Baragoni

I REALLY need to make a duct tape double or something so I have a display for showing off.  Throwing it on the chair just doesn't do much for things.  The giant puffed sleeves actually look rather nice when worn.  Between the velvet and the stuffing I can totally see their practical use as pillows for small children being carried and wanting to rest their heads on mama's shoulder.

I need to get the real laces in and fix the spot at the waist where the skirt unpleated for about 2 inches.  I also have a little bit of the hem to finish up (I was up late  with insomnia doing most of it.)  Probably not much happening today, however, as it is my son Demetri's 4th birthday so I'll be focusing on being a mom for most of the day.

Pictures are planned for Thursday.  Which should also be fun since my husband is going out of town for the weekend and his plane leaves early in the evening.  Juggling the kids and trying to wear the dress is going to be exciting.  Too bad I didn't get their clothes done.  I'm sure I'd have ended up with some approximation of the portrait with kids tugging on clothes and playing with jewelry and generally being in the shot.

Oops

I put most everything on tonight after finishing up the baragoni to wear to fighter practice as sort of a trial run before pictures.  Still a few things to finish up (like my coat) but I thought I was pretty well done.  A few minor things turned up like one part of the pleats of the skirt separating and a big run in the fabric of my stockings that needs to be mended.  Simple repairs.  Easily fixable.  All except for one thing--

  I had my bodice patterned to back in April.  I made the bodice back in June.  In June it fit perfectly.  In June I was nursing twins.  They've been weaned since. . .

Yeah.  It doesn't fit so well any more.  Not terrible and its certainly wearable, but ugh!  I was feeling so good about my pretty dress.  Not that its not still pretty.  It most certainly is.  Just to reassure me a little 5 year old girl came up to me in the park and had her mom ask me if she could have her picture taken with me because I looked like a princess.  It really is a cool dress.  Ah well, nothing ever comes out as well as you'd like it to I suppose.

Accordellata-- my fancy schmancy bodice ties

I have absolutely no idea why what my bodice laces looked like mattered to me when a shoelace would have been fine, especially since my eyelets are far from perfect, but I guess it did.  For the same reason what my petticoat is laced closed with mattered, I suppose.  Reasons.  That's all I can say.  So, I braided myself some fun bodice laces out of silk.  This is red orange and gold Madeira silk floss.  8 strands of 5.5 meters of silk worked up to almost exactly two yards of finished braid.  This is the half round braid from Jacqui Carey's Beginners Guide to Braiding.  It took me about 5 hours in front of the TV to finish it.  I suppose, at the very least, my bodice laces aren't going to get mixed up with someone else's.  The chances of them breaking isn't very high either.  They're pretty darn strong.  

And now I'm going to sleep.

More tassels

I'm really glad my time dancing American Tribal Style bellydancing gave me loads of practice tying tassels.  You never know when skills will come in handy.  So, 5 more fluffy red tassels to go along with the ones on the tips of my toes (chopines) and the edges of my veil.

The lucet cords I made back a month or so ago finally got used too.  This isn't the original bag I had planned after making them, but I think I'll be happier with the mix of wool and leather than I would have been with the embroidered silk bag I had planned at that time.  I used the last of the green leather scrap from my shoes as the edging and 2 other random leather scraps had enough in them to make the bag and gusset.  I stitched cross-cross for some interest.  It seems rather jaunty and flippy.  Nothing makes me want to dance more than tassels and having them swinging near the hem of the dress should be fun.

Undersleeves are done

I just finished the last lacing ring to tie the undersleeves on.  They're lined in the rosy gold silk and fit beautifully.  I'm feeling a little silly for slashing them and then doing false puffs, but I honestly couldn't imagine myself having time to pull all the slashes through every time I wore the dress, and the white is such a huge part of the look of these.  Kids are helpful that way.  You're lucky if you get completely dressed, let alone get all the details right.  I used scrap of the partlet for the puffs since it was already gathered.  I just tacked the fabric to the inside of the slash and pulled through so that I got a natural look more in keeping with how it would look to have the camisia pulled through.  I figure if I ever chose to I can undo the tacks and take out the false puffs and slash the lining and do them correctly.

On to the baragoni (short puffy oversleeve.)  I've just got to finish bombasting them and attach them to the bottom tabbed bands.  Just as soon as I go buy more thread since I have run out of anything remotely resembling red or gold thread.

I've been wandering around in circles trying to figure out buttons and trim for the zimmara that doesn't involve me doing a bunch of threadworked buttons really quickly.  I think I came up with a good idea about midnight last night.  We'll see if it can take the light of day.

Hoping for sleeves and a coat by dinner time.  Wish me luck.

Strawberry slippers

I didn't quite imagine how green edging on a red pigskin slipper with pinks that showed the gold brocade lining would turn out.  According to my 7 year old I have "strawberry toes."  Mostly I was just trying to put a little more oomph into the slippers and I'd found a remnant at the leather store earlier today and though it would match the green I just lined my zimarra with.  Strawberry toes are fun though, right?  Especially with chopines and bright green stockings?  I added a square of the same lace that's in my handkerchief since I wanted something more decorative than just the pinking but wasn't up for cutting the leather that finely.  With the time constraints, these are sewn on my sewing machine with a leather needle, but I hope to tweak the pattern a bit more and make another nicer pair by hand later.  I certainly have enough oodles of the leather hide left.

Back to finishing other stuff.  I took a break for most of the day and played, having my hair cut and going out to lunch, so I'll have to hustle to get back on schedule and get you those pictures I promised of sleeves.  they're SO close to being done.

Tomorrow I'll get pictures

I'm in the middle of about 5 projects, but they're getting close to being done.  I just have the lining to finish stitching into the undersleeves and the lacing rings and they're complete.  The baragoni are pretty close too.  Just have to finish the bombasting and line them and do the lacing rings for those.  I decided to make a quick moretta mask since I kept seeing them in reference pictures for other things I was making.  I couldn't find any Italian extant pieces, but there is the Daventry mask, which was found just in June of last year in England and a doll sized one at the V&A.  Mine is done with a buckram base shaped on my styrofoam head form and then covered in black velvet and lined in silk.  There's a bead attached to the mouth slit for biting on to and holding it on.  I adapted this tutorial.

Since I had the picture up for the Dutch cloak, I made a final decision on whether to attempt it or not and decided I'd rather keep the velvet I had planned for it for my next project.  Instead, I pulled a brown and red brocade from my stash and decided to make a zimarra (lose gown) instead.  It's actually the back side of the fabric, since the front has more red than brown and the brown works better against all the red of the dress.  It's lined in a lightweight green cotton.  I did basic rectangular construction, and I plan on just doing shoulder wings for now.  The fullness of the sleeves of the dress seem like a bit much to have another sleeve over.  I may add a hanging sleeve in the future.  It's sewn together, just needs trim and the wings.  If I get enough time I'll do threadworked buttons and military style bar braids for fastening.

Here's another one of those examples of moretta masks/vizards that I kept finding.  This one is actually the reference for my drawstring bag with tassels.  Just finishing the decoration on the bag.

No, I can't really ever seem to focus on one thing, and I know I'm supposed to be finishing this rather than starting new projects, but I'm enjoying it.  I've never finished anything other than at the last minute, so it just wouldn't be right unless I was scrambling to finish the last little bits.