Gallery of Finished Projects

[Rowan MacD]

  Love the ruffs!  Are those satin oversleeves?

[Raelyn Fey]

I am so in love with those costumes! So beautiful. I can't imagine the work it takes to make one.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

The weather was fantastic for debuting my new gown ensemble in Janesville, Wisconsin over the weekend.





I ended up removing the wings because I did not like how they were setting. I made up some shoulder rolls instead. That worked a lot better.

[Rowan MacD]

That turned out wonderfully!
I like the shoulder rolls too; I think it's because most of the period portraits show gowns with sleeves and shoulder rolls, rather than caps or wings.
  The wings would seem a a bit too informal for a court gown like this one.  Your design just begs for fussy collars, fancy partlets and whimsical shoulder treatments ^_^.

[Lady Rosalind]

Very nice, Lady Kathleen!

[Rani Zemirah]

Absolutely stunning!  How lovely... I can imagine that you weren't able to make it ten steps without being stopped and complimented, and asked to pose for photos!

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Absolutely stunning!  How lovely... I can imagine that you weren't able to make it ten steps without being stopped and complimented, and asked to pose for photos!

That was the case, Rani.

Thank you all for the kind words.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Just to add, having lost over 50 pounds of excess fat all over, I needed new garb. My previous gowns were in the size 20 to 22 range for patterns. Now I am in the 14 range. The Bodice for this gown, I redrafted from a Corset pattern I drafted for a smaller client years ago.

I have another major gown planned from this one from the ELIZABETH R series with Glenda Jackson...I will be working on that one this Fall. I still have to alter my Mary Queen of Scots gown so I can wear that this Faire season. It's still in very good shape after 8 years.

[PollyPoPo]

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(Actually my daughter lost maybe 100 pounds a few years after her formal wedding at TRF.  Her gown still stands by itself, literally, because of the boning, etc.  Cost to refit would be almost as much as the original gown, but she wore it more than 20 times, so the $2,000 gown cost her about $100 per wearing as compared to a $500 white wedding fluffy lace which would only be worn once.)

[Rani Zemirah]

Ooooh... new garb all around!  I wish I could afford to purchase your previous garb, LadyK, now that it's FAR too large for you!    Will you be able to alter it all, do you think... or will you simply just sell it to fund the materials to make a new wardrobe for yourself? 

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Ooooh... new garb all around!  I wish I could afford to purchase your previous garb, LadyK, now that it's FAR too large for you!    Will you be able to alter it all, do you think... or will you simply just sell it to fund the materials to make a new wardrobe for yourself?

Rani. All of the too big garb is retired, except the MQoS gown. I am reusing trims and such for other projects. The materials for the next gown project have been already purchased over time.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Ooooh... new garb all around!  I wish I could afford to purchase your previous garb, LadyK, now that it's FAR too large for you!    Will you be able to alter it all, do you think... or will you simply just sell it to fund the materials to make a new wardrobe for yourself?

Rani. All of the too big garb is retired, except the MQoS gown. I am reusing trims and such for other projects. The materials for the next gown project have been already purchased over time.

[Rani Zemirah]

Retired?  As in... packed away in a closet or box... where no one will ever see it again?!?  Oh... now I'm sad for all of that loveliness!    

I definitely understand reusing the trims and embellishments, however.  That will save quite a bit! 

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

No need to feel sad, Rani. I plan to reuse the fabrics as well for other things like bodices and hats.

[Rani Zemirah]

No need to feel sad, Rani. I plan to reuse the fabrics as well for other things like bodices and hats.

Ahh... well, that's okay, then!    I know you've got some incredibly lovely fabrics, and I'm glad they will still get to be seen and enjoyed.  I'm looking forward to seeing your progress on the next project you start, also!  I love to watch your hard work turning into such lovely finery!  Besides getting to see your beautiful new garb taking shape... it also makes me feel just a little less obsessive/compulsive for all of the attention to detail that I put into my own creations!  lol