aaaaand - Take Two!
In a fit of... not boredom, but a need to take a break from the replacement doublet for my hubby, I suddenly decided to take another look at the aborted attempt at a 1630s dress from about a year ago. I'm using a small company pattern that shall remain nameless (although probably obvious) because I'm still deciding how upset I am with the pattern designer. The first time I tried this pattern, I noticed the back shoulder of the bodice was far wider that it could ever need to be. The patten maker acknowledged there was a known issue, but at no time was there an errata or notice that an issue existed until I finally decided it couldn't just be me being an idiot... ::shrug:: Other problems getting things to fit made me essentially pitch my first attempt at a mockup back into the bag, and then under the table.
Today I pinned all the bits together that I'd made last time for the boned underbodice and tried it on. One major improvement this time is that I
basted in some temporary bones for the stomacher - the version I'm making requires the stomacher to close the bodice. This was one thing that gave my heart failure the first time; the unboned stomacher made my life a living hell, and I just never thought it could make that much of a difference. Sometimes it's the little things... I spent a comparatively long time mucking with the shoulders, trying to get the side of the front to support my chest (another one of my major issues the first time) while bringing the wide back smoothly into my shoulders. I think I've just gained a better idea over the last year as to how one achieves those results in the first place. I then proceeded to absolutely ignore my modern pattern following brain that insisted that the shoulder seams should at least *sort-of* match where the pattern put them. Hah! Not even close!
Once I was relatively happy with fit, I basted all the pinned lines, tried things on again, found the shoulders *again* didn't do quite what I wanted, repinned, repinned, repinned... You get the idea. Finally found the happy medium that solved at least *most* of the issues, basted the shoulders again, tried it all on with a chemise and skirt... It works! Halle-freakin'-lu! Or at least it will be livable with - all the bits of me that need to be inside the outfit will be, and nothing dug in or hurt or stuck out wierdly. Did a quick pin-baste of a sleeve and was reasonably pleased, although I think I'll cut the real one a bit longer - easier to turn it back, and I'm still not sure exactly what style I'll end up with.
I spent the rest of the night, around cooking dinner and watching the football playoffs, edging the boned bodice. I want it separate do I can do whatever I want with the top dress. I wasn't sure if I was going to use the cotton twill or some selvedge that I preserved from my last linen order, but I don't have enough of the twill and I'm finding that the selvedge isn't right either. Edging with cut strips of the linen I used would have been a better choice - helps stabilize all the bias-cut edges. Something to keep in mind for next time. (next time? I must be nuts...) But I'm using a bit of column A, a bit of column B, and just Getting It Done!
On to the top gown, with basques (skirts) and stomacher and petticoats, Oh My! :)
My cluttered craft room, and my poor double that has absolutely *no* hope of squishing like I do, so the stomacher is riding a little low. I'm a wee bit fluffier... :D
Cross posted to dressdiaries
Today I pinned all the bits together that I'd made last time for the boned underbodice and tried it on. One major improvement this time is that I
basted in some temporary bones for the stomacher - the version I'm making requires the stomacher to close the bodice. This was one thing that gave my heart failure the first time; the unboned stomacher made my life a living hell, and I just never thought it could make that much of a difference. Sometimes it's the little things... I spent a comparatively long time mucking with the shoulders, trying to get the side of the front to support my chest (another one of my major issues the first time) while bringing the wide back smoothly into my shoulders. I think I've just gained a better idea over the last year as to how one achieves those results in the first place. I then proceeded to absolutely ignore my modern pattern following brain that insisted that the shoulder seams should at least *sort-of* match where the pattern put them. Hah! Not even close!
Once I was relatively happy with fit, I basted all the pinned lines, tried things on again, found the shoulders *again* didn't do quite what I wanted, repinned, repinned, repinned... You get the idea. Finally found the happy medium that solved at least *most* of the issues, basted the shoulders again, tried it all on with a chemise and skirt... It works! Halle-freakin'-lu! Or at least it will be livable with - all the bits of me that need to be inside the outfit will be, and nothing dug in or hurt or stuck out wierdly. Did a quick pin-baste of a sleeve and was reasonably pleased, although I think I'll cut the real one a bit longer - easier to turn it back, and I'm still not sure exactly what style I'll end up with.
I spent the rest of the night, around cooking dinner and watching the football playoffs, edging the boned bodice. I want it separate do I can do whatever I want with the top dress. I wasn't sure if I was going to use the cotton twill or some selvedge that I preserved from my last linen order, but I don't have enough of the twill and I'm finding that the selvedge isn't right either. Edging with cut strips of the linen I used would have been a better choice - helps stabilize all the bias-cut edges. Something to keep in mind for next time. (next time? I must be nuts...) But I'm using a bit of column A, a bit of column B, and just Getting It Done!
On to the top gown, with basques (skirts) and stomacher and petticoats, Oh My! :)
My cluttered craft room, and my poor double that has absolutely *no* hope of squishing like I do, so the stomacher is riding a little low. I'm a wee bit fluffier... :D
Cross posted to dressdiaries