Tudor Gown: Taffeta Petticoat

Last Thursday night I was able to finish hemming the taffeta. As it turned out it wasn't as tedious as I thought it would be and looks pretty darn nice if I do say so myself. :) Not too bad for my first time.

I had to work most of the weekend so I didn't get much sewing done but Saturday evening Jeanne and I spent a couple hours at the fabric store. Most of the time was spent trying to decide on my final fabrics for the gown and kirtle. I believe I am going to use a wine colored velvet for the outer gown. It may be a bit on the heavy side for summer wear but there are generally some cooler days when I'll be quite comfortable and I do go to a decent amount of autumn events and it will be perfect for the 12th Night Feast. For the kirtle I have about 6 fabrics to choose from. The prices are a bit higher than I'd like but will a 50% coupon I can swing it and I do have some nice options.

Today I was able to resume sewing and managed to pin the lining and skirt together, baste the top edges and hand sew the center front just below where the eyelets will be. I also stitched about a quarter of the lining to the skirt along the hem line. Unfortunately I'm a closer at work today and won't be able to do more until tomorrow. I should be able to finish the hem, work on the knife pleats and from there it's just a matter of sewing the bodies and the skirt together and hand sewing down the lining to cover the waist seams! Voila! I will have a lovely taffeta petticoat!

Tudor Gown: Smock and Petticoat

Last night I finally begun the actual pieces for my Tudor gown! I have completed patterns drafted for my smock, petticoat and kirtle. All that's left is the gown and farthingale (which I haven't decided if I will make or purchase.

Due to my budget I decided to go with a lightweight muslin for the smock instead of linen (which I would much prefer!). For a base piece, although I would love to be as period as possible with my fabrics, the muslin will have to do for now. I began cutting and sewing last night. Despite the many garments that I've made I had never actual done any french seaming. Most of the garb I've made was really just whipped up and though construction was done well it wasn't done as properly as it could have been. I don't own a serger and wanted all of my seams finished on this piece. Since I'm taking the time and making the effort to draft the pattern I figure this one should be done right. :) I finished the smock on the machine fairly quickly and spent the next couple hours catching up on my stories and handsewing the arm holes so that the seams were completely encased. Even though it's a simple garment I'm really proud of the way it came out so far! I have yet to finish the neckline, as I must wait until the kirtle is finished to get the proper fit, but the seaming is lovely and it will be so comfortable to wear.

Today I began cutting the fabric for the next layer - the petticoat. While traditionally they are red I wanted something more earthy so I chose a dark, chocolately brown taffeta. It reminds me of a Dove chocolate commercial, where the chocolate is flowing and silky looking... mmmm... Thus far the lining is cut and after I grab a bite to eat I'll work on the top fabric. I really can't wait to get sewing on this one. With any luck I'll have the day off of work (I'm an on-call) and I will be able to finish the entire garment today, with the exception of maybe the hem, which is to be hand sewn down in a herringbone stitch, something else I've never done. I think I'm going to use some of my scrap taffeta and practice before I potentially butcher my gown though. lol Hand sewing is not exactly my strong point but that's half the fun of making this outfit - it's challenging me to learn new skills and really get outside of my comfort zone.



Later that afternoon...
So, I worked on the petticoat more since I didn't have to go into work today. Woohoo! I got a lot accomplished. I was able to cut out all the top fabric, put together the bodies and skirts of the lining and taffeta and make a few yards of bias tape from my leftover taffeta to finish the bodies.


Next up is hand sewing the entire hem of the outer layer of the skirt. It's going to take a while but I really want to make this gown special so hand stitching it is! It'll be good practice too since I'm not that familiar with that stitch. It seems to that it will be a tedious yet rewarding evening. :) Once I'm good and sick of the Herringbone stitch then it's on to pinning my outer skirts and lining together, knife pleating all around, finally sewing the bodies to the skirt and finishing it all off with hand sewing the lining down to cover the seams along the waist. Whew!! lol

Here are the items for the Ren faire swap that I recently finished. First is this - at first I was going to turn it into a brooch but I ran out of pin backs so it became a necklace instead. I'm in love with this face mold and wanted to make a piece of jewelry with it so when I found my stash of the glass seed beads that were used on my beach fairy dress I went to town. I really like the way it came out - fairly simple but it still has that altered look that I adore so much.


This is why I ran out of pin backs. :) Pretty simple and rough, these are some faire favors that my partner can keep or pass out to friends.

I found this amazing fabric at Joann's and made one of my favorite faire garments - harem pants! Not just for belly dancers, I like to wear these under all of my gowns as bloomers of sorts. They're great when running from shop to shop in a thunderstorm - you can hike up your skirts as high as you need to and still be a bit modest. :) I hope she likes them. My partner does a lot of fighting and swordplay so I think they'll come in handy.


Next are some arm warmers. My partner has a condition that leaves her hands cold constantly so I whipped these up. The pattern is Trellis Mitts and they were made using Lion Brand Wool-Ease. The red was tough to photograph though. :(



Also in the package is a set of Butterick patterns that consist of hanging belt pouches, cool waist cinches and belts and some bracers. Also there's a silver spiral pendant that she can use for one of her many outfits and characters and 2 different styles of eyelets for lacings. You can never have too many eyelets!

I hope I can make it to the post office tomorrow to mail it finally!! It's got to make it all the way to the Netherlands! :-D

**Edited to add package info!!

Tudor Gown 101

It is getting to be that time of year again!!


The weather is warming, plants are becoming green again and animals are getting twitterpainted! Me? Well, I'm getting ready to break out the sewing machine - faire season is upon us! Everyone loves having new clothes and we faire goers are no exception.

This year I'm undertaking quite a feat... for me anyway. I've begun drafting a pattern for a Tudor gown and get I need to get cracking. I have the smock, petticoat and about 90% of the kirtle all drafted out and mock ups of the smock and petticoat completed. However, July will be here before I know it. I still need to work on the kirtle skirt back and the most tricky of all, the gown itself. The hard part is gathering my materials and taking the time to do all of the hand sewing. I just cannot decide how I want my gown to look though, fabric choice is going to be a biggie. I really need to get some linen for my smock first. I may just cheat for now and use a lightweight cotton, but we'll see if I can find some decent prices online. I looove linen and I'd really like to be as period as possible for a change. :) This should be a pretty interesting journey over all. Hopefully I can start up again soon now that all of my winter swaps are finished!

Sew what?

Lately I've been in the mood to sew. I've been thinking about what kind of gown to wear for the 12th Night Feast coming up in January and it got me to thinking of my garb. I need something new for sure, I'm thinking Tudor maybe. I really need to finish drafting the pattern for my mid 1500s gown. If I can get that completed it'd be lovely. I already have the fabric for my chemise and petticoat. I wish there were somewhere local that sold more period type fabrics for the gown and kirtle though. I hate having to try and purchase yards and yards of fabric online, without the benefit of seeing it in person first. There's a lot of hand sewing to do too. I just don't know if I'd have the time after the holidays to finish properly and have it as perfect as I'd like it to be. We'll just have to see though. :)

In the meantime here's a gown I made for faire this past summer. Nothing even remotely period about it but it's for faire so it doesn't matter too much. Faire is my outlet for just playing dress up anyway and luckily at GLMF anything goes! :-D

Brittney found this fabric at Joann's and we were both instantly in love with it. She bought the red and tan version and I nabbed up the blue. That very night we went back to her house and whipped a couple gowns.


This one is pretty versatile. It can be worn as shown or open for more of a "coat" look. I wore it like that for Halloween and completely butched it up for a pirate outfit, knee high boots, dagger and all!

My new faire dress!

So here is my new gown. Simple brown broadcloth. One of my favorite things about it is the small train in the back. It's so comfortable too. This will be well worn pretty soon!

Faire is in two weeks.


I need a new dress.



Jeanne and I were going through our inventory of garb earlier today and I just couldn't help being bored with all of my stuff. It's not bad at all, and still in great condition, I just need something new and jazzy so this is what I'm making. :-D I'm going simple with some brown broadcloth (very breathable for our sticky, hot faire days) with a taupe waistband of textured silk. I'm very excited about this one. I love flowing gowns and this one is soooo perfect, it even comes with a lovely waistband to hide my big ole tummy. Woot! The fabric is in the wash now and should be done any minute. Then off to the dryer it goes so that I can start cutting tonight! I'm hoping to maybe even finish this evening....or at least come close!!

Scanning, scanning....

Now that Snapfish has group rooms I've created one for me and Jeanne so we can more easily share our faire photos and such, back from our pre-digital days. What a pain! But so worth it. :-D I've been scanning for about4-5 hours now - a labor of love.