back to the cleves wardrobe

I’m going to finally spend some quality time with my SCAdian friends so I need a day dress that fits in with my new fancy frock. I’ve got my 1560s wardrobe mostly sorted (woollen dress, linen- it might get changed a bit to reflect newer research- sripy silk, velvet dress is in the process of being restored.) But this 1530s style is just so darn cute. Sadly the photographs I have do not do justice to my Anne of Cleves dress so I’ll be getting photos of my entire kit separately and get it online about the time I get my research up. I have two streams of research to get online and they depend on each other so there is a bit of a delay.

But I’m so keen to get this day dress sorted that I just cut the bodice and part of the lining now. And am about to cut a hat. Because pink hat to match pink frock is just too cute to pass over.

I’m hoping to get some linen to line the dress on Friday as I think I did spot some in a not terribly obnoxious colour. But I do need some nice plush velvet for the trim. I may be able to use heat n bond again to place the guarding and then hand stitch the edges down. The artwork doesn’t show a couched braid at the edges but all the extant pieces do. The Moritz von Schen schaube is especially nice for this. So I may see if I can find some narrow braid to sew down at the same time.

I’ll need felt to line my hat too. And I get to pearl it 🙂 I am ridiculously excited by this project again 🙂

and follow up workshops

So, I think the bodice making workshop was too much to understand in one go. I want to do a really good dedicated follow up, I’m just having trouble figuring out a start point. I may need to do a quick and dirty corset workshop (using the gored pattern I used for my Marie Antoinette dress as it is super adaptable for all sizes and proportions.

But I will have to impart the understanding that a corset is a foundation garment. It is going to change your shape so that the outer garment can be fitted over like a glove. But it doesn’t mean restricting breathing or anything, it’s about creating a solid shape. Uplift is part of it sure, but there can be room for adjusting for comfort.

But yeah, the basic double dart bodice needs that solid shape. And if someone is not willing to wear a corset or something to support the shape then it’s not going to really work. Not unless there is a perfect mannequin already in that shape so that the lining and shell and boning can be put in place and only a little fitting needs to be done.

So as well as the Marie Antoinette stays I’ve got ready for boning and tidying, I can create a basic stays pattern from that. Or diagrams anyway.

So there may be some time spent at Canty Faire on writing up a good proposal.