Showing off my Elizabethan

[Kathelyne]

This is my Elizabethan, and I made it mostly myself. My friend who is teaching me how to sew wewed the boning channels on my corset for me, because when I started I couldn't sew a straight line and she was concerned I'd have a mental breakdown if I tried sewing that many straight lines- lol.

She also patterned me (its hard to pin material tightly to yourself) and made yp a pattern for the sleeve puffs and the cutting layout for the actaul dress (I only had 3 metres of material, and the scraps left over I can hold in one hand and are too small to make a pouch with! thats how good her layout was! I've learn how to do it myself now)

This dress was my inspiration



The layers of the dress are this:
Chemise- machine sewn except for the neck and cufs- used about 4 metres of white cotton. I'll make a better one in linen now I can sew straight. I made several mistakes on this one, like sewing the side of the sleeve to the bottom hem instead of the other side of the sleeve, causing my friend and teacher (who was teaching a small group of us) to laugh histerically.
I am doing some blackwork embriodery (counted on evenweave linen) which I'll put on my next one

Next I made the corset. Theres a layer of this stiff stuff that looks like a brown floor mat two layers of calico and a layer of brocade. It is fummy boned with willow dents, and the busk is... alliminium... lol- its cheap
It is machine sewed, but hand binded which took forever. I have hand made and bound the eyelet holes so they are strong. The straps of the corset tie at the front, and it laces up the back. It is based on Queen Elizabeth's Effigy corset http://web.comhem.se/~u31138198/bilder/Effigy corset.jpg but is back lacing because I change size a bit

Next, the farthengale.
my friend has been to a museum in England, where they had 16th century wale bone on display. She asked if she could pick it up, and they said 'yeah! why not' then she asked if she could bend it and they said "ok" and then she asked if she could try to break it and they said "go ahead, we've plenty more in storage". Well, she has found a modern equilivent to walebone, and thats plastic venetial blind slatting- lol.

So thats whats in my farthengale- which is made of calico

Next, the underskirt. 3 metres of mateiral cartrige pleated by hand and sewen by hand onto a waist bant, an that was hand sewn too. Closes with a hook and eye- easy

Next the dress- 3 metres of brocade which wasn't woven straight
We did the bodce first, and made the skirt out of that left over, and the bodice puffs were patched together from the small amount left over after all that.



Theres two layers of cotton duck, one of calico (which is the lining which you can see in the photo) and of course the brocade

This is the thickness before I put a strip of venetianblind boning down each side.



Next I did the skirt and cartrige pleated it by hand and hand sewed it on. I'm not happy with the fall, it needs to be wider at the front so I'll take it off and re put it on.

Sleeves, forepart and hat.
This is my hat:

One of my sleeves:

and this is my forepart:

(don't you love the material- $50 a metre, but I got it for $15)

Yeah, not finished. The sleeves will have slashes edged in gold silk, along with finger loop braided tassle things to close them, and I will cover every second gold line with gold couched thread, and I will embrioder red beads and pearls over them. The forepart will recieve the same treatment- but without the slashes.
The hat was to be sewn onto a velvet band as a snood type thing.

Well, the day before I needed to wear this dress (yes, needed, the queen was comming) I got some material to match the underskirt. Well, I wanted to do that, but when I went tothe shop there were three different shades of red, and I picked the wrong one. Oh well. The morning of the event I ran up a pair of sleeves, hand hemed them, and made the hat too (hand attaching it to a woolen band due to having no velvet that didn't cost less than $30 a metre) I also had to make two pairs of sleeves for my sisters....
I was finishing the hemming of my dress at the event- lol.

I never got the partlet or ruff done- I'll do that once I have done the sleeves and forepart. But this is the first incarnation of the dress- and fine for relativly fancy events such as the queen dropping by- though I'd want to get the rest done for a corrination or something.

Oh, and the girdle/belt thingy, I have to find my photos of that. but its made with wire and glass beads and (fake) pearls. I have real ones for around the neckline of this dress (I'm beading the dress itselfwhen I've finished the rest) but I'll use fake for everything else- poor student and all)

 

[cordelya]

Very nicely done. I have one similar - The Swan Maiden  

[Lee Kushrenada]

that is crazy CRAZY cool!
gosh I wish I hade a friend that was that good at sowing...all my sowing friends are about as good as I am, good enough to get buy just fine but I don't see myself making myown pattern just yet!
you two did a GREAT job on it! 3nodding  

[Kathelyne]

Thanks smile
and thats a great dress cordelya

Making patterns is pretty easy Lee Kushrenada, its just hard to do on your own. My friend's taught me pattern draping, which mostly consists of pinning favric around you and making marks and butting bits and that. For bodices anyway, skirts don't need patterns, you just decide if you want a rectangle or a gored one. I've patterned Kirtles two of my younger sisters now. My youngest sister got two dresses out of that, because I told the older one several times that the marked lines were where the sewing went, not the cutting line and that she had to add seam allowance... but she forgot. hehe.

And my friend that taught me how to sew is a wonderful sempstress, seriously. she patterned, made and finished a dress for me in about 4 hours once. Her mother is a dressmaker and my friend was given a sewing machine for her 3rd birthday, and by age five it was expected that she be able to make her own clothes. She has a great husband too, you give him some sewing to do and he'll just sit down and do it quietly, lol.  

[firrantello]

crying I want one! LOL. Seriously. That's really really nice.  

[Lee Kushrenada]

Kathelyne

Thanks smile
and thats a great dress cordelya

Making patterns is pretty easy Lee Kushrenada, its just hard to do on your own. My friend's taught me pattern draping, which mostly consists of pinning favric around you and making marks and butting bits and that. For bodices anyway, skirts don't need patterns, you just decide if you want a rectangle or a gored one. I've patterned Kirtles two of my younger sisters now. My youngest sister got two dresses out of that, because I told the older one several times that the marked lines were where the sewing went, not the cutting line and that she had to add seam allowance... but she forgot. hehe.

And my friend that taught me how to sew is a wonderful sempstress, seriously. she patterned, made and finished a dress for me in about 4 hours once. Her mother is a dressmaker and my friend was given a sewing machine for her 3rd birthday, and by age five it was expected that she be able to make her own clothes. She has a great husband too, you give him some sewing to do and he'll just sit down and do it quietly, lol.

making a dress is not the same as making mens clothes though.
not that both don't take a great amount of work, but men just can't get away with a scurt...well then again... no no I'm not going to go there right now. xd

I wish my mom could have shown me how to sow....I once tryed to show my mom how to knit...it was not pritty, and when I asked for some help pinning a pattern to some fabrick I felt like I had to drag her. sweatdrop

I REALLY hope I find myself spending the rest of my life with some one who sows and is crafty like me. crying  

[Kathelyne]

ah, I didn't realise you were a guy sorry!
But talking about men and skirts... my sister had a (straight, manly) male friend who wore only skirts (no, not kilts, long skirts). Lol. well, once he came around here with his sister and their friend to do some sewing and he wore pants and everyone just stared at him in suprise, then he said he felt such a girl cos they were his sister's pants, hehe.

But yes, MOST men can't get away with a skirt

The only clothes I've made for males have been 14th century shirts for my brother, and I don't need a pattern for those. My dad makes him hose by draping though, but naturally he wouldn't want me involved in fitting them, lol.

Are you able to alter patterns at all? maybe if you start with doing that to get a better idea of how 2-D translates into 3-D you will find it easier to make patterns from scratch.

But my mum's not that good at teaching either. She gets frustrated and does things for you so you never learn. but my friend is a great teacher, and outs up with a lot from me. (in one sewing session I called her three times in ten minutes because "the bobbin had three threads again"- LOL )  

[Lee Kushrenada]

well I'm not straight, and people say I act gay enough so if you throw a skirt into that welll.... lets just not go there.
though I have allways wanted to own a modern kilt, but they are like 200$ a pop and I have yet to find a pattern for one that I liked.

I have made a couple things, though most of them have been costumes for anime con's so some of the stuff has been a little 'out there' and I can't get away with wearing it just out of the house.

I have altered things, and I'm getting a better idea of how things are pute together every time I sow things, but its still a proces of learning.