next project-Brial Verdagado- commentary/critique welcome
I will be making this
source http://jessamynscloset.com/images/postspainimages/Reyesmujeres/rmII.jpg
hopefully partly in time for the Pa, at least the under layer (green wool brial verdagado or hooped dress) The rest of it I am aiming to finish in time to enter in the "look like you stepped out of a painting" challenge at St Luke's http://st-lukes.gallowglass.org/ I want to do a really good job on this, so please feel free to comment/critique and give all kinds of random advice :) I will be taking this one more slowly than normal, as I want to do it all with hand sewing. With no classes, I think that 8 weeks will give me plenty of time for the green dress by Pa. (if you see me machining this, feel free to beat me!)
I am just now finishing pre-washing the green wool for the underdress, I am thinking for the hoop covers and laces of dyeing some heavy silk I have with madder. I hate pink, but if it is naturally dyed I think the spiff of that will outway my dislike of pink enough for me to still love the outfit. I may start soaking the madder for that tomorrow. (silverstah, helwynn anyone else, want to come over Sunday to see how it goes & maybe add some of your own stuff to the pot? Or I can do it at one of your places if it helps :)
For the chemise I am thinking of using henna to make the pattern. I know that weaving the pattern in or embroidering it would probably be more accurate, but I am not up to weaving that elaborate of a pattern (nor do I have the equipment), and I do not like embroidery enough to spend that much time on it (someone would die, likely not me). Henna would have been available in Spain in this time period, so while it is almost certainly not an ACCURATE method, it is a POSSIBLE method (thin justification, but I'm using it to save lives). Also, henna will produce a very similar color to the chemise decoration. It will still take me hours (if not days) to draw out the decoration with henna.
So, here is my work list:
Green wool brial verdagado with madder dyed silk hoop covers. Hoops will likely be of a thick basketry reed as the willow branches that I can get away with stealing (aka reaching) are too thin. Unfortunately I think my appt complex would notice if I went out with a ladder & saw and started molesting their trees :( I will determine the size of each hoop and shape the reed while wet and let it dry to that size. Sleeves will be edged with golden silk and beaded with pearls. I need to look at other images and figure out what I want the bodice of this layer to look like, from what I remember I have at least 6 images of this style, so I have some options.
Points- of the madder dyed silk from the verdagado casing with gold aiglets. Aiglets will probably be made from gold repousse metal available (last I checked) from AC Moore. I will probably pierce holes to sew the aiglets to the points as I do not know how to make or set such tiny rivets.
White chemise with henna dyed pattern- I'm not sure what fabric to use, I'm actually leaning towards cotton given the drape in the picture. The drape is not crisp enough for a linen or think silk, it could be a heavy silk, but that would be too warm for me to wear under wool. As cotton was readily available in Spain during this time, I think it is a reasonable choice in this case, and a medium weight (think sheets) cotton drapes exactly like the picture.
White cofia y tranzudo (coif & braid casing) it looks like this is decorated similarly to the chemise (look at the center & sides of head), so it will probably be of the same fabric. I am looking for a higher-rez image of this to be sure.
Lacing ribbon for the tranzudo- I think in the image the black decoration is words. If so, I want to pick a phrase and tablet weave the ribbon. It will depend on how my time works out whether I spin the silk for the ribbon myself or not. Probably not as that would be a LOT of spinning. I may spin enough for a sample length and then use the sample for garters later.
Padded Roll- gold fabric with pearl and emerald/jet beading stuffed with wool or possibly over a basketry frame. I need to look into the documentability of these.
Belt- gold fabric with pearl and emerald/jet beading, probably lined with leather, I have to look into how this was likely fastened.
Choppines- cork base covered with gold silk beaded with pearls and emerald/jet beads. Vamp interlined with leather. As the spanish style of choppines is a simple oval, it will be easy to bead the flat rectangle of fabric that will form the cover. The Italian style of choppine like I made for Oranges with it's hourglass shape means that the cover is made of shaped pieces & stretched, which would make it harder to decorate. It's possible that this may be why the examples of Italian choppines I have seen are usually of patterned fabric with trim over the seams, while the Spanish ones are often beaded & decorated fabric.
Overdress- synthetic brocade (that seen in spyderbug's burgundian http://www.flickr.com/photos/22562312@N05/2199308825/in/set-72157603736721550/) Or I can bite the bullet and pay the $25/yd for this linen/cotton http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/catalog_itemdetail.aspx?ItmID=S1286 edged with gold silk, hem beaded with pearl and emerald/jet beads, looks like it is lined in white. I will probably leave off the lining as I think the reverse of the brocade is really pretty, so I will make sure the inside seams are neat and enclose all the edges with the gold silk. Verdict on the fabric choices? Is it worth the $$$ to go all out? I can afford it. I think I could do the dress with 4-6 yards, $150- is not ridiculous, I've just never spent more than $10 per yard before, so I'm a bit scared! Plus, I feel like I should use up my stash. I'm really torn here!
Plate- I own a plain brass plate.
Head- I plan on enlisting advice from foodies to make an edible head (all I know is I want the blood to be a berrry paste!) The mouse Windmaster's dance team was given was of an almond paste that was flesh colored, so that is an option, but I would love other ideas.
So, that is the construction plan for now. I need to dig out my books and double check my assumptions, find the proper Spanish terms for everything, and put together the first bit of documentation justifying my choices of fabrics and cutting patterns. I'll also look into if I can find documentation of stitches used on Spanish garments and words in the tranzudo ribbon.
So, comments people?
Ooh! I just realized that cheesecake is a fairly firm medium that would be able to set up in a rubber mold ( I don't have any idea how to make a metal face mold, so a rubber one, which I can make will have to do) plus cheesecake goes really well with berries, and I can use chocolate for the hair. So, who knows a recipe for a very firm cheesecake that needs no baking?
source http://jessamynscloset.com/images/postspainimages/Reyesmujeres/rmII.jpg
hopefully partly in time for the Pa, at least the under layer (green wool brial verdagado or hooped dress) The rest of it I am aiming to finish in time to enter in the "look like you stepped out of a painting" challenge at St Luke's http://st-lukes.gallowglass.org/ I want to do a really good job on this, so please feel free to comment/critique and give all kinds of random advice :) I will be taking this one more slowly than normal, as I want to do it all with hand sewing. With no classes, I think that 8 weeks will give me plenty of time for the green dress by Pa. (if you see me machining this, feel free to beat me!)
I am just now finishing pre-washing the green wool for the underdress, I am thinking for the hoop covers and laces of dyeing some heavy silk I have with madder. I hate pink, but if it is naturally dyed I think the spiff of that will outway my dislike of pink enough for me to still love the outfit. I may start soaking the madder for that tomorrow. (silverstah, helwynn anyone else, want to come over Sunday to see how it goes & maybe add some of your own stuff to the pot? Or I can do it at one of your places if it helps :)
For the chemise I am thinking of using henna to make the pattern. I know that weaving the pattern in or embroidering it would probably be more accurate, but I am not up to weaving that elaborate of a pattern (nor do I have the equipment), and I do not like embroidery enough to spend that much time on it (someone would die, likely not me). Henna would have been available in Spain in this time period, so while it is almost certainly not an ACCURATE method, it is a POSSIBLE method (thin justification, but I'm using it to save lives). Also, henna will produce a very similar color to the chemise decoration. It will still take me hours (if not days) to draw out the decoration with henna.
So, here is my work list:
Green wool brial verdagado with madder dyed silk hoop covers. Hoops will likely be of a thick basketry reed as the willow branches that I can get away with stealing (aka reaching) are too thin. Unfortunately I think my appt complex would notice if I went out with a ladder & saw and started molesting their trees :( I will determine the size of each hoop and shape the reed while wet and let it dry to that size. Sleeves will be edged with golden silk and beaded with pearls. I need to look at other images and figure out what I want the bodice of this layer to look like, from what I remember I have at least 6 images of this style, so I have some options.
Points- of the madder dyed silk from the verdagado casing with gold aiglets. Aiglets will probably be made from gold repousse metal available (last I checked) from AC Moore. I will probably pierce holes to sew the aiglets to the points as I do not know how to make or set such tiny rivets.
White chemise with henna dyed pattern- I'm not sure what fabric to use, I'm actually leaning towards cotton given the drape in the picture. The drape is not crisp enough for a linen or think silk, it could be a heavy silk, but that would be too warm for me to wear under wool. As cotton was readily available in Spain during this time, I think it is a reasonable choice in this case, and a medium weight (think sheets) cotton drapes exactly like the picture.
White cofia y tranzudo (coif & braid casing) it looks like this is decorated similarly to the chemise (look at the center & sides of head), so it will probably be of the same fabric. I am looking for a higher-rez image of this to be sure.
Lacing ribbon for the tranzudo- I think in the image the black decoration is words. If so, I want to pick a phrase and tablet weave the ribbon. It will depend on how my time works out whether I spin the silk for the ribbon myself or not. Probably not as that would be a LOT of spinning. I may spin enough for a sample length and then use the sample for garters later.
Padded Roll- gold fabric with pearl and emerald/jet beading stuffed with wool or possibly over a basketry frame. I need to look into the documentability of these.
Belt- gold fabric with pearl and emerald/jet beading, probably lined with leather, I have to look into how this was likely fastened.
Choppines- cork base covered with gold silk beaded with pearls and emerald/jet beads. Vamp interlined with leather. As the spanish style of choppines is a simple oval, it will be easy to bead the flat rectangle of fabric that will form the cover. The Italian style of choppine like I made for Oranges with it's hourglass shape means that the cover is made of shaped pieces & stretched, which would make it harder to decorate. It's possible that this may be why the examples of Italian choppines I have seen are usually of patterned fabric with trim over the seams, while the Spanish ones are often beaded & decorated fabric.
Overdress- synthetic brocade (that seen in spyderbug's burgundian http://www.flickr.com/photos/22562312@N05/2199308825/in/set-72157603736721550/) Or I can bite the bullet and pay the $25/yd for this linen/cotton http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/catalog_itemdetail.aspx?ItmID=S1286 edged with gold silk, hem beaded with pearl and emerald/jet beads, looks like it is lined in white. I will probably leave off the lining as I think the reverse of the brocade is really pretty, so I will make sure the inside seams are neat and enclose all the edges with the gold silk. Verdict on the fabric choices? Is it worth the $$$ to go all out? I can afford it. I think I could do the dress with 4-6 yards, $150- is not ridiculous, I've just never spent more than $10 per yard before, so I'm a bit scared! Plus, I feel like I should use up my stash. I'm really torn here!
Plate- I own a plain brass plate.
Head- I plan on enlisting advice from foodies to make an edible head (all I know is I want the blood to be a berrry paste!) The mouse Windmaster's dance team was given was of an almond paste that was flesh colored, so that is an option, but I would love other ideas.
So, that is the construction plan for now. I need to dig out my books and double check my assumptions, find the proper Spanish terms for everything, and put together the first bit of documentation justifying my choices of fabrics and cutting patterns. I'll also look into if I can find documentation of stitches used on Spanish garments and words in the tranzudo ribbon.
So, comments people?
Ooh! I just realized that cheesecake is a fairly firm medium that would be able to set up in a rubber mold ( I don't have any idea how to make a metal face mold, so a rubber one, which I can make will have to do) plus cheesecake goes really well with berries, and I can use chocolate for the hair. So, who knows a recipe for a very firm cheesecake that needs no baking?