The Green Fighting Dress, Part One
Mar. 26th, 2008 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sasha_sewsMaria had this great green linen that we decided to turn into a fighting doublet. I was going to line it with black linen and make it reversible.
As we talked about it, we decided to do some trim on the green side, and the sleeves were going to tie in and it was going to be fabulous. We were going to do slops to wear with it that would be black linen with stripes of green down the side.
I was very excited. Once I got the doublet together, I was looking at it and realized it was begging to have a skirt instead of pants. I decided to sew the skirt in, make it all once piece that Maria could simply pull on and be ready to fight in. Because the doublet fits to her natural waist, in the past she's had problems with gaping between her tops and bottoms, and I am hoping to avoid that. Also, she looks so good in skirts I didn't want to put her in drag. By attaching the skirt to the doublet it makes for a stronger more cohesive piece of "armor" and easier for her to put on and pull off, and avoids the gapping problem at the back, and also her skirt won't slip at all.
The dress was going to be reversible also, and the black side was going to have green bands at the bottom. But as I started assembling it I realized an important thing or two.
One, hemming it to be reversible was going to be a nightmare. Two, with the bands on one side it was not going to look as good. Three, in order for her to fight in it reversible wasn't going to be an option to get the buttons where they needed to be.
I could do the hem, not really a big deal, but trying to line up bands on both sides was not something I wanted to do. I didn't even want to deal with the button issue.
So I started pulling it all together with the intention of making it pretty and durable and one-sideded, as you know, most clothes are. I still liked the idea of the bands, and somehow, instead of Italian, it decided to be German. *G* In an effort to bring the skirt closer to the doublet top (Yes, Alyssa, in this case the bodice is a doublet. :P) I used the same green and made two wide-ish bands along the bottom of the dress. I also realized that by pleating the skirt directly into the doublet bottom I had added about three inches to the front, where the doublet points, and also the lines were all droopy as a result. So I ripped out the front, cut off the points and pleated it back in.
Now she has a doublet (without a point in the front), with attached skirt, that looks vaguely bodice-ish, and will button up the front and have a high collar.
Next up was the sleeves. I had realized beofre I started cutting the bands that I didn't have enough fabric left for sleeves, so I was just going to have to make them black. But as good as Maria looks (with her fabulously blonde hair) in black, I didn't want that much black on this dress, there needed to be more green. Since the bands on the skirt and the longer waistline were making the whole thing look rather German at this point I sent Roger on a quest for pictures of German sleeves for me to see if I could emulate. He hit rock solid GOLD.
The sleeves are based, loosely, on this picture. (Hers, not his.)
Because this is for fighting in, the sleeves are going to be closed all the way down, instead of split at the elbow. And I decided to reverse the thin stripe and the thick stripe on the upper arm, because it just seemed to look better with the cut of the sleeve. (It's the fitted from shoulder to wrist with hinged elbow I'm so fond of.)
The last bit that needs to be done before I pull the whole thing all together, is the trim needs to be added. I went hunting tonight and found the perfect most beautiful trim to finish the dress with.
I bought three yards to start with, just to see, and when I got it home it was so freaking perfect I jumped for joy. And wished I had the money on me to have bought more of it so I could finish the whole dress tonight! OMG!
The whole thing looks less than stellar in the picture because of all the threads and wobbly edges, but once it's rounded out and looking sleeve like it starts to look much better.
All in all, I love this dress more than any of the other projects I've worked on, it looks so freaking pretty in person, and I can't wait to get it finished and on Maria so I can get a really good picture.
As we talked about it, we decided to do some trim on the green side, and the sleeves were going to tie in and it was going to be fabulous. We were going to do slops to wear with it that would be black linen with stripes of green down the side.
I was very excited. Once I got the doublet together, I was looking at it and realized it was begging to have a skirt instead of pants. I decided to sew the skirt in, make it all once piece that Maria could simply pull on and be ready to fight in. Because the doublet fits to her natural waist, in the past she's had problems with gaping between her tops and bottoms, and I am hoping to avoid that. Also, she looks so good in skirts I didn't want to put her in drag. By attaching the skirt to the doublet it makes for a stronger more cohesive piece of "armor" and easier for her to put on and pull off, and avoids the gapping problem at the back, and also her skirt won't slip at all.
The dress was going to be reversible also, and the black side was going to have green bands at the bottom. But as I started assembling it I realized an important thing or two.
One, hemming it to be reversible was going to be a nightmare. Two, with the bands on one side it was not going to look as good. Three, in order for her to fight in it reversible wasn't going to be an option to get the buttons where they needed to be.
I could do the hem, not really a big deal, but trying to line up bands on both sides was not something I wanted to do. I didn't even want to deal with the button issue.
So I started pulling it all together with the intention of making it pretty and durable and one-sideded, as you know, most clothes are. I still liked the idea of the bands, and somehow, instead of Italian, it decided to be German. *G* In an effort to bring the skirt closer to the doublet top (Yes, Alyssa, in this case the bodice is a doublet. :P) I used the same green and made two wide-ish bands along the bottom of the dress. I also realized that by pleating the skirt directly into the doublet bottom I had added about three inches to the front, where the doublet points, and also the lines were all droopy as a result. So I ripped out the front, cut off the points and pleated it back in.
Now she has a doublet (without a point in the front), with attached skirt, that looks vaguely bodice-ish, and will button up the front and have a high collar.
Next up was the sleeves. I had realized beofre I started cutting the bands that I didn't have enough fabric left for sleeves, so I was just going to have to make them black. But as good as Maria looks (with her fabulously blonde hair) in black, I didn't want that much black on this dress, there needed to be more green. Since the bands on the skirt and the longer waistline were making the whole thing look rather German at this point I sent Roger on a quest for pictures of German sleeves for me to see if I could emulate. He hit rock solid GOLD.
The sleeves are based, loosely, on this picture. (Hers, not his.)
Because this is for fighting in, the sleeves are going to be closed all the way down, instead of split at the elbow. And I decided to reverse the thin stripe and the thick stripe on the upper arm, because it just seemed to look better with the cut of the sleeve. (It's the fitted from shoulder to wrist with hinged elbow I'm so fond of.)
The last bit that needs to be done before I pull the whole thing all together, is the trim needs to be added. I went hunting tonight and found the perfect most beautiful trim to finish the dress with.
I bought three yards to start with, just to see, and when I got it home it was so freaking perfect I jumped for joy. And wished I had the money on me to have bought more of it so I could finish the whole dress tonight! OMG!
The whole thing looks less than stellar in the picture because of all the threads and wobbly edges, but once it's rounded out and looking sleeve like it starts to look much better.
All in all, I love this dress more than any of the other projects I've worked on, it looks so freaking pretty in person, and I can't wait to get it finished and on Maria so I can get a really good picture.
