Julie's Green Venetian

Yes, this dress was just for practice, but I thought it deserved a little space of its own.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

As Promised,

Months later.
I really did finish these right after my last post. They just never made it to the blog.

All pearled up and nowhere to go:

greensleeves

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Wasted Time!

I started a new job 2 weeks ago. I have a 1-1.5 hr commute most days, and my friend has been driving (carpooling) cuz her car has AC and mine doesn't. So, why, I ask, did I not think to bring my sewing in the car until 2 weeks into it?!!!

I remedied that oversight today. I spent the a.m. commute industriously attaching the pearls to my sleeves. The "greensleeves" have sat for MONTHS neglected. I figured they deserved their due--and I'd like them to be done just in case I have to wear the dress for the upcoming renfest.

I now have one sleeve completely finished, and have started on the next. I'll have a pic up when they're both dpme. I am hoping that will be by the end of this week.

Afterall, 3 hrs of pearling/day should finish it up pretty quickly, yes?

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

The Green Dress. A summary.

This dress was my rough draft for the orange courtesan, since its fabric was precious and limited.
I started out making a side back laced bodice, and later altered it to be front ladder lacing in the more prominent venetian style.

From the bottom up:
The camica is cotton decorators gauze chosen for its lightweightness, sheerness and breathability. Lighter than hanky weight linen, most definitely. Of course, now I yearn for a linen camica. hehe. Its made from the pattern on the Realm of Venus, with a few modifications. the wrists and neckline are edges in gold thread, and the bands are hand-done redwork in rust embroidery thread. Here you can see my camica and its inspiration:




The corded petticoat is pink cotton shirting with a spiral of grossgrain ribbon. The ribbon channel encases a double row of cotton clothesline rope. This petticoat holds the skirts of the overdress out a bit, and more importantly keeps the skirts from twisting round my legs on warm days.



The corset is a double layer of white denim with a mix of poly, spring, and spiral boning sewn into the channels. Its made from the Custom Corset Generator on the elizabethan costuming page. The outer decorative layer is cut from some curtains Niter insisted I buy from goodwill. Thank you niter.



The dress is a green rayon thing, with one plain side and one checkered side. The checkered side is, of course, hidden on the underside. This was to be a purely for practice dress, afterall. Except now I like it for wearing. The plan is to not expose the under side of my unlined skirts (lining made it too heavy/hot, so I cut it out). The bodice is trimmed with some red-curtainy-material-guards. The ladder lacing was a huge cheat for me, since I just sewed some eyelet tape onto the inner edge of the bodice.

The sleeves are trimmed with black grossgrain ribbon in a criss-cross pattern. I liberally beaded each cross with a pearl, simply cuz it pleased me (i'm still in teh process of finishing this, actually). The sleeves tie onto lacing rings sewn to the underside of the shoulder straps.










Accesories:


The girdle is made from platic white pearls, platic amber beads, glass silver pearls and red czech glass beads. Its attached at key points around the bodice so that it conforms to front and back points.

The bag is the same as for the orange courtesan, a fanciful striped bag of wool and pretty swatches i had on hand.

The fan is also the same as for the orange courtesan, a hand embroidered fabric swatch over timtex interfacing and cardboard trimmed in velvet ribbon and lace, and attached to a dowel rod that i painted gold.

My mug is a wooden diddy that I got at MD ren fest last year. I simply adore it!

Things to learn/fix/finish:
1) Super angular back seams and a very non-subtle back points create unseemly buttpuckers.
2) Yes, like the orange courtesan, a partlet would be a nice addition.
3) I need to finish pearling the sleeves at the ribbon intersections.
4) It probably wouldn't hurt to shorten the hem a bit, as its a little too long. But then, it works well with my leather clogs, which are the closest things to chopines that I have.
5) Next time I do a practice dress, pick a completely solid fabric, its not worht the few bucks saved to have the underside of the fabric being checkered! ;-)
6) If I do ladder lacing again, I'll not cheat with the eyelet tape for the lacing. it doesn't hold the bodice completely flush to the body.
7) The armscythes (sp?) are a bit too tight on the front of my armpit. I might have to fix this. Later.
8) I regret not doing a center front seam with the skirt panels. Instead I had to split and placket in the middle of the front panel to make enough room for me to get in and out of the bodice, and this refuses to close completely.

Definitely a learning experience. But overall, I like the dress, and I learned a lot from it. Especially considering my super un-authentic previous attempts at ren costuming.

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Bead-dazzling. And (mostly) FINISHED!

I went to the bead store in the city yesterday. Yes, the one that our trio didn't make it to last time round. And just to redeem myself, my concerns were correct--all parallel parking. None too fun on a hill and in a stick shift with no power steering. Still, I braved it and ventured forth. It was an entertaining store, and they had quite the selection, but it was pricey and my heart wasn't in to it at that particular time. I left with 2 strands of pewter colored glass pearls and some matte czech glass beads in the darkest red I could find. Then I went to the famed "trim" store and got some cheap plastic pearls in ivory along with the gold cording that's currently functioning as the drawstring on my purse.

Stringing my pearls yielded this girdle. I didnt' put much design thought into it actually, and I didn't have the peach pearls I was so keen on (they were too $$ in the store, but now I kinda wish i'd just splurged). Still, I think its nice enough, and I will try to make a fancier one for my orange dress. Its strung on copper beading wire, and I'm not really sure what happend with that front claspy bit, but its functional. Kinda religious looking, too, I guess. I attached the girdle to the dress at some key locations so that it would conform to the points (beth's idea). The pic has them pinned down, rather than sewn. I got impatient.


girdle Posted by Hello

Oh, and since I was fiddling with the waist of my dress, I attached the utility loops to carry my accessories. Here's a pic of them in action with my purse and cup. I'll likely add a flag fan to that group, and I'll still have one extra loop in case I think of anything else. Oh, and in this pic you can see the way the hem turned out, and the beginning of how the sleeves look with pearls on the intersection.

I'm calling this done. Sure, there are pearls left for sleeves, but that is a carride chore for when hubby drives, which is fairly often. I have NOT one single fiddly bit left. This dress is FINITO!!
Tomorrow I start working up the orange. Huzzah!

Friday, May 20, 2005

Liberal Interpretations

Since I was trying to pull and all-nighter last night, I thought I'd keep myself awake by sewing. I decided to tackle the aforementioned fiddly bits and also start on the bag/purse for me to carry my goodies around the fest like a lady.

Now, I don't really know, well, anything, about venetian purses. I vaguely remember the topic coming up at some odd time or another, and there is evidence of purses, but I have no idea regarding styles thereof. This is where I get to be liberal and artistic. In period, seamstresses would no doubt have tiny little remnants of the lush venetian fabrics, yes? Well, I had some scraps and large swatches of various fabrics I am fond of, and rather than just keeping them to look at, I decided to incorporate them into a sort of strip-quilted bag. The bag is simple: strips sewn together to make a big rectangle, circle with interface stiffening for the bottom of the bag, light pink tafetta lining (light so i can see whats in there when i take a peek). So basically a glorified pouch with drawstring action. The bonus is that I can use it with both dresses.

bag Posted by Hello
The only fiddly bit I've got left on the green dress is to add some utility loops in the folds of the skirt around the waist so I can carry goodies (like bag, cup, fan) sans hands. Oh, and I might add pearls to the sleeves, but that is most definitely NOT a requirement.

I decided to just do one 2 inch strip of red guard a bit up from the bottom hem of the dress instead of my previously planned wide bottom guard.. Why? Becuase when I hemmed it I was too lazy to cut out excess fabric (and also afraid of cutting in case i screwed up the hem. I ended up with a wide pillowcase hem, which i conveniently covered with the guard. Brilliant. It also adds a nice weight to the skirt bottom.


pillowhem incognito

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Fiddly Bits

Ah, how I hate the "fiddly bits." I've got a running list of little, but not-as-inconsequential-as-I'd-like things to do before the green is officially done. Foremost on that list is the hem and bottom guard. Then I've got some loose guard on the bodice to sew down, need to serge the inside of the skirt where I sliced off the lining, so it doesn't fray. Need to cut a bunch of loose threads--particularly the leftover threads of cartridge pleating. Need to sew a couple more hook n eyes on the skirt front slit to keep it from opening. Need to make some sort of pouchy/purse. Need to make pearly girdle to accessorize, and a flag fan. I did, at least, finally finish that dreaded roped petticoat. Man, am I tired of pink. After all my little list is done, I can go onto greener, or oranger, rather, pastures....

Last night, after complaining to Niter that I hadn't sewn all day and being bummed about it, I decided to get off my tushy and fix that problem. So at 12am I started sewing. I finished my sleeves. They are now hemmed on the bottom and trimmed with the thin black grossgrain ribbon around the wrist, and hopefully the right length that the ruffle from my camica sleeve sticks out just so. I might fiddle with putting pearls on the intersections of the ribbon. but i counted, and I don't currently have enough pearls. So that'll wait til i've got a long car trip and someone else is driving. ;-)

Oh, and a shout out to Em! My wonderous sister came over yesterday morning, helped me lace into the whole getup, and pinned up my sleeves and skirt--a very long process. So, that is ready to hem. And on my to-do list for this evening.

No pics, boring post. Poor readers. Sorry.

Monday, May 16, 2005

Sleeve Rings

And, for a non-stressful story: the only sewing I did this weekend, despite best intentions. Rings on my straps for to tie on my sleeves. Huzzah.


sleeve rings

I actually was motivated enough to mark all over my petticoat for additionaly cording, but i was a dolt and used the "disappearing" side of my fabric pen. So by the next morning when my sewing time came round, my work had abandoned me. Doh!