Making the gown
I
organized the Elizabeth and the Pirate event for the GBACG in February
2007 and since I was to play good Bess I needed to make an appropriate
costume.
Luckily I had quite a bit of squirreled-away fabric to pull from for the bodice and skirt--a lovely light eggplant colored velveteen. I found some fabulous brocade that would work for the sleeves and a forepart (decorated skirt front). The sketch to the left show my original concept (click to enlarge).
What didn't work was my idea for creating some trim out of some black braid I had. A quick trip to an old favorite fabric haunt on Mission Street netted me some incredible trim. The final trip was to General Bead to find some garnet looking beads to pair with some old gold beads for the sleeve and forepart.
Pattern: I used Margo Anderson's Elizabethan Lady's Underpinnings for the corset and her Elizabethan Lady's Wardrobe for the bodice, sleeves and forepart. I tried to use the partlet pattern but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to cut it out, let alone sew it. Everything else, however, fit together like a dream!
The
bodice is made in four simple pieces, back, two side-fronts and shoulder
straps.Here's a shot of the bodice which I lined with some cotton I
had laying around (thank god for my fabric stash!).
If you wanted to make the bodice all in one piece you could fit a muslin first and cut out in your fashion fabric. Or, if you wanted to adjust for weight changes you could put grommets in the side pieces and add laces for more flexibility in fitting.
I used large, covered, coat hooks and eyes (from Britex) to close the front but could also have used grommets and laces. the front is boned and I also put bones on both sides of the side seams.
To the right is the final fitting and adjusting where I wanted the straps to fit for a nice snug fit.
I
worked with various ideas on where I wanted to place the trim and then
hand-sewed it down. I also added a peplum along the bottom of the bodice.
Close-up of the trim. I sewed the gold braid on each side of the trim--it is really spectacular trim and was it was very inexpensive! Click on the trim photo for larger view.
To
the right is the finished trim design.
In
order to keep the hooks and eyes from showing and give a more finished
appearance to the front of the bodice I created two rolls of fabric,
wrapped with gold braid and sewed to each side.
These are the trimmed sleeve caps.
Fitting
the bodice over the skirt and forepart. The skirt was 4 huge rectangle
pieces that I cartridge pleated into a waistband.
I used carpet thread for added strength when doing the cartridge pleating..
The first photo shows the inside of the waistband (click on photo for
larger image).
This
second photo shows the outside (click on image for larger image).
Here
is a close-up of the sleeves and beading. Click on the image for larger
view.
The
finished gown. You can also view photos from the Queen Elizabeth and
the Pirate event here.
I've also added 4 new new photos below when I wore the gown at the GBACG Annual Open House in February 2009. I made a matching fan to go with it and found a new wig. Click on the photos for larter view. (Photos by Sally Norton)
