Lavender and Blue

This gown that I have been working on has decided to become a bit more complex than I initially thought.

First, the images of the dress in progress do not do the colors justice so here I have two samples that come as close to the actual colors as I have been able to find.

The lavender is serving as the underskirt as well as the undershirt.  Since I plan on being able to use these simple items in multiple outfits, I want them to be as flexible as possible.  That means making them into two separate pieces. The fabric is a very light weight, poly-blend crepe.

The light steel blue is serving as everything else.  It is the bodice, the over-skirt, the over-sleeves, the hip ruffle, the stomacher, and the cuffs.  The over-sleeves, hip ruffle, and cuffs have been lined with white satin while the other items are either lined with another layer of the blue or, in the case of the over-skirt, left unlined.  This blue fabric is actually some weight of upholstery fabric/blue on blue brocade.  I'm not quite sure what this fabric can be classified as, since it was a remnant I was lucky enough to inherit.

Just as a note, the white satin and lavender crepe were also inherited remnants.  Women in my family on both sides have been sewing for generations, and any of the "left over" fabric simply gets handed down.  I consider myself fortunate.

These are the pieces for the bodice.  The cuffs are the small rectangles on either side, the two half circles are the shoulder straps, the one long piece is the bodice, and the shield-like piece is the stomacher.  This picture was taken before any of the lace, beads, or eyes could be attached.  Since I am trying to be as accurate as possible, the entire dress is assembled by tying it onto the doll - hence the eyes. (that's the loop part of a hook and eye, just to clarify)  The stomacher is entirely reversible, and at its center is a medium weight card board.  Since I needed this piece to hold it's shape to lend visual structure to the dress, it is very stiff and bends only slightly.

To the right is the over-skirt.  I did mention before something about a lot of ruffles, didn't I?  It still needs to be hemmed and decorated, but it should give you an idea of the direction this is going.  The split will be centered in the front, putting the lavender underskirt on display.  It is possible that this piece will end up lined if any of the decoration needs the extra support.  On the left is the ruffle, lined, un-decorated, and not yet gathered.  The blue has a seem-line in it while the white satin does not.

The over-sleeve is a large and otherwise bulky item (honestly the skirt is more bulky, but that is to be expected).  The issue it presented was that while the blue could be cut as one large piece, the lining had to be cut as two.  I had no desire to have the seem-line show, so I had to pause the project and go looking for materials.  After a trip to Jo-Ann's I came home with yards of spooled ribbon and laces, as well as a number of other delicious remnants which can be made into yet another Elizabethan inspired gown!  The floral ribbon I ended up using to weave in and out of the lace is actually grey, not blue, but with the darker steel blue beads holding it all in place it's hard to tell.  Plus, it covers up that seem-line perfectly.

This is the last image of this entry.  It is of my doll in the lavender under-skirt and shirt.  Like the over-skirt, I still need to hem everything and add on the eyes to be able to properly tie it all onto her.  There are some points that I will end up fixing along the way, such as the collar - or lack thereof. I'm not going to be going for the large lace ruff, just a simple lavender on gold ribbon with beads.  The waist band will also be changed so it doesn't add as much bulk as it does now.  What this image does not show is the white satin underskirt to help with the shape and the bum roll that will help the under-skirt hold some proper form.

May your stitches be straight, and your thread never tangle.