Short gown design
(Crossposted from the original blog post, http://www.kimiko1.com/blog/?p=98)
I finished off the blue phoenix (which I still have to write up and share more here). So after dealing with SCA and personal stuff, I started to think about my next long term project, the short gown in velvet and silk.
Part of my realization is that in order to get it done right, it will have to be more than just the gown, it will require a new kirtle as well. The reason is that in the time period I tend to lean towards, early 16th c. England, the kirtles worn with short gowns tend to have trains trailing after, and all of my current kirtles are regular length if a bit on the shorter side. So, need new kirtle, too. I don't have any suitable fabric that will contrast well with the dark teal velveteen. I need something in orange or orange-red, and what reds I have are in the blue range or is planned for something else. So, this will require some shopping.
The other thing that requires shopping will be the embroidery fabric itself. I thought I had enough of the base fabric in black silk, but after doing math yesterday, I realized I do not since I used chunks of that black silk on other projects. I have more black fabrics, but those are not silks or not suitable for embroidering this project on, so something will have to be bought. But what sort of silk fabric? I don't want to spend big $$ on it, so I thought I'd try a few samples with fabrics I have, and see what works best.
But first I figured I should first post my sketch of the design I have in mind for this outfit.
This is my initial sketch for the velveteen short gown in dark teal cotton velveteen. The light teal is shot silk taffeta that will line the sleeves and face the edges at the sides of the skirt. The orange is the general idea of a silk brocade (to be purchased later) for the kirtle and under sleeves, so the color may change. The design on the gown is uncolored simply for easier viewing. It will be black silk (not sure which silk) with gold metallic twist embroidery, in two sizes. The white otherwise is the smock, with decorative collar area, which may also end up being made as earlier smocks like this one appear to not have a cuff end and just let the ends hang gathered by the kirtle fore sleeve. Not positive about that, and that will need more research.
I will talk about the first embroidery sample in the next post.
I finished off the blue phoenix (which I still have to write up and share more here). So after dealing with SCA and personal stuff, I started to think about my next long term project, the short gown in velvet and silk.
Part of my realization is that in order to get it done right, it will have to be more than just the gown, it will require a new kirtle as well. The reason is that in the time period I tend to lean towards, early 16th c. England, the kirtles worn with short gowns tend to have trains trailing after, and all of my current kirtles are regular length if a bit on the shorter side. So, need new kirtle, too. I don't have any suitable fabric that will contrast well with the dark teal velveteen. I need something in orange or orange-red, and what reds I have are in the blue range or is planned for something else. So, this will require some shopping.
The other thing that requires shopping will be the embroidery fabric itself. I thought I had enough of the base fabric in black silk, but after doing math yesterday, I realized I do not since I used chunks of that black silk on other projects. I have more black fabrics, but those are not silks or not suitable for embroidering this project on, so something will have to be bought. But what sort of silk fabric? I don't want to spend big $$ on it, so I thought I'd try a few samples with fabrics I have, and see what works best.
But first I figured I should first post my sketch of the design I have in mind for this outfit.
This is my initial sketch for the velveteen short gown in dark teal cotton velveteen. The light teal is shot silk taffeta that will line the sleeves and face the edges at the sides of the skirt. The orange is the general idea of a silk brocade (to be purchased later) for the kirtle and under sleeves, so the color may change. The design on the gown is uncolored simply for easier viewing. It will be black silk (not sure which silk) with gold metallic twist embroidery, in two sizes. The white otherwise is the smock, with decorative collar area, which may also end up being made as earlier smocks like this one appear to not have a cuff end and just let the ends hang gathered by the kirtle fore sleeve. Not positive about that, and that will need more research.
I will talk about the first embroidery sample in the next post.