Under construction for the last 8 days was the first ensemble for our beloved sister, Lady Stephanie. As it is now complete I have pictures and a lot of construction explanations to give, as I seriously did not follow the pattern instructions...

First up was her chemise. It is made from bleached muslin and I used the Elizabethan chemise instructions from the Elizabethan Costuming page. (I must say, I love this site! Verily, it is full of useful information!) Another set of good instructions for the same type chemise can be found on DawnsPages. This I used for the basic construction. When it came time to finish the sleeves, I pleated the underside before making the drawstring channel, which is on the inside so it does not show. I got the idea to do this from an Italian chemise pattern I found. The picture about 3/4 of the way down that page shows the sleeve poofing more on the underside, as you can already plainly see I like to pleat, so I used pleats to attempt to draw it up like in the picture there. What I got ended up like this, which I believe to be a fair approximation to my point of view. I also added a little lace just to pretty it up a little...

Next came the gown... I used, sort of, Simplicity #3812. The gown is view B, the sleeves are view A. The gown is made from a blue cotton jacquard type fabric, the front portion of the attached underskirt is a poly blend embroidered with stripes crossing to form diamonds and flowers, the remaining underskirt is a blue cotton broadcloth. The first change to the pattern was drafting out the darts. Once that was done, I cut out my pieces. In addition to the fashion fabric and lining pieces for the bodice, I also cut a set out of heavyweight muslin to add additional support to the bodice and to make boning channels down both sides of the back where I would be placing grommets, instead of the *gasp, cough* zipper the instructions called for. I treated this new muslin layer as if it and the lining fabric were one and tacked the 2 together in a few places so it wouldn't shift around. Before I began bodice construction by the directions, I made the boning channels by sewing an additional strip of the same muslin to the muslin/lining combination so there was a channel formed between the 2 pieces of muslin in which to insert the boning later. From there I followed the directions to put the bodice together and turn it right side out.  This is an inside view of the turned bodice.

Here is where the next big change occured. The pattern calls for the faux chemise sleeves to be attached to the bodice and in doing so, the side seam is sewn. As I made a separate chemise, I had to find a new way. I didn't just want to sew all the pieces together right sides facing because that would cause an ugly seam on the inside and I wanted to avoid that if possible. So, that being said, I sewed the side seams of the lining and the fashion fabric separately with right sides facing to make the seams come out on the inside of the 2 layers. I slid the duct ties into my boning channels and stitched the channels closed. Now, how to finish of the arm holes... The way I saw it, I had 2 choices, turn in the ends and slipstitch them by hand or bind them off in some way. I really could have gone either way, but Lady Stephanie liked the idea of binding them off with lace of some sort, so off to JoAnn's we went. Picked a yard of some lovely stretchy lace that did the trick quick and easy. With right sides together I sewed the lace around the arm holes about 1/4 inch from the raw edge, turned it to the inside toward the lining and slip stitched the lace to the lining making a nice neat edge on the outside of the gown while laying perfectly flat and not adding to the bulk on the inside of the gown. Now on to the skirts...

I followed the pattern instructions here, for the most part. I turned under the front edges of the overskirt 1/4 inch then again 1/2 inch and edge stitched before sewing the ribbon down the edges, keeps the front edges of the split skirt straighter... You already know I pleat the hell out of just about everything, so this should not be too much of a shock... I pleated the overskirt, instead of gathering it, as I pinned it to the bodice. The back of the skirt had a few inches of seam unsown to allow for the aforementioned *gasp, choke* zipper. I folded the seam allowance over the edge of the bodice to the inside so that when sewn and straightened, it would fold in to create a neat edge. I stitched the overskirt to the bodice and then I attached the underskirt. This may shock and amaze you, but I did gather the underskirt instead of pleating it. It makes it fuller that way. I did leave the front couple inches on both sides of center flat, but the remainder is gathered. Then I stitched that part on. Then came the grommets up the back and, huzzah, there be a gown!

The sleeves were constructed just as the instructions bade me, with the exception of the addition of a layer of heavyweight muslin as an "inner lining" to help it hold the shape. This was done in the same manner as I did with the bodice. The embroidered fashion fabric and the cotton lining were both very lightweight. I wasn't sure without the extra layer that they would neither hold their shape, nor hold the grommets with which to lace them together and to the dress.

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

I received my grommet tool on Friday and wasted no time once I was home grommeting away! The bodice that was only mostly finished was completely finished in a flash and ready for final fitting on Saturday during Lady Taylor's visit. Here are pics of the finished project.

Now all she has to do is accessorize! She was very pleased and I was ecstatic that it turned out as well as I had hoped!

As I had mentioned in the previous blog, whilst I waited for my grommet tool, I began work on my own Celtic Ensemble. I had the major construction of the green overdress finished by Friday night. All except the hem is done on the plaid underskirt. The picture isn't excellent, but you get the idea. I have not as yet determined how I plan to finish the shoulder straps. The pattern calls for them to lace, but I think on me they are actually long enough, I may be able to sew them together in some neat fashion and have it look much better.
 
First I'm going to grommet the front, pin the straps where I think they will overlap, and get all trussed up in the chemise and corset and lace it up and see how the straps lay. Then I will finish them off in whatever way seems best. That's my plan at this point. Once that is done, I'll get the as of yet unnamed dressform set up to the proper measurements truss it up in my stead and hem both the underskirt and the overdress. Unless I decide to make  a hoop skirt too in which case the hemming will have to wait... Then after the hemming I can trim it. I found the most fabulous of all trims for the overdress at JoAnn's on Saturday. I just need to find a store that has enough of it in stock...

So there is the latest update. Once I have it finished up to completion, I'll go through all the construction notes for anyone who may be interested as I did with the previous items.

I have finished (mostly) the strapless bodice of my dearest friend, Lady Taylor. This is the bodice of her Celtic Ensemble. To refresh your memory, below is the previous construction notes, which I will then add my final comments.

"Lady Taylor's CE strappless bodice is in the midst of construction. I used the same pattern as for my corset (McCall's #4861), but view A. Again there were some modifications. I eliminated the princess seams as before, but left the side lacing for reasons of adjustability (she lives an hour away so I didn't feel I could accuralty gage how much to alter it). As this is a bodice and not a corset, I have opted to leave the fashion fabric exterior off until the "corsety insides" are finished, then apply the pretty sueded material neatly to it at the end. What you see below is the remaining 3 layers. Like my corset, the innermost layers are trigger poplin. The lining is a tan twill, which is actually the side shown in the picture. The plan is to bone it lightly with duct ties and finish the edges with brown bias tape, just like I did above, then fit the exterior fabric and secure by stitching in the ditch at the seams and folding a seam allowance in flush with the bias tape edge and sewing around the edge.
"

So now that your memory is refreshed, here is how the final product was accomplished. I boned it with duct ties, as originally intended, and finished off the edges with bias tape exactly as I had with my corset. Fortunately, I was able to machine sew the tape this time, for the most part... I did hand stitch the corners, as it just seemed simpler that way. I used the finished 'corsety' pieces to cut the pretty sueded fashion fabric with a generous seam allowance, and then proceeded to iron and pin the fashion fabric into the correct shape to fit the exterior of the 'corsety' pieces. I took the pinned fashion fabric and edge stitched all the way around, then lined it up with the 'corsety' piece and pinned it just enough to hold it still. I sewed the two pieces together running the machine down alongside the slanted bones to the right and left of center and down alongside the bones where the grommets go. I followed the same type of idea with the other two pieces that make up the back. I discovered that this held the fabric well enough I didn't need to sew all the way around all the edges like I had initially thought. It appears as though once it is laced on, the fashion fabric will stretch just the slightest bit and lay very smoothly without having to edge stitch the entire project. Instead, I opted to hand sew the edges along the curved places, hiding the stitches in the line of the edge stitching from earlier so it is not readily visible (and looks oh so fabulous!) so that they will not gap in any way and I am assured they will look the way I want.

Now I will explain why I say 'mostly' in my descriptions of its completeness. See, I want this grommet press thing that I found on ebay, but I can't afford to purchase it at the moment, so this bodice is as complete as I am able to do without giving myself the multiple migraines I got while I was pounding grommets on my corset. All there is left to do is punch and set the grommets once I am able to get my tool to do so. For the purposes of moving on to the next item of garb on my list, I am calling it finished (mostly) for the time being...

Next on the To Do List is the green overdress and underskirt with plaid forepart for my own Celtic Ensemble. After that I plan to begin on the Italian style gown of our beloved sister, Lady Stephanie.

Yes, I have been quiet for a few days, which you all know by now is extremely unusual for me. I went to Grandma's in Ohio for the holiday and she has no computer *gasp/sob*. I'm trying to convince her she needs one... We'll see...

When I returned to work this morning, my dress form I had ordered last week (purchased for me by previously mentioned and much adored Grandma for an early birthday gift) was sitting in my office. I can barely stand to work with the box sitting across the desk staring at me! I'm anxious to get it home and set up. I have heard that they are to be named in order to follow the unwritten code of the seamstress (Yes, made that up, but it really does sound nifty!). At first I thought "Bob, the cross dressing dress form" would be fun and different, but I am going to bow (for once) to my better sense and think of a better idea. I'll let you know what I decide...

Gotta go back to work now, just wanted to check in. Thanks to everyone who left encouraging comments on the corset, I truly appreciated each one! Peace.