I am finally finished with my very own Celtic Ensemble! I had my lord husband's mother take a couple pictures Sunday after she pinned the hem (and added a dress order to my list of things to make this season, more on that later...), but alas, they are blurry for some reason... I have added them anyway, until I get better ones taken this weekend.

I am very pleased with how it turned out. I would still like to add some pretty gold trim, which I have found, but I haven't found the continuous length I am looking for. I think I may have to settle for joining 2 pieces together... Anyway... My lord husband's mother, Lady Long, has chosen a gown for herself and asked that I add it to my list. How can I refuse! It is a very fetching piece in the Italian Renaissance style. So add to my list of pieces 1 chemise and 1 gown with attached underskirt (I talked her out of a corset, for this season at least!).

Now to the bland portion of the show, the construction notes for those brave enough to follow where I lead... ;)

The chemise was made using McCall's #4091, view D out of unbleached muslin. It is identical to Lady Taylor's chemise (view C), only the shorter version, and I did not add any ribbon on the sleeves of mine.

The Irish dress and underskirt were made from Simplicity's #4488, view A or B (Either works because the only difference between the two are the sleeves and I did not make any sleeves). The underskirt is made of a beautiful wool blend plaid in green and burgundy. I opted to make the entire underskirt out of the same fabric instead of just the front piece as the pattern suggests. This way I can wear it as a skirt in and of itself if I so choose. I also knife pleated the whole thing facing away from center and left a 3-4 inch flat front. The main fabric of the overdress is a hunter green cotton blend. The bodice of the dress is made of 3 layers, the outer layer and the lining is of the green cotton and the inner layer is poplin (miraculously, this what the pattern itself calls for, as well as what I would have done anyway...) I made 2 changes, first was making the front boning run parallel to the bodice edges instead of at a slant, and I extended them the length of the bodice. The second change was sewing additional strips of poplin to the inner layer to make the boning channels. The pattern says to sew the lining to the poplin to make the boning channels, but somehow I didn't think that would be strong enough to take much wear and tear... The cotton is not very heavy and I was afraid it would quickly wear through and making all my hard work for naught! When attaching the skirt to the bodice I again opted for pleats rather than gathers. The pleats on the overdress are towards the center, opposite of the underskirt. Logic told me this would give the overdress extra oomph without adding extra layers and undergarments... The pattern calls for the shoulder straps to lace together, I must be shorter in the torso because mine overlapped a good 2 inches when I pinned it and tried it on. That being the case, I opened one end of the strap, tucked the opposite end inside, turned the exposed edge under, and sewed them together with tiny stitches by hand (Yuck!). Other than the minor alterations I have mentioned, I followed the directions from the pattern.

I also made a sash out of leftover pieces of plaid (don't figure you really want eh detail of how I did that, so I won't go into it unless you ask...) and stomacher or modesty panel type piece to hide the corset where the dress laces in the front. I made a trapezoid the length of the bodice front and about 7 inches wide at the top, tapering to about 3 at the bottom. Cut one of plaid, one of poplin (for an inner layer, to stiffen it a bit) and one of green cotton. I pinned them together (plaid, cotton, poplin), sewed around 3 edges, turned it right side out, finished off the bottom, and tahdah, a reversible panel to hide the corset. It actually looks really nice; I wish the pictures had turned out better... I will get really good pictures this weekend so you can really see what I am describing.

Well it's late and I'm tired, so I will leave it here for the night (morning?). Next project up is Lady Stephanie's Italian gown... Peace