28 AprilWell, I've enjoyed reading the many dress diaries of other costumers that I decided to try it myself. It isn't being written looking back at the times, I'm just moving the entries off from the main costuming page. Let's start here...

14 AprilThis morning, I became rather impatient, so I drafted the pattern for my bodice, mainly by altering the corset pattern slightly. I tried on the paper, and it seems okay, so later (maybe in a couple of days) I'll make the toile and see how it really fits. After that, it's just a matter of figuring out what kind of closure I want: I'm trying to figure out if I want a front lacing bodice with a stomacher over it to cover the lacing, like the Jane Seymour gown probably was (see the gold pins on the side?), or just make the front hook-and-eye closed, or to make it side lacing (or maybe hook-and-eyed) closed.

20 AprilI was thinking... I'm going to make my gown side-lacing. Back-side would (probably) be more appropriate, but, unfortunately, I'm not double-jointed. I'm afraid to lace the front and make a matching stomacher for fear I won't have enough fabric to do the sleeves (the oversleeves are turned back so you can see the lining fabric; in reality, they have the gown fabric on the side you can't see), and I still need enough for the skirt. In case you're wondering, I actually forgot how much of the stupid gown fabric I have - I bought it a really long time ago! This could get ugly...

26 AprilToday, the bodice kind of happened in a fit of cutting... I decided to use my paper pattern that's been sitting there for longer than I'd like to think about, and I plunked it on the nearest white fabric avaiable that didn't feel like burlap, and started cutting. Luckily, I seem to have picked out a pretty good muslin. Also luckily, the toile fit! The only thing I had to change was to make the straps a little longer, and I hadn't exactly measured them out. Overall, I was extremely pleased, and I took out my gown fabric... and realized that it was actually two pieces (I had a funny feeling that I actually already knew this, but had conveniently forgotten). One piece was about 3.5 yards long and the other was about 3 yards long. Both pieces were 58 inches wide, much to my (extremely surprised) delight! I decided to use the smaller piece for the bodice and sleeves, and the other is reserved for the overskirt. I think I'll have enough fabric after all! This is a big load off my mind. Anyway, I just took a picture of the muslin being laid out on the fabric - here we are. Nothing serious - I haven't cut anything yet. Sigh... By the way, I am planning my dress to look something like these pictures of Elizabeth as a princess and Katherine Parr/Jane Grey/whoever they now think it's a picture of: Except, of course, my dress will be a different color... anyway, I think I'm repeating myself...

28 AprilWell, yesterday I gathered up my courage and cut out the bodice, and sewed it together with the lining! One slight problem - the straps are a little too narrow, and I'm having a hard time turning them right-side out! Hmmm... I'll fix it somehow. After the bodice gets turned fully, I just have to attach the straps together and procure some lacing holes on the side opening, which shouldn't be so hard. After the bodice, I think I'll make the sleeves, using the instructions here. After the oversleeves, I'll make the overskirt, then I'll make the undersleeves and underskirt/forepart. After that, the embellishment will begin... oh, joy!

14 MayLast night, I finally finished turning the straps right-side out. I also sewed them together, so the bodice is nearly complete, and can almost be called a real, live bodice. All I have to do now is close the hole on the side and sew in the lacing holes... that will probably take awhile. However, I have pictures! We can see the progress... 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
1. The front of the bodice, folded so it will look like it kind of will when worn, though not exactly as it will look, because when worn, the sides go sideways, and aren't flat.
2. The back of the bodice, etc.
3. The side of the bodice, etc.
4. The armhole of the bodice, close up so you can see where the straps comes down into it. I've sewn it on, but since there is a lot of extra, I decided not to cut it, just to pin it, so it is sort of adjustable (after ripping out the stitches).
5. The bodice, inside out, so you can see where I've sewn (plastic) boning into the lining to keep the bodice from wrinkling excessively, though it doesn't stop it from wrinkling a little bit.
Hopefully I'll get a chance to make my sleeve pattern later today... I'll keep you posted, of course.

17 MayToday was Sleeve Day. I had made my pattern a couple of days ago and was building up my courage to cut out the darned pattern. You see, I only had enough fake fur for the lining for one shot. I did it today, in a fit of cutting and sewing. The fur had a knit back, so it was kind of stretchy, so I had to be careful when I cut. Then, when I did cut, there were little bits of fur stuff all over the cutting table, and it stuck to my pattern, which for some reason was made of muslin (it was easier to find than paper at the time...). Anyway, I managed to get it all cut out and sewn and everything. Before attaching the sleeves to the bodice, I tried them on. Perfect fit - tight enough to be fashionable, loose enough to actually be able to move. I then proceeded to sew them into the bodice armholes. Besides the fact that the machine didn't catch half of the main fabric, which I sewed in by hand, I tried trying it on and thought perhaps it would be easier to get on if I had both sides open and lace closed. I proceeded to rip out the offending stitches and sew the two sides back together separately. That worked fairly well. Then I tried the bodice on. Good fit - except I couldn't move my arms. At all. It was really, really hard to get the bodice off. Luckily, it removed itself somehow, and now I have to add some kind of back/underarm gusset so I don't cut off my circulation. I am in sewing trauma. You can see me in the emergency room. Anyway, I'm taking a break because I'm feeling a bit... overwhelmed. That's an one of the biggest understatements I've ever used, by the way. We'll see how it looks in a few days... maybe I'll recover by Sunday...:)

19 MayIt is Sunday, and I have indeed recovered. I made the gusset-like things (they're kind of crescent-shaped) and inserted them into the back/underarm part of the sleeve heads and the armscye of the bodice. Now when I try the bodice on, I can actually move. The only problem now is the problem of getting it on and off... I think I'll figure out the length of my skirts next (either from here or just plain old measuring) and then cut them out and put them together. Hopefully this will be a little easier than the bodice. Actually, before I start the skirts at all, I'm going to make the eyelet holes (which I'd rather skip... my fingers will get really sore...) and the undersleeves. I'll then use what's left of the undersleeve fabric to make either a forepart or a whole underskirt of the same fabric, depending how much I have left. After all that, I'll make my overskirt. I'm thinking ahead a little too much now! I'd better stop now, or else I'll start repeating myself...:)

23 MayYesterday, I did a miniscule amount of work: I folded back the deep sleeve cuffs and secured them in place with (pretty invisible) stitches. Later, when (if?) I get some, I might add some matching jewels to the ones I may use on the undersleeves. I also measured out what I have left of my brocade that's in straight panels, and I have almost five yards if I piece some of it, so that's plenty for my overskirt, and I'll use some fabric from the un-straight sections (with large enough notches to be useless for rectangular skirts) for my French hood and whatever else I remember that I'm supposed to have. Anyway, my skirt will have a very short train - maybe 5 inches, because I don't want it to drag in the mud too much.

5 AugustI'm back! And I've made you a nice tutorial on binding eyelets... since I haven't finished the eyelets on the bodice yet. At least you have something to read.

26 AugustWow! It's been awhile, sorry about that! I've finished the eyelets, as you can see. Also, there's been a slight problem with sleeves! The oversleeves, as you (haven't) seen in previous pictures (they're in the bodice update video [to view, right-click and select "save link target as" or something similar from the little menu that pops up. Then open it in Windows Media Player or RealPlayer or QuickTime or something], though, I think), are too long! I realized this when I tried on the bodice after working on the eyelets. This is a problem (because if they're too long, they (one) look bad and (two) you can't see the undersleeves), so I'm working on shortening them. What I've decided to do is to take off 3.5 inches from the tight part at the top of the sleeve (referred to as sleeve caps, I think). You can see a picture of the line I drew for cutting: . I know it looks like an awful lot to cut off, but it looks okay when I'm wearing the bodice (just not in pictures!) because of the extremely wide placement of the shoulder straps (though not that I think of it, that shouldn't make a difference...) Okay, I guess I just don't know why it looks strange. Let's move on, shall we? I've done the dirty work on one sleeve: you can see how I've already cut off the lower part of the sleeve cap (leaving the upper part attached to the bodice), because I made the sleeve caps and bell-shaped part separate, so it was easiest to just undo the seam between them. I then turned it inside out so I could sew the foreshortened sleeve back together with the right-sides together (because otherwise it would look really dumb...) You can see that: . I've done a buttonhole stitch (I don't know why. This probably isn't recommended because I don't think it's a particularly accurate way to stitch seams, but I was feeling insecure, so I made buttonhole stitch because it's easy to move around and see all four layers of fabric at once, one of them thick [fake!] fur.) The sleeve was better-looking on the inside before, becuase the lining was tucked in so you couldn't see the raw edges. However, it's better this new way because it actually fits. Anyway, you can also see how the seam looks on the outside: . Also, I've folded back (but not secured) the sleeve into its thick cuff, just so you can see how it'll look when it's done: . Hopefully I'll finish up the other sleeve in a day or two!

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