After a year of putting the skirt together I have returned to making the “Pisa” Gown. This was not a planned execution back into the fray and fluff of velvet, but rather a unhinged returned after being driven half mad by Tudor skirts and lots of ironing. But more on that later. After my experiments… Read More The Red Pisa Gown: Experiment with quilted interlining
Skirts! Skirts can be what makes or breaks a costume. Too little and it looks odd, too much and you spend hours on end trying to pleat it down to size. As skirts take up the most fabric I decided to cut them first, knowing I could squeeze the bodice and sleeves from the off… Read More The Red Pisa Gown: Skirts
I pad-stitched my layers of bombast (warm and natural cotton quilt batting) together, leaving the seam allowances intact. I don’t know if the stitching will cause the layers to shrink, and I can always trim them down later. I am only padding out the front of the bodice, one layer going over the bust and… Read More The Red Pisa Gown: Building the Bodice Part 2
I took out my bodice block and traced off the pattern, tweaking it along the way. I cut a new mock up out of muslin/calico and fitted it. I don’t have any photos of the fitting, as I’ve been using the bodice block for some time now and finally have it more or less fitting… Read More The Red Pisa Gown: Building the Bodice Part 1
A few years ago, ok actually make that five years ago? A drool worthy book called “Moda a Firenze 1540-1580: Lo stile di Eleonora di Toledo e la sua influenza”, hit the shelves and sent many costumers and researchers into a fit of joyous ecstasy. I was one of them, however I didn’t have the… Read More The Red Pisa Gown