Hand pleating 250 inches of velvet takes a while. I finished the edges of the side back openings and I'm pretty pleased with my finish work for once. The stitches are nice and small and mostly invisible. I decided against the separate waistband under the bodice after staring at the portrait some more. It appears that the skirt is attached to the outside of the bodice, There is definitely some volume between the bodice and the skirt. The tip of the partlet rests in the sort of valley formed by the ridge of the skirt. Have a
look and see if you see the same thing I'm seeing.
I've turned over the top of the skirt as you would in cartridge pleating, but I'm currently doing knife pleats that I'm basting into place. We'll see how it works or if I'll be ripping them out and trying something else. I THINK it looks right so far.
Awesome! There's an extant Italian dress with that also has pleats on the outside of the bodice: http://aneafiles.webs.com/renaissancegallery/extant.html. The green dress, 5th one down
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! That is super intriguing, especially as my dress/portrait also has no trim on it, just as the extant one. All the trim is on the sleeves.
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