Jeebuz, but I keep buying stuff for this Elizabethan gown! I just can’t stop. Oh I need casings for my farthingale. Oh I need some really fine cotton stuff for a chemise. Oh I need some twill for interlining. Oh I need aglets for the sleeves. Oh I need eye pins for the hat trimming. Oh I need soldered rings so I can do hand-made eyelets on the new corset. Oh I need more boning for the corset. Oh I need pearls for the girdle. Oh I need a whole spool of wild metallic trim. Oh I need 18 gazillion types of beads for, um, everything.
Mind you, I haven’t bought *all* of that yet. Hit Michaels the morning after Thanksgiving for the pre-9am coupons (this was my mom’s and honorary aunt’s idea; they picked me up), ostensibly to buy craft supplies for making xmas gifts. Didn’t find any of that which I was looking for, but found a bunch of lovely garnet-colored glass beads for ye olde gown. At a nice discount.
Later, I went to Jo-Ann to use the noon-9pm coupon. That’s when I finally hit upon a design scheme for both the farthingale and the new corset. Needed casings, wanted to buy ribbon as recommended in The Tudor Tailor and also to save me the infinite hassle of hemming all those strips myself. Looked for grosgrain, needed 13 yards. Saw many colors, many with probably not enough yardage… except for… PEEEENK! Did I mention that I’d found some nice, sturdy, taffeta-like black fabric in The Stash to use for the body of the farthingale? Yes, so I shall have a black and pink one now. Which gave me the idea of binding the black coutil corset in PEEENK and sewing the boning channels in PEEEEENK too. It’ll be like Elizabethan PerkyGoth Barbie or something. Yay!
Also got some white twill for the skirt upon which I’ll mount the forepart. And that leads me to my idea for the forepart. Jo-Ann’s bridal section usually has this ivory silk with a criss-cross pin-tuck design with a seed pearl sewn in the center of each criss-cross. There’s also a silk with a scattering of just the seed pearls. Each one is $39.99 per yard. I keep dreaming of using this stuff for the forepart and the inner sleeves of this gown. Crazy, no? Especially for the girl who hyperventilated in the Garment District about paying over $10 per yard for lavender silk and embroidered black lace. But I want to get that criss-cross silk and add garnet seed beads on all four sides of the criss-cross. Maybe put a gold seed bead in the center too.
Cheeptrims.com trim
And the wide metallic gold and burgundy trim I got on cheeptrims.com, I want to bead that as well. The garnet seed beads I got today will add a lovely bit of depth and dimension to the already rich trim. I still have some tiny pearls in The Stash, and the ivory looks perfect with the gold trim and burgundy fabric (far better than the bright white pearls I also have in The Stash). The slightly larger garnet beads from today will go on the bigass head-on-a-plate ruff I want to make. In ivory, trimmed with narrow gold lace.
I so want this gown to be OTT. Major Elizabethan bling. Like in the portraits, how one gown has three different patterns going on and everything’s encrusted with gems and embroidered with metallic threads. I want texture, I want sparkle, I want period flash.
I must be more into the authenticity now because I’m ok w/using gold. I personally hate wearing gold, and Back in the Day I wouldn’t wear it for faire.
Also, once I found that metallic trim, it really made me realize that gold works better w/burgundy. Brings out the warmth in the color, makes it look richer. Silver goes w/purple and black because they’re all cool tones, but burgundy and reds look awesome w/gold. So between historical accuracy and basic color theory, I’m singing a new tune 😉
Anyway, the Jo-Ann I went to tonight had barely a yard left of that bridal silk and even that was rather shopworn. Didn’t want to waste my 50%-off coupon on it. So tomorrow, I may hit the Jo-Ann out by Almaden to see if they have more. This will end up a fairly expensive costume, but then, it’s supposed to look that way.