Gallery of Finished Projects

[Orphena]

Rowan, your gown is stunning!

I would suggest pearls. If you are beading onto a patterned trim, look for intersections to keep your spacing nice and even. Other option would be using a gold bead, or a contrast - perhaps burgandy?

I always play with my beads in a couple of different patterns until the one that I like jumps out at me!

[Rowan MacD]

   Thank you Orphena! 
   I finished sewing the cap sleeves on last night.  I think the bodice actually fits better with them; they certainly help keep the shoulder straps where they need to be; and I can use my hair ties to attach the under-sleeves rather than cord ties since they are well hidden. 
   The idea of beading the guard is daunting.. it's 4-5 yards of sage velveteen.  I think I will start with a line o pearls to edge it with, or would that seem too much?  At least the pearls come in strings for trimming ($2.99 yd!)  I have gold beads too.

[Orphena]

Rowan - you can reduce your cost by leaving spaces between the pearls. You can always go back and add more in later.

I beaded an entire forepart once - it had diamond shapes woven right into the fabric. I did a bead in the center of every 4 diamonds, and it took me months. I wore it once or twice, and the beads lost their "gold" centers. I was glad then that I hadn't gone every diamond.

Check that your beads won't lose their coating (cheap pearls) or their centers (cheaper seed beads). If your gown is washable, throw a sample fabric / trim / beads into the wash before you start beading!

[Rowan MacD]

 The fabric has a viney pattern.
   In some ways that's an advantage, because extra embellishment isn't needed.  That's why I discarded the first set of panes; that pattern with a strip of trim added on top of it was just too busy.   
  The sage velvet guard is plain; no pattern whatsoever.  I'm just looking to fill in that wide strip of green a little bit to help make it interesting. 
  My gowns are NOT washable.   I sponge them if they need it, but they never go into a machine.
   Machine washing and drying  will destroy most cheap pearls and beads,  I remove the ties from my linen partlets and chemises before laundering because they have pearl drops on them.  I hand wash the ties separately if they are soiled, and bodkin thread them back into the garment after washing.

[gem]

How about couching some of the gold cord from the panes onto the guards? There's the famous Eleanora pattern from her pink gown, reproduced here by this blogger. I thought she'd entered one of Realm of Venus's costuming challenges, where there were closeups of the work in progress, but I can't find them now!)



You would not need to be that elaborate; a simple serpentine pattern, echoing the design in the other trim, would work nicely!

Here's an image of period patterns I see a lot. A version of the one on the far right--or the one on the left, minus the leaves--might be fairly simple! Bonus: simple couching is FAST.

[isabelladangelo]

http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/yourgarb/2009/Isabella.htm

My version of the Eleanora gown took two months to couch all the gold trim.   

Instead, I'd leave off the guards (they weren't common) or I'd add more of the gold rope around the top of the guard. 

[Rani Zemirah]

Rowan, your green gown truly IS stunning!  I think the paned sleeve treatment gives it just the right touch, without overwhelming the bodice. There are some wonderful suggestions here for embellishing the guards, so I'm not even going to try and think of anything more to add!   

[Rowan MacD]

 The gold cord couching sounds like the best bet.   Isabella-I love that gown!

[gypsylakat]

So, I made future hubby a doublet, his first garb!
He still needs a proper shirt, we made do with a dress shirt for being now. I think next time I will lengthen it a bit and bring the shoulders in more..

The pattern directions and I had our disagreements, I felt the instructions fell apart a bit after sewing the shoulder pieces on.. He loves it so I guess that's all that matters.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

The Fantasy Wedding ensemble is boxed up and on its way to my client. This was a pleasure to do. Sent in plenty of time for an October wedding. All I had to do was a minor adjustment on the corset/bodice, as the mockup fit perfectly.



Then I had some time this week to make my husband a pair of Button Fly Pirate pants and a new vest out of some leftover fabric in my stash to wear this weekend. He decided that he is more a Pirate than an Earl. I have a gorgeous dark plum denim that I am going to make him a Pirate coat out of.

[DonaCatalina]

New Slops and sleeves for Don Juan.
The doublet is not new; but it was in the sewing room for repair. That made it convenient for the photo shoot.
New garb for 2014
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[DonaCatalina]

So, I made future hubby a doublet, his first garb!
He still needs a proper shirt, we made do with a dress shirt for being now. I think next time I will lengthen it a bit and bring the shoulders in more..

The pattern directions and I had our disagreements, I felt the instructions fell apart a bit after sewing the shoulder pieces on.. He loves it so I guess that's all that matters.

I think if you have enough fabric to add piccadils, it will be plenty long enough. I really like the look.

[gem]

Dona C, smashing as always!!

I finished an OLD (old, old, old) UFO! Way back when I first started costuming, I decided to make a late 1400s Florentine ensemble, but got stalled at the overgown (giornea, cioppa) when I realized I'd cut the straps on the undergown too wide, and it just looked silly. Fast forward eight years, to the Historical Sew Fortnightly Yellow Challenge, and I decided to yank the thing out again, fix the straps, re-fit the bodice, and attach the skirt!





I have fabric for sleeves, but wanted to see how I'd like wearing the overgown before I committed to something complicated. 

SO happy to have given this another chance, and it was *really* fun to wear.

(And here's a Sewing Shortcut: I remembered from our earlier discussion this summer on cartridge pleated sleeves, that if you press cartridge pleats to the side, they look like/become knife pleats! This fabric has small, evenly-spaced diamonds woven in, with a dot at each center, exactly 1/2" apart. I pulled a single line of thread through every fourth dot, drew up the pleats, and pressed them toward the center. Knife-pleated skirt in no time flat, with no measuring and very little fiddling. Win!!)

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Nice work everyone.

Dona! You two always look sharp. 

[Rani Zemirah]

Beautiful!  Everyone is doing such wonderful work!