Iesha's Renaissance Wedding GownThe fabric for this gown came from several sources as did the trim. There are three main fabrics. A blue and metallic gold used for the bodice and the overskirt. The underskirt is also a blue and metallic gold but the pattern and shading is a bit different. The sleeves are a blue silk jacquard. The are 3 main trims used through out the gown. There is a navy and metallic gold trim used for the bodice trim, that also extends down the opening of the underskirt. The second trim is a wider navy and metallic gold trim that is used on the hem line of the overskirt. A third navy and metallic gold trim is used on the sleeves and at the hem of the underskirt. Additionally there are two different metallic gold laces used. Fresh water pearls and lapis lazuli were sewn on. Other fabrics used were linens and some cotton for the interior of the bodice. |
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Preparing To Cut The FabricIn this case there was no mock up made. The reason for this is that Iesha's measurements are similar enough to ones I have worked with before. However, I do wish to add that one can not underestimate the value of a mock-up or toile. If you are not very certain that you can draft the measurements correctly, a mock-up should be made. Obvious advantages are an exact fit, and the chances of cutting the final fabric wrong are greatly diminished. In this case, since the measurements were familiar enough to me, and Iesha not living nearby, it seemed fine to go ahead and do the final draft. I should add that I have made many mock-ups in the past and sent them to clients, and what I have learned is that the final fitting is only as good as the tailor who fits the mock-up, some times it works and others need changes. After years of sending mockups back and forth and seeing the final bodices I am reasonably comfortable in most cases with the just go ahead and draft and cut technique. |
Cutting The FabricAhhh the cutting....I always get very methodical before cutting. Fabric is expensive. And in this case we would have had to wait another month to replace anything that had been cut wrong, as the fabric was imported from Russia. So everything was measured and re-measured multiple times. There was almost no fabric to spare. Once the fabric was cut there were 4 pieces of fabric that did not measure more than 6 inches in any direction for the overskirt and bodice which were made from 5 1/2 yards of the fabric. Any renaissance tailor would have been proud of my lack of waste. I should add here that cutting is something that I really enjoy. I hate having fabric laying about that can not be cut yet for some reason. I am never happy till it's cut. In fact uncut fabric calls to me while I'm sleeping, saying "Get up! Cut me! You know you must!" The sleeve fabric did have some leftover, from which we made a ring bearer pillow, that also was trimmed with some of the leftover lace. With all the fabric cut it was time to make the bodice |
The BodiceI typically make the inner layer first. Mostly because it is the most tedious part and I prefer to get that out of the way. But also there is still once last chance to make alterations. I prefer to sew casing in for the bones as opposed to sewing channels for the boning. There is probably no reason for this other than personal aesthetics. I simply like the way it looks and feel the appearance of the inner part of the bodice is important. A small advantage is that if one needed to take the bones out for any reason, it is simpler if they are in casings as opposed to channels, but there is little reason to consider that bones must be removed at all. So we can chalk this up to my little control issues and a large dose of anal retentiveness. Another aside note is that often the fashion fabric needs to be flat lined. This further stiffens the bodice and keeps any bones from showing through. The decision to flat line is based on the type of fabric, how much boning is going to be put in and what temperature it is expected to be when the bodice is worn. Here you will see pictures of the front of the bodice and the interior of the bodice. In the first picture you will see the front of the bodice with the trim on. The bottom has already been piped and hand stitched down. The sleeve openings/armscythes are not finished yet, nor or the upper neckline edges. The arm holes will be hand sewn without piping, but the neckline will have gold metallic piping. The second picture shows the interior of the bodice and here you can see the casing for the boning. It still needs to be sewn at the arm holes and the neck line. The third photograph shows the bodice basically finished. The hand sewing is completed around the neckline and the arms. The epilates are sewn on by hand both on the inside and the outside. And a double row of gold metallic lace has been added to the neckline. The pearling around the neckline has been started. The pearls are arranged in clusters of four with a lapis lazuli stone in the center. Each cluster is individually knotted and then the knots are glued to be certain they do not come out. |
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Renaissance Wedding Gown OverskirtThe overskirt is cartridge pleated. The pleats are set slightly over one inch apart. A very nice tutorial on how to cartridge pleat by Drea Leed is a great reference. The fabric used was very springy which made the pleats stick out without needing to put a strip of wool or felt under the pleats. The waist band was pieced together as was necessary due to the very small amount of fabric available. The trim down the front openings of the overskirt match the trim on the bodice. The trim at the bottom hem of the skirt is very similar but wider. Also a metallic gold lace was used along the edges of the front opening of the fore-panel. One edge was sewn down beneath the blue and gold trim. The other edge needed to be hand tacked at every point to keep it from flopping about. Pictures of both the inside and the outside of the cartridge pleating are shown below. |
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Renaissance Wedding Gown UnderskirtThe overskirt consists of a fore-panel made of brocade. It has two strips of trim at the bottom. The trim is a deep blue organza with gold and silver metallic threads. There are a few beads and sequins on the trim. However the sequins are shaped just like spangles were. A quick comment about using sequins on period gowns...There were no sequins as we know them. However there was something called "spangles". Spangles were small discs similar to sequins but they were flat and modern sequins are beveled. The modern version of spangles are called palettes, and they are usually found with holes off center but also with holes for sewing onto garments in the center. A center holed version can be found at Hedgehog Handworks. The fore-panel is cut into a gore shape, and there are 4 more blue linen gores to make up the rest of the skirt. There are no pictures of the underskirt being made as I forgot tot take the pictures. |
Sleeves and ChemiseThe sleeves are made to tie onto the shoulders at the bodice. The fabric is a blue silk jacquard and the same trim was used at the cuffs as the fore-panel. The cuffs were piped with more of the gold. The white chemise is fairly standard and made of white handkerchief linen. |