Vigdis' Venetian adVenture
2005

Photos taken in my sewing room...

Well, here they are! There are many, many photos that we took...
The background is one of my 'rock walls', particularly the "Saint Daniel" 'stained glass' wall.
Click the picture for a page of pictures!

The bodice was taken in almost 4 inches, the armseyes got taken in about 2 inches each, and the sleeves were taken in about 2 inches each. Also, I have a new camicia that is thinner. It has black embroidered stripes!

Crosston Ball
ARGH!! After all that work.. the bodice is now WAY too big on me!
Here are a couple of pictures of the "current" completed state:

I now intend to pull the skirt off and re-do the bodice. It needs to be at LEAST 3 inches smaller!
It's a good thing that I'm shrinking... it's a BAD thing to have to redo all that handwork! [sigh] Oh well. At least I can look on it as a learning experience.
I will update the diary as I re-work the dress. I promise!
I actually intend to make a corset to go under it this time. While it works perfectly fine with the boned bodice, I felt like there was just a bit too much pressure on my poor ladder lacings, causing the dress to pull in a not-happy way.
I need to make the armseyes smaller, and I need a MUCH thinner camicia. The sleeves need to be taken in about 2 inches, because of how wide they are, I can't keep my camicia shoulder puffs out where they belong!

Countdown: 12th Night minus 2 weeks

12th Night!
Well, I did it... It's all done. I finished it yesterday!
(I didn't manage to get any pictures of myself in it...
I'll take pictures in a couple of weeks at Crosston's Dance Ball.)

Fifi, thanks so much for your "trick" on getting the skirt right for the pointed bodice!
It worked PERFECTLY!

Countdown: Today is 12th Night!

tick.... tick.... tick....
Last night, I finished stitching in the skirt. Then, had to pause to throw together hubby's under shirt! This morning, I tossed together a set of sleeves. They're just plain ol' bag sleeves that are tied into the bodice. I may do different sleeves later... I have another 3/4 yard of the sleeve fabric.
Trying on the dress, I seem to have lost about an inch in my waist since I built the darn thing! It's a _little_ too big... but it will suffice for this weekend.

Countdown: 1 day til 12th Night!

I have the skirt half-way pleated now. I should be able to finish pleating & get most of the skirt attached tomorrow. It's amazing, really, how much 222 inches is!
Hopefully, I'll be able to get to the sleeves on Thursday. I really _do_ need them...
I still need to figure out what I'll be wearing as jewelry & what to do with my hair. [sigh]
I'm still loving my fabric... which is a GOOD thing. :)

Half-way pleated:	Closeup of pleats:
Lots & LOTS of silk pins:	Fabric detail:

Countdown: 4 days til 12th Night

Okay, finished up the hand stitching on the bodice. It's all ready to have the skirt attached. I may, if I have time, make a couple of adjustments on the center front top so it doesn't look like it's peaking up at the bust. It really does go straight across, but it doesn't look like it. I think if I make the points slope down a bit, it will look straight. You can see from the side shot that is IS actually straight across... gotta love perspective.
The skirt is all sewn together and the seams pressed. But, I didn't get started on the pleating yet. I plan on doing that tomorrow.
I was able to work the camicia to the right level, too... It's now low-necked enough, and it shows over the bodice in back. Which is what I was aiming for. :)

Front of covered bodice: See how it seems to peak up at the top front center? Another shot of the front
Side shot:	Back shot:
Teeny-tiny stitches:

Countdown: 5 days til 12th Night

Well, today was a TON of hand stitching... and I've almost got the entire bodice done. I've got another 18 inches or so to go. I should be able to finish that up and get going on pleating the skirt tomorrow.
No pictures today, I don't want to try the thing on when it's full of silk pins (I know, silly me)...

Countdown: 6 days til 12th Night

Okay, I didn't get hardly anything done on the 30th... It wasn't worth it's own update box. And no pictures were taken. I took the hip curve up and took the shoulder straps in a bit. I think that did the trick.

Today, I got quite a bit done! I finished my camicia. Took the "first cuts" in my fashion fabric. Cut out the skirt panels. Cut out, and mostly have pinned in place, the bodice outer layer!
The camicia neckline is a bit higher than I intended... but I'm not going to worry about it right now. I'm getting too close to D-day. I'll most likely end up making a second one anyway. And this one will work quite well under other Italian fashions.

Finished camicia:	Camicia neckline:
Camicia with bodice in place, front view:	Camicia with bodice in place, back view:
First cut of the fabric:	Bodice with fashion fabric pinned in place:

Countdown: 7 days til 12th Night

Good lord! It took a really long time to get those ribbons in for the lacing!!
So, needless to say, I didn't get to the fashion fabric. But, I got the base laced up for the first trial run, and it looks AWESOME!! [bounce, bounce, bounce]
I need to the hip curve up an inch and a half or so, it's bunching up pretty badly. Plus, I'm going to take in the back seam another 1/2 inch on each side, I think... the front gap isn't as wide as I'd like and the waist isn't tight enough.

Back view, laced up proper:

Front view:

It should be a much cleaner gathering in the V with an actual camicia.
This is a VERY lightweight peasant blouse.

Countdown: 9 days til 12th Night

Okay, I found the correct type of cable ties... Thank you Moi! Who would have thought to look in the duct/vent department??
I've got the inside of the bodice all put together, and the boning in. I now need to stitch the edges so the boning doesn't move around.
Tonight I need to stop by Hancocks and see if my new serger is in... and while I'm there, I need to pick up some grosgrain ribbon. I'm planning on using the ribbon method (thank you, Jen Thompson!) for the ladder lacing. And, I think tonight I may actually get to the point where I can lay out my fashion fabric!

Here's a shot of how the bodice fits from the back.

I think I may have accomplished the correct sillouette!

Countdown: 10 days til 12th Night

Yes... I know I'm completely insane... just ask Moi, I'm an adjective! (a la "The Original Vigdis Insane") But, I'm going to try to get this dress wearable for 12th Night. (Okay, everyone get your gasps of horror out now and get it over with...)
I don't expect this to be a complete masterpiece (but don't tell my hubby... he spent a lot of money on my fabric. [wink]), but I intend for it to be a really nice 'first attempt' at a particular style (in this case, Venetian). Worse comes to worse, I have my new 1515's Italian dress (Aldith's pattern that was made for Eilis many moons ago) done and can wear that. I'd prefer to save it for Cynagua Coronet, though...
And thus our journey begins:

Today I got the inside parts of the bodice cut out and the back boning stips sewn in. It is two layers of linen sandwiching two layers of muslin. The fashion fabric will be hand sewn onto the completed bodice.
Hubby bought me cable ties... but they're not heavy enough. I'm going to go to the store myself today to see if I can find thicker ones...

back of bodice being cut out:

back of bodice with boning layed out:

full bodice layout:

Countdown: 11 days til 12th Night