The Princess Hats are almost all done

...and other things.

I put the veils on the yellow princess hats and decorated the white ones.  Are you sick of hearing about these princess hats yet?

Well, once the white ones are veiled you don't have to read about them anymore (unless I do another fair :) ).

Work is progressing on the Bride's bodice.  Today I cut, pinned and sewed the outer fabric onto the interlining.  The outer fabric is a beautiful blood red linen blend that came out of the dryer with almost no wrinkles.  I doubled over the seam allowance to give it a nice finish as I'm not using binding tape.  This way Kat (the bride) won't have to worry about any shedding threads from the edges.

Tomorrow I'm grommeting it and my Bride is coming over for a fitting so I can mark the area for the shoulder straps and get final measurements for the skirt part.

What I did today

or...More Princess Hats and sewing the stomacher.

We'll start with the Princess hats.  The red ones have their veils and the yellow ones are decorated.

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Now on to the stomacher.  Here is where the spiced orange silk comes in.  The purple brocade is on the back and the silk is on the front.

I'm stiffening it with a heavy fusable interlining. 

Stuffing the stomacher 

I set the iron on the cotton setting and ironed the stomacher brocade side up.  There is a bit of hand sewing left to do then it is complete.  I'm going to fasten it on with pearl headed pins.

I need to put the grommets in the bodice then put the whole outfit on.  There is plenty of brocade and silk to make sleeves, so if I have time between the Bride's bodice and NHRF prep I will make those.  Look for a picture of me in the whole outfit soon.

Preparations for NHRF

I know you are all very anxious to see what is happening with the princess hats so here is an update.  The hats are decorated and veiled.  Here is a closeup of a few of the five blue ones.

The five green ones are also decorated and veiled.  Here is the group.

I finished decorating the five red ones tonight.

Oh, and my Bride was over today.  She tried on the interlining of her bodice.  I just have to move the grommets over 1/2 inch on both sides.  We laced her up using the ugly fitting straps.  So, tomorrow while the outer material, a beautiful lipstick red cotton, is being pre-shrunk, I'll move the grommet channel over one and add a boning channel to the side.

I also cut the silk, brocade and interfacing for the stomacher for my Merchant Garb.

Busy day and more to come tomorrow.  Faire season is upon us and I'm very excited.

Kat's Bodice and Princess hats

I took a double layer of the interlining material, a nice heavy, patterned material and sewed it together.  I then figured out the boning channels and sewed them up.  In the second picture you can see the tips of the bones in their casing.  You wouldn't see them if I pushed them all the way down, but I wanted you to see the where they are.

Tomorrow I have to baste the ugly fitting grommets on so I can get a preliminary fit from my Bride.

Meanwhile the blue princess hats are looking less gnomish and more princessy (is that a word?).  Tomorrow, once the glue dries I'll put the veils on.

So far, I'm right on schedule.  That won't last...

Preparing for NHRF

I am now starting the mad dash to get ready for the New Hampshire Renaissance Faire.  I am making the bodice for a friend who is getting married the second weekend.  While the material was in the wash then the dryer to pre-shrink it, I decided to cut out the construction paper then glue it together for the Princess Hats I'm making.

It looks like the Hat Check at a Gnome Convention.

This is the basic hat.  I will be decorating them with veiling, feathers, hearts, ribbons and glitter glue.

I finished the black hair net Robin ordered at Spring Coronation.  That went out in the mail today.

Onward and upward.

15th century bodice - Done except the grommets

Today I put the shoulder caps on.  I put lightweight interface on both sides of the cap.  This gives it good stability without it being too stiff.

This is the inside of the shoulder cap.

Here it is right side out.

After sewing the shoulder caps together I pinned them to the inside of the armhole at the top.  I used the narrow end of my ironing board to do this as it flattened the top of the armhole so I could position the cap properly.

I was able to sew it on with the machine.  I was afraid that I would have to hand sew them on, and you all know how much I LOVE hand sewing.  Here is the finished product.  All I have to do now put in the grommets and sew over them.

Next is the Stomacher.

15th Century Bodice

The first thing I did today was pin and sew the armholes.  I had to pull out some of the side seam to make it fit a bit better.

I then sewed the bottom hem and pinned and sewed the neckline.   I had to fudge it a bit at the top as I had already sewed up the shoulder seam.  I may have to hand sew it to neaten it up.

Hemmed bottom

Pinned neckline

This may have to be neatened up a bit.

 Lastly, I sewed the front edges.  The last thing I have to do with this is put on the shoulder caps and put in the grommets.  As I don't have any boning in this bodice, it is going over the Elizabethan corset, I am planning on over sewing the grommets to give added strength and to prevent pulling on the fabric.

Tomorrow shoulder caps.