1180-1210 Crown Tournament Commission - Part 3.1 - Bliaut and Ennelynne's Test Fit

Collar

At the end of my last update, I had just pinned and mostly assembled the maunches and had laid out the gown with all the seams pinned down. I hand sewed all the seams down with a running stitch, and measured and cut the gores for the sides. At this point I decided to open the neck seam and start work on the lining for the collar. I machined down both long sides and hand sewed it around the curves. It was then flipped to the "good" side of the garment and pinned down flat. I didn't get any pictures of the process, I did it so fast I didn't even think about documenting it.

After getting it all pinned down flat it moved to the ironing board for another ironing. I'm learning quickly the value of ironing at as many points during this process as I can.

After that I decided to pop it on my head and get a test fitting to make sure everything laid flat and that I liked how it looked. The first results were a bit tricky to judge, as the sides of the garment aren't closed and that makes everything lay a little wrinkly around the shoulder area. I decided that I didn't like the shape of the lining on the back of the garment, and adjusted the way it was faced. 

Before adjusting

After adjusting

 My roommate was snapping these photos for me as I was obviously wearing the garment, and I later went back and straightened the seams on the "adjusted" design. It now lays completely flat and looks really nice :)

The Test Fit

We then packed all our things up and got in the car and headed down to Ennelynne in Jupiter for her test fitting. She was not thrilled about being shoved into a garment with well over 100 pins in it. 

Her "Can't Move, Dress Will Stab Me" Face.

The test fitting went really well - except - I realized that I had over estimated how much fabric was going to be taken up in my *hand sewn* seams, and the dress was too big in the midsection and would not lace tightly enough to give the look I wanted. So. We pinned. And we cut. And we pinned. And we cut. 

I ended up deciding to take the length out of the back part of the gown only. Ideally this won't change the overall look of the garment any, maybe just move the lacing seam a little further back on the body, which should actually improve the overall aesthetic. Here's a few pictures of the test fit. 

I'm sure she's going to hate me, but I just love the facial expressions in all these photos, LOL. The dress had several hundred pins in it, both down the sides, in the sleeves on all sides, and around the neck and collar.

Getting her into it wasn't so bad, but getting her *out* of it proved to be a bit more of a challenge and there were several pins all over the floor. Over all, I was really pleased with the fitting though and the adjustments that were required weren't too bad. Once I got the entire garment on, I wished that I had made the facing on the neck line red also, the contrast with the gold undergown just didn't pop quite as much as I had hoped. 

Facing the Collar

Then began the process of hand sewing down the facing on the collar with teensy tiny whip stitches, so as not to be seen. I had originally purchased a gold thread to do this, but ended up using a salmon pink I had that was a thinner thread and disguised itself more easily into the reds and peaches in the gold of the silk.

Hand sewing the facing down

Finished edge, whip stitches

The entire facing, post stitching but not yet ironed

After pressing. Stitches are virtually invisible!

Assembling Maunches and Gores

Open edges of the maunch, folded to show lining

 The next step was to put together the maunches. I had wanted to hand sew this entire garment, but was quickly running out of time. I'm down to the point where I have a little over a week and a half to get this entire commission finished, so it's time to bust out the sewing machine.

The seams on the open edge of the maunches were machined flat so that they won't roll, and the Elizabethan seams on the gores were pinned and machined flat. I did, however, still hand whip the gores into the garment to give it a nice finished look.
There are very few visible machine seams on this garment. The only places they exist area hemming the gore edges, and along the open edge of the maunches.

Sewing in the seams along the gores was the most time consuming. I used a double strand of DMC embroidery floss, folded in half and waxed. It worked beautiflly for the seams.

After all this was finished, it was time to check the fit again. I slipped it on myself and although it doesn't have any lacings yet I found it to be very comfortable, and everything hung where it was supposed to.

I have had trouble in the past with getting gores in an even place on both sides of a garment, so I made it a point to measure, pin, then measure again, then to put it on and make extra sure. It seems like I've finally figured it out because everything hung exactly where I expected it to.

Adding the Sleeves

The last step to this was attaching the maunches to the dress. Easier said than done. I had a heck of a time getting them even, and I still think they are going to be too long for Ennelynne. She's going to have to -deal- though, and the dress is designed to be worn with the edges folded back anyhow to show off the lining. I ended up machining the attachment seam and then hand felling the edges to close the seams. THIS dress has absolutely zero exposed seam allowances - a task I'm very proud of :) 

In the above pictures you can see both sides of the seam. The black portion is the "upper" arm and I decided to running stitch this to minimize the risk of catching the seam. This is the side that the arm "pushes through" to get the dress on and  I didn't want a finger or piece of jewelry to be likely to catch in the seam. This portion will also be hidden underneath a band of trim, so I wasn't worried about the stitches showing through.

The other side, the red portion, is the maunch and the red is actually the lining. I opted to whip stitch on this side as that seam should never encounter and resistance, and that way I was able to tack only to the red lining and not to the over gown. No visible stitching from the outside that way :)

Once all that was done, it was time to put it on with all its layers and see how it looks. 

Success.

I can't wait to see it when it's laced down the sides and skin tight. I had it pinched under my arms in the side photo and it looks like it's going to give a really clean profile. The lacing will tighten up the shoulder and bust area and create a slight rouching around the midsection. The dress is slightly longer in the front, and will be able to be lifted in the front by a belt to show off the undergarments, if so desired :)

All that's left is to cut and decorate the arm bands, and add the gilding and detail work and this piece will be entirely finished.

I'll leave you with some 12th century porn. I'm *so* showing off my underoos!