and gown, but it turns out that I won't have that much to say about them. I recycled an old cotton chemise that has maybe been worn once in my memory for the smock. It's a simple t-tunic style affair with a square neck, gusseted sleeves, and gores on the sides. I was able to use the sleeves from the old chemise, so I didn't have to refinish the cuffs -- a small victory, but I take what I can get. As I started on the gown, I realized that it's not even remotely as complex as the kirtle. In fact, I'll probably make several. I chose a light yellow cotton to line the bodice and a heavier medium-dark green to line the skirt. I'll get pictures up hopefully sometime this week. The gown bodice was altered from the kirtle bodice, with slightly wider straps, a deleted front section, a raised and rounded back neckline, and new seams. I merged the front and back at the old side-back seam, then put in the ubiquitous seams on either side of the center back. As others have done, I did some shaping at the top of this seam to help it lie correctly across the upper shoulders, and it seems to have worked well. I finished the contructioin of the bodice (save the lacing rings) last night, and plan to put the skirt on sometime this week. The skirt is going to be closed in front with a v-shaped opening to accomodate the open front of the bodice. The waist will be knife pleated, with progressively more pleats toward the rear. The lining will be attached so that it ends an inch or two before the hem, to allow for any possible sagging as the dress hangs.
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Mystery Material
I got the green cotton out of the dryer and went to iron it last night. I was pleased to see that it wasn't very wrinkled. As I began ironing, I smoothed the material out with one hand and it stretched! It turns out that it was the rest of the stretch cotton I had used for my very first pair of Italian hose. On the one hand, I have something to use for a cheap and easy pair of hose for my Flemish outfit, but on the downside I was now out of scraps I could use for the skirt lining. So at lunch today I zipped downtown to the discount fabric store. As usual, I looked through the hundreds of bolts of cloth and only found two that were something I could use at a price I was willing to pay. I found 5 yards of a lovely burgundy cotton to use for the skirt lining for $1 a yard (though she wrote it up as 4 yards -- who am I to argue?). My unexpected find was a roll of pale grey cotton velveteen upholstery. There were only 4 yards on the roll, but at 54" wide I should be able to squeeze out a decent dress. I'm not sure the color will do much for my wife, but now that I think about it this would be a perfect opportunity to play with dye. At $2 a yard, I can afford to experiment a little.
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Skirt Issues
Once I got the skirt pleated and attached, I realized that the cartridge pleats didn't look quite right, as you can see in these pictures. The second row of stitches should either not have been there or should have been looser to let the skirt flare more. Either way, it's got to go. Aside from that everything seems to be fitting well. Next on the list will be either the smock or the gown, depending on my mood. I need to choose a victim from the pile of unused chemises to cut up for the smock, but otherise that should be a fairly straightforward project. For the gown I still need to make a decision on lining. I'll look through the fabric piles, but I don't know if I have enough of anything I like to line the whole thing. A trip to the fabric store may be in order. I'm also going to break the next piece out onto its own page, as this one is getting pretty long. As for the kirtle, I only have to snip the cartridge pleats and sew the hem, both of which I should be able to accomplish tonight.
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Lacing Holes And Skirt
I finally finished the lacing holes and started on the skirt. I've never actually done a cartridge pleated skirt before, and so far I'm really enjoying it. I can't wait to see how it looks. I forgot that I took a couple pictures of some earlier bodice fittings. You can see them here and here. The final bodice fitting went very well. There was about an inch of space in the lacing on each side, which is about what I was going for. The fit was described as "comfy". The waistline ended up higher in front than I really wanted, but I'm not too worried about it.
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