Bodice pattern drafting

[mollymishap]

Can you "get away with not adding trim to the bodice"?

If you were playing anyone else but QEI it probably would be OK...but since you're not, I'd say add the trim.  Baste in on if you think you won't like it later on & won't be using the gown for Lizzie again.  It won't detract from the fit, and if you place it strategically, it will complement it.

Remember: Bessie liked her BLING.

[Orphena]

I actually just used the last of my trim on the sleeve panes... Didn't quite have enough as it was! I still have jewels and such to add bling, just not my pretty gold trim.  I will try to get more, but I doubt the place re ordered yet... So I guess Bess may have to slum it a bit for right now!

[mollymishap]

Where did you buy the trim?  Do you have enough time to order some online if we can ID it?

[gem]

I don't think it would be a problem to mix/combine trims (ie, use a different trim on the bodice than on the skirt/sleeves). It will add fancy layers, and as we all agree: the more the better! And the bodice is the focus of your costume (besides your beautiful face!), so it can have its own trimwork (you could even make some with the scraps from your forepart).

Here's a nice shot (is this Syrilla?!) that shows the layering of different trims to great effect:



The trim across the top of the bodice echoes the guards at the bottom of the skirt--but it's not identical, and the guards at the bottom are different than the trim along the skirt opening. I also like how she didn't follow the opening of the bodice; a better chance to work with meagre scraps!

When do you debut, Orphena?

[Orphena]

I need to be able to wear the gown by this coming Friday. I have Tuesday off, but I may have difficulty seeing for a few hours, as I am getting drops put in my eyes by a specialist.

I think I have worked out a solution, that doesn't involve the black trim, and uses the last bits of my gold trim (the non lace one)

Excuse the pins, but this is where I am heading...



Detail of the shoulder:

And, of course, I will center this on the back:

[mollymishap]

Lookin' good!

May I suggest an alternate placement for the bling on the back?   Not only would it be uncomfortable to lean back in a chair & have the jewels poking into your back, but you also don't want people to be pointing at your back & saying oooh!  ahhh!  You want them looking at your front and saying OOOH!  AHHH!    It invites more interaction.  If you want some decoration in the back, get a large jeweled decorative pin and a long strand of pearls and use the pin to secure the pearls to the back of your bodice.  It looks more period and it's functional, too.

But anyway, my suggestion is to move the bling to the front along the top edge of your bodice.  I forget what it's called...billiments?  No, I think that's for a headpiece.  Anyway, something like this:

          V
O---O---O---O

Where the Os are the yellow jewels, the --- are those gold filigree pieces & the V is your cleavage.  That way, the two jewels you have right now on the front won't feel so lonely & you'll get more bang for your buck!

ETA clarification about brooch placement: The brooch would be pinned roughly where the first cluster of pearls is on the back of the bodice in your picture or just a teeny bit lower.  The pearls would be worn as a "normal" necklace, only that the back where it touches your neck would be secured by the brooch.  I hope that makes sense...

[gem]

That looks great! Totally agree w/Molly about the jewels (and got a giggle out of "the V is your cleavage!").

I won't bother you now, but when you have a chance, I'd love to know how you did the paned upper sleeves--I love the bronzey/greeny/gold silk lining! I'm planning something similar for this year's Saxon gown, and hadn't quite figured it out yet.

[Orphena]

Thanks for your input, ladies!

Molly - loved your diagram! The back- I think it will be okay - quite honestly, there are rarely chairs with backs at faire, and with my corset, there is not a lot of leaning.... I just want to add some interest on the back as well!

Gem - I will type something up when I'm at work about the sleeves - I want to keep a record anyways!

Ok - so the hooks need some moving - and there is no corset on the mannequin, or I need a modesty panel, but how about this for trim / gem placement :

[mollymishap]

LOVE it!!!

A modesty panel would be a great idea.  It doesn't have to be any more complicated than a tube of red fabric that's got enough stiffening inside so as to not shift around on you. 

Something I've done to hide hooks (and you can alternate them for added security, btw) is to place them so that even with the pull there will be no gap, then go ahead and really secure them with strong hand stitching through all layers, THEN place your gold trim on top to hide the hand stitching.

You're almost there!!!

[Orphena]

Sleeve Caps / Puffed / Paned Shoulders.

I adapted a pattern out of Tudor Tailor to start this project – it is part of the "Fitted English Gown" project in the book. I built the Sleeve Caps as separate pieces from the gown, but they will be permanently attached to the bodice. All in all, this took me a VERY full day to do just the sleeve caps. Sorry for the novel – but details take words – I was in too great a rush to take pictures as I went – so sorry – next time, perhaps!

I started by drawing out the basic shape of the sleeve foundation on square inched graph paper. I recently bought a French Curve, which helped keep my curves nice and smooth – but quite a lot of moving the curve was required to get the curves close to the pattern in the book. (So don't think you are just going to put the ruler down, draw a line, and be done!). I adapted the pattern for both length (as my armhole is a little larger than theirs) and height (As I wanted a bigger sleeve cap). I cut that piece out of lining (Cotton) and a layer of cotton canvas – for sturdiness. I then put 3 lines of boning casing on the canvas running vertically from bicep edge to shoulder, and one across them from front to back. (This is illustrated in the book – just don't stitch across any of the vertical casings as you attach the horizontal one!).  I put the shorter bones in right away (and stitched them closed), but did not insert the long (front to back) one yet.

Going back to the pattern, I traced out another copy, extending it up a good inch, and down about 2 (This actually made my panes longer than I needed, and I ended up trimming a few inches off the bottom – but I would say to start too long, and cut down is still a better idea than being too short!). I also added about 2 inches of width. From there, I split the pattern into 5 panes (It may have been wiser to copy this at this time, but everyone works differently!), simply by drawing angled lines through the pattern. I noted on my pattern to include some seam allowance when cutting, marked the front edge of each pane, and numbered the pieces. I cut 2 layers of fashion fabric for each pane – 20 pieces of fabric in all. I added a line of trim down the center (ish) of the top of each pane, matching where they began and ended to it's mate– making sure that I had a left and right for each pane – this is quite important – I stacked my panes up – so pane number 1 was a stack of 4 pieces of fabric all aligned, wrong side up, right side up, wrong side up, right side up. I put trim on the TOP pane (Wrong Side up), and the BOTTOM pane (Right side up) Then I sandwiched my lace trim in the seam allowance (Which I obviously ran out of, as panes 2 & 4 on each sleeve didn't get any trim!), and sewed the panes up (leaving the top and bottom open), pressing each so the edge was crisper. I pinned the panes to the foundation (with the lining underneath) keeping everything in the correct order, leaving the bottom of the panes unpinned at this point. I also marked which sleeve was the left sleeve (as the front and back were beginning to look much the same!) I decided, ultimately NOT to sew it all together and have to turn it to hide the seam allowance on the inside – the boning was going to make that difficult, and I was just too tired to figure out what order I would need to pin everything together!

The fabric store was now open, so I popped over, and bought a meter of duponi silk (A half meter might have been sufficient, but I wasn't taking any chances – besides, at $10 a meter...). I laid the silk out, put the pinned foundation on the silk, and added a rough inch or so all around – as I wanted the silk to be able to puff out between the panes. One thing I would do slightly differently next time is to keep the bottom edge (Bicep edge) wider, rather than tapering to follow the curve of the pattern. I pinned the silk into the layers, working the top edge first. My layers were then (from the bottom) lining, canvas, with boning casing on the top, silk, and panes (right side up). Then I pinned the bottom (bicep) edge of the silk, leaving the excess to float aimlessly in the middle. At that point, I started playing with the panes, getting them to lay as I wanted, changing the angle of the bottom edge of each pane, and folding the excess fabric out of the way. (It's about here that I took the picture). From there, I trimmed the excess away, and kept everything pinned in place. I cut bands of fashion fabric – 3 inches wide, 1 pair as long as the shoulder edge, 1 pair as long as the bicep edge, and pressed it in half, then in half again, so the long edges met in the middle. I probably should have cut this on the bias, but I made it work. These strips became my seam binding -  I carefully ensured all layers were sandwiched between, and sewed them up. Note that the short edges (the under arm seam) are still open – I did not sew these up at all (yet), through any of the layers.

Finally, I carefully (patiently) inserted my long bones into their casing, and added about ½ meter of netting as stuffing - the netting goes between the canvas and the silk (I did try a version without putting the long bone in as well, but it made the inside of the sleeve more bunchy and stuffed. I do think that long line of boning helps). At this point, the short edges can be sewn up – either into the underarm seam as is suggested, or you can do what I am planning, and just seal them up, and then use a tie to pull the edges in. This is as far as I've actually completed – my bodice needs the shoulder seam fitted properly over my corset (on me!), but they are basically ready to attach.

My plan is to turn the shoulder edge inwards, and stitch it to the outside of the arm hole, which should increase the "upwards" puff of the sleeve cap. The directions (and likely any sane person) suggest that they should be either sewn directly into the armhole seam, or at least sewn into the inside of the arm hole – but my idea is to mount buttons onto the wrong side of that shoulder edge (which would now be facing upwards), and use that to attach my lower sleeves to. This method also keeps things from getting too bulky under the arm, which I don't enjoy.

The instructions in the book are probably a great guideline, but I have made a couple of pairs of paned slops by this point, so I've come to understand that there is something natural about playing with the panes until they look right – you cannot do this by strict measuring – be prepared to play with the bottom angle until it sits how you like – and then struggle to get the other one to match. I DO recommend doing both sleeves at the same time – if I had split it up, I doubt I would have had the motivation to do the other one! This is NOT a project you can do for the first time in a couple of hours.

[Orphena]

Molly - Yep... you are completely right.

My hooks and eyes are actually alternated - but I didn't go through all the layers - which is why it is pulling open. Hiding it with trim is not something I had thought of - but will definately do.

Tonight I have enlisted m'lord to get me in to the corset, and the bodice, final fit the shoulder seam, and then see where the hooks need to go, exactly. I will move any in, that need it, and reinforce the stitching by going all the way through all layers, and then add the trim.

Pretty much all that is left is hand stitching...

[Orphena]

Ok, so, I need a solution that can be accomplished quickly.

After an entire day of hand sewing, the trim & sleeves are on. The sleeves are 1. a smidge too long, and 2. way too bulky. That I can live with for right now. The major issue is the fit. I had the hooks on, but the whole bodice was too loose,, so I re stitched the front,  moved the hooks, and made sure to sew right through all layers. The front no longer gapes open, but in order to close the front, I need to get so tightly laced that, well, it's just not possible. This also makes the whole bodice rise up, gaping at the shoulder.

Can I cut a very small (like less than an inch) panel and put hooks on it, adding a center front panel to make it wearable?

[mollymishap]

Well, if it's not wearable as it is, you're going to have to add that panel.  If so, might I suggest using a strip of the black and bejeweling *it* all the way up & down so that it looks like you did it on purpose?  There's no way you're going to "hide" a panel of the red, so make it obvious & (strangely, therefore) less noticeable that way.  What do you think?

[Orphena]

molly - it is defiantley something I can adjust, when I have more time. I didn't do anything crazy like trim it away - it is all folded into the bodice.

I went ahead and started on the panel, added hooks on one side, and stitched it right to the other side - no sense in having more hooks ready to pop open! Besides, my poor fingers just couldn't handle more hooks!
I did have a strip of the same gold trim on it, but ripped it off this morning before work. The plan is to add those gold filigree diamonds to it. It ties in the skirt, and of course I intended to do that! 

I'm just so tired. Not much left to go. Move 2 gems on the top front, add design to back, add filigree to front. Finish beading under sleeves (on breaks at work!), attach feathers to fan, add pearls to wig, and girdle if time. If not, I have another that will do.

We'll see how far I get tonight! 2 evenings and Friday morning to go!   

[mollymishap]

[snip]

I'm just so tired. Not much left to go. Move 2 gems on the top front, add design to back, add filigree to front. Finish beading under sleeves (on breaks at work!), attach feathers to fan, add pearls to wig, and girdle if time. If not, I have another that will do.

We'll see how far I get tonight! 2 evenings and Friday morning to go!

I hear you about being tired.  Nothing like making a gown in an insanely short amount of time, but you're almost there!  You can do it!!!