Today's find!

At Value Village in Lacey: 7+ yards of 48" heavy black/pink rayon dupioni for $13. There must be some factory or wholesaler that donates remnants or something, because there were multiple cuts of this stuff-- and other colors, too: Orange/red, yellow/white, and red/blue. I asked where it comes from, but the clerk claimed not to know. Probably it wouldn't be any cheaper buying from the source, so I'm just as happy waiting to see what shows up.

I'm not a big fan of bubblegum pink, but the black side with just a hint of the pink showing is kind of spectacular. This will make a super court gown or something -- your suggestions cheerfully accepted!

Bodice bits.

Last night I finished the bottom edge and the armscyes of my sottana. The lining is some scrap grey wool over felt Pellon, which looks pretty bland next to the red damask, but no one's gonna be seeing it anyway.

I wanted to share a picture, but I think I'll wait until I have the black velvet trim finished.

And then there's nothing left but shaping the skirt hem (I left the back longer to make a small train, only six inches or so) adding the black velvet guard and attaching the skirt to the bodice.

I have some gold and black jacquard ribbon that was too garish to use as an outright trim -- too busy over the damask -- but I'm thinking if I fold it in half lengthwise and stitch it behind the velvet so maybe only a quarter-inch peeps out, it might be a little bit of oomph that makes this gown *pop*.

I got all excited and pinned the shoulder straps in place and tried it on, but without my corset on to get everything in the right places and correct posture, and without fastenings on the front of the bodice, it was really hard to see if I was on the right track. I will say that I have some concerns about the armscyes: I don't think they're big enough. Either that or the straps are too short, because I get a bunchy feeling there. I can probably lengthen the straps with cleverly-attached bits of "decorative" velvet. I hope so, because other than that, everything looks really good.

Also, I love making garments that look as good on the inside as they do on the outside. Finish work FTW!

Uh.. what?

I got this terrific book from a secondhand shop, Life in the English Country House by Mark Girouard. (http://www.amazon.com/Life-English-Country-House-Architectural/dp/0300058705 if you'd like to get your own, though mine was only seventy-five cents.) So it's all very interesting and has lots of pictures and makes great bathroom reading. I'm flipping through the pages today and see a picture on page 93 that gives me pause. Here it is.

Two people descending a staircase. And I look at the outfits first (like ya do) and then comes the

WTF moment. That lady?

She doesn't look like a lady.

She looks like she has a mustache and beard.

What the..? Is this early engraving evidence of 16th century cross-dressing? I know that wearing long gowns was common in earlier periods, but this is definitely Elizabethan stuff-- the pointed waist, the ruff, the front underskirt -- so what the heck is going on here?

<< for comparison!

Sottana thoughts over lunch.

Everything I'm reading has a note similar to this one from katerina.purplefiles.net/garb/diaries/:

According to both La Moda a Firenze and Patterns of fashion, the hem of Eleanora d'Toledo's burial gown had stiffening at the hem to help hold it out. This was a band of felt, covered by a satin strip. This is confirmed by the red velvet extant dress from Pisa, discussed in La Mode a Firenze.
Patterns of fashion states that the 'matching' satin bias strip was 8.8 - 10.1 cm wide. This covered the band of wool felt. Approximately 25-28mm above the edging, is a 13mm wide pintuck. This can be seen on Eleanora's burial sottana. This may also help to stiffen the hem.

The problem with reading all these dress diaries is, I have no way of asking questions or positing opinions. Like the pintuck mentioned. You know what it looks like to me? It reminds me very much of the hoop channels on a farthingale. And there really doesn't seem to be any reason for it that anyone else can come up with, except this vague "oh, it probably helped stiffen the hem" idea. I'm thinking, sure it did: by having some sort of hoop thing in it! Maybe not like willow or anything super-stiff, but like hemp or something, to foof it out. (Yes, "foof" is a real word.)

But, Wenny, I can hear you saying, there's no evidence of a hoop or anything in the extant garments found.

Yes, well -- that's because all the extant garments found were on dead people. Dead people lying on their backs. Where a stiff hoop-hem would make their skirt fly up into the air and show their burial knickers to the general populace. Naturally they'd leave it out for that, and arrange the skirt fetchingly. If only Janet Arnold were here; I'd love to get her opinion on this.

Another thing bonking around in my head is that I planned on making a wide band of contrasting material on the hem -- black velvet or damask, actually -- and I know I saw this somewhere. But now that I've cut my hem to allow for this extra bit of stuff, I'm not seeing anything that says it's appropriate or period. Curses.

I just know the sottana fashionistas are gonna come a-knockin.

Legs and Linings

Dave's leggings came in the mail from seamlyne.com today, and he tried them on as soon as he got home from work.

I was eager to see how the codpiece worked, as it's not something a lady gets to inspect close-up very often, if at all. It's neat; kinda like a single-cup brassiere where a fella can stash his bits.

The quality of these tights is remarkable, and I love that they are machine washable and can be tossed in the dryer. 100% cotton-- can't beat that, and Dave says they are exceedingly comfortable.

I still wonder what's to be done with all that shirttail. It'd make his butt awfully lumpy, tucked in.

Work on the sottana continues. I want to get it and Dave's doublet to about the same stage in assembly, so I can get each step done at the same time.

Unfortunately for Dave, I find making my sottana much more interesting than working on his doublet -- maybe because I know there's a good deal more sewing involved and I'm hoping to have these done for the Midsummer Ren Fest in three weeks.

..I don't think they're gonna be ready. But let's hope for the best, shall we?

In the beginning...

This is how most projects get started in Wenny World: a nice piece of yardage and a sketch. A trip to shipwreckbeads yesterday got me the tiny glass pearl beads I wanted to use in the trim, and today I must get 30 yards of black satin ribbon --I'm using it on Dave's doublet as well, so I need lots.

You probably can't make out my hastily scrawled notes, but they make mention of slashed sleeves, ivory satin ribbon on black damask, and black velvet guarding on the skirt hem. I'm excited about this one!

Hot Hot Heat

It's 88 degrees, and while my hub insists that this is perfect summertime weather and not hot at all, I an inclined to disagree. If I were in the shade of a big tree, with comfortable chair and holding an icy-cold cocktail, perhaps my feelings would change. Unfortunately, the plan for the day was weeding the rosebed, and there are no big trees, chairs, or cocktails to be found there. That being the case, I have postponed my weeding until things cool off this evening, and am now playing seamstress at the dining room table.

Today's main effort: trim for Dave's doublet, and cutting out my sottana.

My plan for the trim was originally ten yards or so of jaquard ribbon, but I have found nothing appealing when I shopped. Instead, I devised Plan B: 3/4" black satin ribbon studded with glass pearl-like beads, and an embroidery X. Here's a pic of my test run.

I had thought of running a strip of 1/8" black satin ribbon on either side to give it bit more presence, but I think I like it better on its own.

This same trim will be going on my sottana, so we'll sorta match. And that's just so precious I could -- oh wait, no, it's kinda cool.