GFD Update -- Nearly finished!
I sewed like a madwoman this weekend and have both the undergown and the overgown nearly finished.
Here are two pictures of the undergown. One shows the curve of the front and the other is pinned together as I didn't feel like lacing it on the dress dummy. The sleeves are open from elbow to wrist and I haven't put any buttons/buttonholes on them yet. That will take a while, methinks, as there will be 18-20 buttons on each sleeve. I'm going to wait until after I finish David's garb. That way, if I get into a time crunch, I can always baste them closed for the event and do the buttonholes afterward.
The cut of the neckline on this ended up being very "French" and I like the way it looks. I may sew a sideless surcoat to go over this to show it off a little. If I do, I'll need to make another shift as the one I have shows a tiny bit.
The overgown... the picture is slightly darker than the real color. It's not quite a true red... but looks like a color that madder would produce. The front is pinned together as there are no buttons or buttonholes on it yet. The sleeves will have tippets on them.
Both gowns have the long side seams done on the machine but all visible stitching has been by hand. I'm pretty pleased with the fit and think the ensemble is very flattering to the figure. Very feminine which I guess means I got it somewhat right. That is what I perceive from images from the period.
The tippets are completely sewn by hand. They didn't start out that way... but they ended up being a bigger pain than I had anticipated. I scrapped the first attempt and decided to do it by hand instead. I have one completed and the other one is nearly finished. I won't sew them on until everything is finished on the overgown including the hem. That way I will have less chance to get them dirty. They are so pristinely white at the moment. :)
One of my two little helpers
Still to be done:
1. Finish sewing tippets
2. Buttons and buttonholes for front of overgown
3. Hem overgown
4. Hem undergown
5. Attach tippets
6. Buttons and buttonholes on undergown (after David's garb is finished)
These gowns went together so smoothly and I am very pleased with the results. I am planning on doing another set in a heraldic design, but not until after Crown. The undergown will be black and the overgown will be silver and blue particolored with fleur de lys painted on the silver. I want it to have pendant sleeves as well.