Refitting my 1530s Tudors
Finally getting around to fixing my Tudor outfit seen in my icon, and seen in my web site here.
When I lost weight, I took the bodices in along the sides or side back areas. Rather roughly, too. I just wanted it to fit decently and didn't care how bad it looked. Well, when I lost weight, the bodices that were just a little long, ended up really long since I didn't have as much body to go over, and the back really shifted a lot (it was definitely too long to begin with). You can see how long here: (front, back)
So, this week I am finally shortening the bodices to fit me where I am now. I started by taking off the skirts, which I did last night.
Tonight I put the bodice on my dress form, wrapped a piece of elastic at the waist line, marked the area with a pencil, clipped all the plastic bones in the kirtle, trimmed and dipped one end of the center metal bone (waiting for it to dry overnight), then cut off the extra few inches from the bottom on front and back. I've also bound the back in a piece of linen.
I got lucky, and after searching around, and even clearing out junk in my garage today, found the scraps of linen from when I first worked on it. One of those scraps happened to be the exact piece of skirt I had removed originally, thinking I had made the skirt too long. Hah! I should have realized that my skirt measurement was correct, and it was the bodice that was too long. Oh well. It's enough that I was able to serge both edges, one to finish the edge before turning it under, and one side to sew it back to the top of the kirtle skirt.
I will sew the skirt back on tomorrow night once I get the metal bone put back in, and the front bound. I didn't cut the silk off, I just cut the underlying interlinings and padding, so I just need to turn the silk over to the back, fold under and hand sew it down. The front skirt oddly enough was pulled up under the bodice, and was only about an inch too long the way things ended up. So, while I do have to turn the skirt edge a little, it won't be too obviously short in front. I do have extra silk in case I need some to bind the top of the front skirt, but I will double check the length as I don't want to add in a fabric piece, if it only need an inch or less on length.
And once that is all done to the kirtle, I will have to do similar work to the gown. Thankfully there are minimal bones there, I only folded the extra skirt fabrics, and the hardest part will be in remaking the front placard, as that really is way too big anymore. I think on the placard I want to sew down one side, so I only have to pin one side. This should be easier to do while working on the dress dummy.
I need this done for Hanford RoK this upcoming weekend. Hopefully it will all get done in time. And then I can work on other things, tho' will I? Good question. Hopefully at least one simple high necked smock would be nice for GWW, as would a new gown, but... one step at a time.
When I lost weight, I took the bodices in along the sides or side back areas. Rather roughly, too. I just wanted it to fit decently and didn't care how bad it looked. Well, when I lost weight, the bodices that were just a little long, ended up really long since I didn't have as much body to go over, and the back really shifted a lot (it was definitely too long to begin with). You can see how long here: (front, back)
So, this week I am finally shortening the bodices to fit me where I am now. I started by taking off the skirts, which I did last night.
Tonight I put the bodice on my dress form, wrapped a piece of elastic at the waist line, marked the area with a pencil, clipped all the plastic bones in the kirtle, trimmed and dipped one end of the center metal bone (waiting for it to dry overnight), then cut off the extra few inches from the bottom on front and back. I've also bound the back in a piece of linen.
I got lucky, and after searching around, and even clearing out junk in my garage today, found the scraps of linen from when I first worked on it. One of those scraps happened to be the exact piece of skirt I had removed originally, thinking I had made the skirt too long. Hah! I should have realized that my skirt measurement was correct, and it was the bodice that was too long. Oh well. It's enough that I was able to serge both edges, one to finish the edge before turning it under, and one side to sew it back to the top of the kirtle skirt.
I will sew the skirt back on tomorrow night once I get the metal bone put back in, and the front bound. I didn't cut the silk off, I just cut the underlying interlinings and padding, so I just need to turn the silk over to the back, fold under and hand sew it down. The front skirt oddly enough was pulled up under the bodice, and was only about an inch too long the way things ended up. So, while I do have to turn the skirt edge a little, it won't be too obviously short in front. I do have extra silk in case I need some to bind the top of the front skirt, but I will double check the length as I don't want to add in a fabric piece, if it only need an inch or less on length.
And once that is all done to the kirtle, I will have to do similar work to the gown. Thankfully there are minimal bones there, I only folded the extra skirt fabrics, and the hardest part will be in remaking the front placard, as that really is way too big anymore. I think on the placard I want to sew down one side, so I only have to pin one side. This should be easier to do while working on the dress dummy.
I need this done for Hanford RoK this upcoming weekend. Hopefully it will all get done in time. And then I can work on other things, tho' will I? Good question. Hopefully at least one simple high necked smock would be nice for GWW, as would a new gown, but... one step at a time.