Clad The Nieces

Alrighty, so I’m a big dreamer. This means that when I get enough raw material and unsifted dreamstuff, I tend to go hogwild on my poor family. Or, anyone else who I can measure, sew for, talk to (or at) and basically see in a twenty-mile radius. A little bit ago I had my lovely nieces hanging out with me and decided to make each of them a medieval dress for Halloween. (Because Medieval is like, a snap!) Unfortunately, the girls are in that unstead middleground between youngish lass and tempermental preteen, so there was literally NO costume pattern nice enough for them. Sigh. So using my powers of guessitude, I estimated the size and used a pattern as a basis.

First niece’s gown:

A nice, stable heavy brown with this marbled inset and undersleeves.

I hate it. SO MUCH.

The veil is an add on for fun. She looks pretty, and liked the gown but honestly, the inner (and as of yet undiscovered) historically accurate irritant in me despised it. The stitching was terribly too, due to my outdated plastic-parted sewing machine. Also my impatience. But I made it and finished it for her to wear.

Which she didn’t. But that’s kids for you, lol.

Dress 1:

 

SECOND NIECES DRESS

Okay, I go into phases. I get obsessed with something, study it, watch it. I research online to find all about it, read people’s blogs who’ve done it, and basically make it my one goal in life to persue.

….for about a month or so.

Well, I was watching Pride and Prejudice and thought, hey, I can make a regency-era dress! From scratch too! Anyway, I decide to experiment and of course, making a smaller dress first for Niece number Two. I researched the dresses, studied photos from the Met and other historical garb museums. I haunted pintrest with the avaricious greed of a five year old, soaking all I could in. Then, after some complicated math-ness, I drafted and created this piece: 

¾ sleeved, salmon pink(orange) eyelet fabric underneath and similarly indescribable chiffon, edged in strangely matching ribbon. There is also a lovely train in the back, to collect dirt and grasses for use later.