26 February 2004
One of my oldest and bestest friends asked me to be one of her
bridesmaids. Her other one is her sister (actually the matron of
honor). I must say, I was very flattered that she thought well enough of
me to ask. She then asked me to make the gowns for her sister and I.
I must say, I was very surprised that she thought well enough of my seamstress
skills to ask. So, being the wonderful person that I am, I said yes.
;) We three decided on your basic
renfair outfit of chemise, bodice, and skirt, with variations in the
details. Okasan's only stipulation was that I use the same materials in
both gowns. After a bit of fabric search angst, we decided on using this
tapestry from Fabric.com for the main bodice fabric. Once I get it, I
will take it up to Lubbock (the closest Joann's--gotta love those 40% off
coupons) to see if their linen will work with it. I did up a couple of Photoshop
sketches of what the gowns will look like.
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Matron of Honor
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Bridesmaid (Me!)
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I may or may not do the sleeves for mine. Now I am just waiting for the
fabric.
*ahem* Long time no see! Rest assured, I have not been
(completely) idle. The tapestry arrived in good time, and I eventually
found the fabrics to go with it. Click on the thumbnails to see larger
versions.
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Here is a scan of the actual
fabric. I have to be honest here, when I first pulled it out of the
box--I hated it. My first thought was, "What have I gotten myself
into?" My second thought was "Oh gawd, it smells!" And
it did. Stank to high heaven. It's been washed and dried
several times and sitting out for almost a month and the smell is mostly
gone. I think by the time I've put the bodices together it should be
completely gone. And the pattern and colors have grown on me as
well. You'll notice it's a bit darker than the
image from the web site. I think this is much nicer than the
rusty color I thought it would be, and much closer to Okasan's desired
colors of burgundy and hunter green. I'm not big on the pink, but
those blues are lovely. And the maroon is actually a red and black
weave. I'm thinking again of making sleeves to match (should there
be time) in a light blue linen. |
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These are the fabrics I found to
go with the tapestry. Maroon and evergreen rather than burgundy and
hunter green, but I think they will go well with the tapestry.
Unfortunately, I could not find any fabrics with enough body to not
require lining AND meet the care and price requirements, so the skirts
will be lined. The green will be self-lined and the maroon overskirt
will be lined in tea-stain muslin (with the maroon turned back several
inches so the muslin shouldn't show unless the wind blows the skirt back).
My skirt I'll probably line with the tea-stain as well, but I haven't
decided yet. The green with the dark scroll pattern is a cotton
quilting fabric I found on sale that I thought would be marginally
prettier than a plain solid color (and cost the same) for lining the
bodices. I'll interline them with some of the copious amounts of
plain muslin I have laying around. (I think it breeds when I'm not
looking) |
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I had originally been intending
to make both bodices hook and eye close, but it occurred to me that
getting Kangofu's to fit well enough to close that way will be very
difficult as we reside on opposite sides of the state of Texas. So I
decided to have them lace instead. Lacing is a bit more forgiving to
fitting problems. I had thought to use pewter (or pewter colored)
lacing rings for both bodices, as I didn't fancy making hand-stitched
eyelets through the tapestry and I don't think grommets would look as nice
(or hold up all that well). Plus, I thought they looked really faboo
when Jen Thompson used them on her
1480's Florentine Gown. :) But while I was at Hancock
Fabrics, of all places, I found these sets of gold-tone pewter (?) toggle
clasps that were just the right scale and looked ever-so-much better with
the tapestry than any of the silver things I'd been eying. I think
Kangofu will be happy with these. I am still leaning towards hook
and eye closures for mine, though. We'll see. |
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I plugged Kangofu's measurements
into the corset
pattern generator. The first time I put in the wrong cup size
(note to self: write it down next time!) and ended up with one
wonky looking pattern. After a bit of angst and a quick email to get
the correct size, I had a much more acceptable pattern. Added straps
and tada! Bodice Pattern! Yay! I cut out a mock up of
canvas and stay stitched and then trimmed to the finish edge. I
then shipped it off to Okasan, along with swatches of the fabrics, to see
if it was reasonably close to fitting. While I await the verdict, I
am starting on her skirts. |
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