gold & red Venetian gown

2-3 July 2005
I, too, have caught the Venetian bug. I'm really in love with the lovely, courtesan style of gown and since my mom-in-law found some
wonderful fabric that just screams for this style, that's what I'm going to do. Below are a couple of portrait that have fabrics in the colors
that mine will be. The first is a detail from the 1565 fresco The Concert by Fasolo, the second is Portrait of a Lady with a Heron from the
1560s by Varonese. Next to that is my fabric. The pattern is rather small, but it's very pretty. I have just over 4 yards, so I'll be cutting
carefully, but after Joe's Blue Gent's Outfit, that's not a problem. I am thinking that if I'm really careful that I'm be able to squeak out sleeves
similar to those in the Elenora de Toledo portrait.

I pulled out the paper pattern I made when I made the first take on the green silk gown, figuring that I'd be able to easily alter it to make the
bodice for this dress. Wrong. After trying to understand just why the back was about 2 ½" too large, I realized that this problem wasn't
going to solve itself, so I cleaned & reorganized the laundry area in our basement. I came back and it hit me, for some odd reason I'd
become totally incapable of reading my own notes and couldn't figure out that the edge of the paper isn't where I should be cutting if the
back piece is solid.   I needed to use the other line I'd  added to the pattern in order to make the back small enough. I re-cut the back
piece and what do you know, it fit!
I then cut the pieces out of the real fabric, which kinda scared me- this is one of the most patterned fabrics I've used, the gold silk for the
liningthat I'd found in my stash, and another interlining fabric because I'm going to boning this bodice with cable ties instead of wearing a
corset.

I have the advantage of having a beautiful camicia that I purchased quite a while ago from a vendor at the Mac Fair, who I never saw
again. I've added some lace to the cuffs & I'm going to pleat the neck- it was originally done with an elastic in a bias tape tube. I left the
wrists this way. It seemed like too big a hassle to change both. I'm thinking of adding some subtle stitch or trim to hold the pleats in place,
but since I also wear this with my Thistle Kirtle when it's Italian, I don't want to use gold trim because that's accented with silver.

5 July
There isn't much to tell about the making of the bodice. It went together (so far) pretty easily. I used some nice cotton chambray and some
muslin as the inner layers that the boning channels were stitched into. I am not a very busty lady so I was able to get away with a total of 12
cable ties for boning. 5 on each side of the front and 2 in the back. Below you can see the arrangement of the bones in the front. They are
in a sort of V shape in the back piece. 

Unlike the portraits of the time, the shoulders of my bodice are further up on my shoulders. I am very narrow in the shoulders and things
tend to fall off them.  I am seriously considering narrowing the side of the shoulder straps to help make them look more appropriate.
I used the lovely Jen Thompson's wonderful method for lacing on the inside of the bodice. Here's how I did it. I took the 2 layers that hold
the boning with the boning inserted and attached the gold silk lining all the way around the outside. Then I attached the ribbons with the
machine though all three layers. It's really rather sturdy.
Only problem is that once I had it on myself it didn't look so good. The V wasn't right. After looking at it for some time, I figured out that the
only problem was that the 1st bone should be over further. How the heck does one fix that?
Well since I was already planning to stitch the outer fabric to the other 3 as if they were only one layer, I am going to move the front stitches
over so that when it is turned it will flip the bone into the correct place. Smart, huh? I'm then going to steal a page from Sarah of Mode
Historique who added a line of hand top stitching to her bodice, based on evidence from Titian, to anchor the bone in place.  Then I'll get
to start the sleeves! I've already cut the two largest panels for the skirt, but I want to know just how much I'll have left if I cut sleeves.

8 July
I spent a little bit of time working on my camicia, it's one I already had, but it needed a little bit of help.  I took my serger to the neck
opening, I narrow rolled hemmed the edge & cut the old larger hem at the same time. It gives that pretty rufflely edge that is seen on so
many camicias. I then used a gathering stitch, which I finally figured out on my machine-duh Peg, you have to loosen the tension for it to
work right! So, all I really need to do is hand stitch the gathers so they stay in place.

My bodice is almost finished! I did end up narrowing the shoulder straps, it looks very nice- I haven't finished the arm side edges yet,
so they will be slightly more narrow. I also ended up using the machine for the top stitches on the edge of the boning. My hand stitches
are not as pretty as I'd like them to be, so I cheated and used a longer than average stitch length.

I'm not sure but wearing a nude colored tank underneath the camicia might be cheating too, but I feel a bit less naked with it on.
Overall, it's pretty comfy, but I'm glad it didn't close up the edges yet, b/c the bone that runs to my underarm it too long. I'll be MUCH
more comfortable if I trim them.

The photos also show rather well just how short my hair is- not very courtesan-like, huh? & I'm also planning on having about 2½ cut off!
I'm contemplating making a wiglet similar to the one Alyxx made, but I'm also thinking of putting that off and trying out the Florentine
style of little Bia, by just having a bob.

11 July
I finished cutting the sleeves from the outer fabric and was very pleased to find I have enough fabric left to add a 28" panel to the skirt.
This should make the skirt nice and full. I haven't yet looked to see if I have enough of the gold silk to line the sleeves, but I'm guessing
that I don't. I might, but it would only be with some very creative cutting. I was really nervous about cutting the sleeves, but I think they
will look beautiful. Because I had so little fabric left to work with (I'm still hoping to get a little purse out of the scraps) I didn't worry about
matching the pattern very well. It's a busy pattern and since it matches so well on the bodice, I just made sure that the pieces didn't match
in the same way on each arm. I have no photos b/c the batteries on the camera died and I haven't had a chance to replace them.

12 July
 Today is one of those days I feel like a genius! I managed to squeak out the lining of the sleeves from the gold silk and I've figured out
 a plan with pearls at the connection points. I machine tacked the sides together and a trio of pearls will cover the join. It should look
 very nice. But this is not what I feel all genius-y about. I was thinking about the fact that I'd hate to goof up the lines of the gown by
 having to carry a purse and that a pocket would be oh so helpful when it hit me. I have 3 panels for the skirt, they are 2 different sizes
 by shifting the the small panel from the center back to the side front I'd be able to have a useful pocket in the seam between the small
 and 1 of the large panels! I'm pretty good at putting in pockets since my mom always want them in her skirts, so this should be a
 piece of cake. I'm just really glad that I didn't stitch things together the other way and start figuring out the geometry of the the skirt
 and bodice issue before I thought of this.

23 July
I was re-reading a section of Jessamyn's Italian gown diary tonight when I came upon pictorial evidence of the way I'm attaching my
sleeves to the bodice, using loops on the bodice to buttons on the sleeves. I'd been thinking of doing this for a while when I noticed that
Julie did this on her latest gown. I think it looks very nice. Anyway, to make a long story short, here's the image from Jessamyn's site that
shows sleeves attached this way. Nice, huh?

Last weekend I found buttons to use this way on my sleeves, but they are in the process of being antiqued, because they were
a bit too shiny as is. I'm using the Delta Paint Jewels Liquid Lead in the gold color and gently patting the paint on with a cotton ball.
It is allowing the buttons to still be gold, but in a much more subtle way. I also found a great deal at JC Penney on gold hoop earrings.
They are the small style I've been on the prowl for and are 24 k gold over sterling silver. The 3 pair were marked $30, but rang up for
$15.  I couldn't have purchased cruddy ones for that price! I'm working on replacing the missing jewels in the brooch with polymer
clay ones. I haven't decided yet, but I'm thinking of just making black ones, any thoughts?

I should also add that I finished the rework of the camicia. I liked the way the neck looked so much that I decided to do the same on
the wrists. I found some very narrow white trim to hold the gathering in place.  It's subtle and very pretty.

24 July
eek! I just learned that it's currently projected to be in the 70s this next weekend in the Milwaukee area, 'course that could change, but
now I'm feeling very motivated to finish this gown! Let's see how much I can get done today.

25 July
So close: I have the skirt half stitched to the bodice. For some reason I cannot understand the directions one finds online for cartridge
pleats. I just don't get it. What I do understand is the directions given in the Costume Technician's Handbook, so that's the way I do it.
This means that I stitch every pleat to the bodice on the bottom and the top of the pleat. It makes twice as much work, but that's ok with
me. At this point I have the bottom of each pleat stitched. I like to use a curved needle and button or upholstery thread for this layer and
regular thread for the top stitches.

I also finished the sleeves. I added just one pearl at the connection points of the panels and then the buttons at the top. They look really
cool. I'd have photos, but my camicia was being re-washed with softener after it came out crunchy from the Rit Sun Gaurd treatment.

Yet so far away: I decided to sit at he computer for a bit wearing the gown to see how it feels. Really good move, because
I was in pain. Not just sore, pain in my underarm area on the left side. I took off the gown and stared at the arm opening for a while,
then grabbed a tape measure. Turns out that the right side opening was almost and inch larger in circumference than the left. No
wonder it hurt! After taking a seam ripper to the bias tape and cutting the arm opening deeper, I'm much more comfortable. Although
annoyed that  I hadn't figured this out in early fittings when it would have been easier to fix, b/c there wasn't a skirt attached, I'm happy
that I didn't try wearing it to faire and then end up in pain all day. I did that with take 1 of the Green Silk dress and I paid for it for days
afterward.

If I have the energy tonight after Glass Slipper, I'll re-stitch the bias in the arm opening and see how far I get on the rest  of the skirt.
I'd really like it to have a couple of days to hang out before hemming.

28 July
Everything but the skirt hemming is finished on the gown. I haven't had a chance to work on a hairpiece, so I'm back to thinking of
wearing mine like this:

Her hair is a tiny bit longer than mine, but I think I could get it to work well. This btw, is Bia de Medici the Illegitimate Daughter of Cosimo
de Medici. The portrait is from before 1542, the year she died, by Bronzino. It seems she was a favorite at the Florentine court although
she was rather sickly. My guess is that her hair may have been kept short because it was easier to care for her without the trouble of
also dealing with her hair. If anyone asks about my hair I'll just tell them that the nuns were forced to cut it to save my life & let them draw
their own conclusions!

2 August
I wore the Venetian and just as I do with most new outfits learned that I need to make a few small changes. One bone on the left side
is still poking my boob wrong, so that needs help and on the right side there is a loop for the sleeves that is now goofed up.
The elastics worked great, but the furthest back one on the right had the elastic pull out and the fabric covering stay put for it's
stretched all funny. Looks like I'll be opening up arm wholes again, grrr!

Looking pretty similar, huh?
 

I still need to figure out something for my hair, it didn't look awful in my normal bob, but not very period.

I'm going to drop some photos onto the armoire, but the best ones are on mom-in-law's computer and somehow we left w/o burning
a cd.

7 August
Too busy with kids' show to work on anything of my own, I'll make modifications as soon as I'm able.

13 August
Well, I totally goofed the hairpiece!
I was almost finished attaching the braids to the base when I realized that I needed more hair. No problem, I just made it a point to
stop and pick up some more while I was out. This is where the goof starts. They were out of the size package I'd purchased b4, ok,
I'll buy this larger one in the same color. I got it home and they were not the same color or texture and hair is not returnable. I decided
that they looked terrible together, so I pulled the braids that were attached to the base off and began mixing the hair and in about an
hour I had a mess! Now I have a nonexistent hairpiece and a very large ball of reddish hair.

The only good thing about this is that I now have plenty of extra hair to make rats for other styles. Thank goodness I'd only spent $5 on
hair and nothing on the base.

Still haven't had a chance to think about this gown's modifications, but there are photos up on the armoire page.

23 August
I think I have finally figured out what to do in regard to my hair for this gown. I'm taking a cue from the very few portraits I've seen
that have women wearing something on their heads and making a sort of a caul. It's going to made of a similarly colored fabric
and not nearly as baggy as other cauls I have made. I started with an 8½" circle, then a 9½" circle, now I'll try a 10½" circle and
see how that works. The look is pretty good, but I have to be able to fit my hair under it and have it say put too. Normally for a caul
I use a circle about 13", so this one will be much closer fitting.

23 September
I completed the caul -like balzo and guess what! I sorta like wearing my bobbed hair down with this dress, who'd ha thunk it?

Sometime after wearing this at Bristol, I removed 2 of the bones from the bodice since one was poking my boob. I really don't
require the extra bones, so it's not a big deal, but thought someone might be interested. I also stitched a little length of the
rattail cord that I used as lacing into the bodice so I have something to tie the lacing to, works very well.

Anyway, there are more armoire photos and I'm working on the descriptions for Bella to show off my work in the Italian Showcase
sometime next year. Other than that, this gown is finished! I got a second chance to wear it on Chocolate, Wine and Romance
weekend at MNRF, it's very odd not to wear a farthingale after wearing one, fun, but the invasion of my personal bubble is amazing.