Silver Venetian - partlet lace
The gold venise lace I ordered to make my partlet arrived today. I was pleasantly surprised to find it much heavier than I anticipated, originally fearing that it might be too delicate and prone to distortion. The loops at the bottom of each point are substantial and hold their shape quite well.
I'm torn between using as-is, and applying it to a backing fabric. I love the look of this partlet in Caliari's Portrait of a Lady with a Heron (left) for the points of lace that face inward, almost framing her neck and necklace. Also completely taken with the partlet in his Portrait of a Woman Holding Gloves (right) for its outrageously ornate embellishments and standing edge.
Both give the impression of being applied to a sheer white base with gold embroidery. Thinking that I might be able to use a very sheer chiffon, although the thought of binding up the edges of such a famously fussy fabric makes me uneasy. Actually, it's hard to tell whether the base fabric is sheer, or that a more opaque fabric was used that simply matches the pale skin tones very closely.
I've received reports that the weather at Gulf Wars is muggy and wet - not the kind of climate I want to wear synthetics against the skin. I may end up using an unbleached cotton or muslin base, but we'll see. I'm fearing that I won't like the contrast of the pale fabric against my darker skin, and there's no way I'm putting on enough makeup to lighten things up THAT much.
If I were using the lace whole without seams, I might skip the backing fabric altogether. However, I plan to make it in a sort of U shape which will require either a mitered corner or piecing, and that would be so much easier if the lace were sewn down to something else. It would also lend itself well to applying pearls or other beads to points on the lace. Hrmmm...
I'm torn between using as-is, and applying it to a backing fabric. I love the look of this partlet in Caliari's Portrait of a Lady with a Heron (left) for the points of lace that face inward, almost framing her neck and necklace. Also completely taken with the partlet in his Portrait of a Woman Holding Gloves (right) for its outrageously ornate embellishments and standing edge.
Both give the impression of being applied to a sheer white base with gold embroidery. Thinking that I might be able to use a very sheer chiffon, although the thought of binding up the edges of such a famously fussy fabric makes me uneasy. Actually, it's hard to tell whether the base fabric is sheer, or that a more opaque fabric was used that simply matches the pale skin tones very closely.
I've received reports that the weather at Gulf Wars is muggy and wet - not the kind of climate I want to wear synthetics against the skin. I may end up using an unbleached cotton or muslin base, but we'll see. I'm fearing that I won't like the contrast of the pale fabric against my darker skin, and there's no way I'm putting on enough makeup to lighten things up THAT much.
If I were using the lace whole without seams, I might skip the backing fabric altogether. However, I plan to make it in a sort of U shape which will require either a mitered corner or piecing, and that would be so much easier if the lace were sewn down to something else. It would also lend itself well to applying pearls or other beads to points on the lace. Hrmmm...