Greek and Roman Summer Garb

Hi guys! Sorry to neglect this blog for so long! I have so many online sites to maintain for my business, sometimes a hobby-based site falls behind. Anyway, I have tons of stuff to share, but I'm going to start with some basic summer outfits I made for my boyfriend and myself this year. We attended a few very hot events this year, and I thought we could both use something really cool to wear!

For my outfit, I took inspiration from the Greek athletes and workers wearing short chitons.
For Chris, I was inspired by the Roman workers. I also made him some "barbarian" pants!

More photos are here:
Me: http://www.faerie-queen.com/greek-short-chiton/
Chris: http://www.faerie-queen.com/roman-boy/

Purple Silk Venetian Gown

A while ago, I posted some progress on a purple silk Venetian gown. It's done now! I wore this to Coronation recently and got some photos. The silk is actually hot pink shot with blue, so it appears purple.

The bodice is fully supported with canvas interlining and steel boning. The gown is also worn over a corset and camicia, as well as a taffeta underskirt. The front insert is made from a small piece of silk brocade - a scrap - that I inherited. The bodice is hand beaded, and I also made a new girdle / belt and a linen partlet. The sleeves are re-used from my last Venetian gown because I love them and they match!

I made this one regular height - no chopines for me! I love my chopines, but man, I'm too clutzy to stand around in them all day!

More photos here: http://www.faerie-queen.com/purple-silk-venetian-gown/

15th Century Hat

I made a 15th c. hat! This hood is present in many 15th century images, and I've wanted one for a while. I finally made it while watching a movie last night!
I came upon sevenstarwheel.wordpress.com in my search, and her pattern is very similar to mine. I just updated it and changed a few things! I also lined mine because I like the weight, and I like to sew everything by machine and then turn it inside out to hide the stitches. hehe

Note: This creates a fully lined hat. I started with two small rectangles for the brim and a large rectangle I folded in half for the back. I sewed the large rectangle together, cut off the top, then sewed the two brim pieces together with the back stuffed inside - so it turns right side out. The back of the brim is stitched together at the very bottom. To wear, wrap the two tails around the head and tie.

14th/15th Century Pouch

I made this pouch to go with my favorite late 14th and early 15th century wardrobe. This is sort of a ubiquitous pouch style during this time, so it's appropriate for much of what I wear on a daily basis.

The first two images show examples of this pouch style in artwork and in an extant piece.

In the first of my own images, you can see my pouch in progress. The pouch itself is two rectangles, and the cord is finger loop braid. The eyelet holes are all hand stitched. Here, you can see how I did the tassels. I wrapped my yarn around a piece of cardboard and then took it off. I tied a piece of yarn around the center top to hold everything in place. Then I wrapped another piece of yarn around near the top to create the upper loop. Then I cut it off to my desired length and sewed all my tassels onto my pouch.

Completed cotehardies for a client

I finished these two cotehardies (aka gothic fitted gowns) for a client. She wanted them to be similar to two dresses I made for myself, just without all the heavy hand stitching.
These are both late 14th century styles, though they are still present in the early 15th century.

The first dress is made of linen. The second is made of cotton velvet with silk sleeves and belt.
My intern Dani helped me sew on all these buttons. There are so many! How sumptuous!

My similar dresses:
http://www.faerie-queen.com/early-15th-century-cotehardie/
http://www.faerie-queen.com/purple-velvet-cotehardie/

Gothic Fitted Gowns - Progress for a client

I'm making two gothic fitted gowns (aka cotehardies) for a client. They're basically a lower budget version of two of my personal dresses - same colors and everything. It's weird to make *my* dresses for someone else lol, but they are a bit different. Since my client is not as concerned with historical accuracy as I have personally become, I was able to manipulate some design elements to fit her budget. They're actually almost done now, so I'll post finished photos soon!

Striped Venetian Gown: The Beginning

I wanted to make some more late period garb to wear around casually (Okay, HA!HA! it's totally formal, but I still intend to wear it "casually"). I had this awesome fabric I inherited in remnant pieces. Because I am both small and short, there was enough to piece together a gown for me! And...well, it looks remarkably like this late period Venetian gown, so I'm sort of cosplaying these portraits, combining elements of both.

Here are the bodice and sleeve pieces for this striped Venetian closed front gown. The bodice pieces have an outer layer sewn to a linen lining and canvas interlining. The two linings were first sewn together and stitched with boning channels, and the boning is inserted: 1 in center front, 2 diagonal from bottom front to armpits, 2 at sides of front, 2 at sides of back.