FUN: Play clothes, with a ren twist, for my niece!

[Elinore]

While I haven't been doing a lot of faire sewing lately, I have been
working on play clothes to give my niece, Grace, for Christmas. My
first thought was that I could just whip up some quick dressed on a
"princess" theme (Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, etc), it ended up being
anything but quick. I just finished the first dress - "Sleeping
Beauty", and posted the photos in the Files area: "full-view.jpeg" and
"trim-detail.jpg.

I used Simplicity 4944, view B, and left off the collar. I used
costume satin, and *gasp* put in my very first zipper. The costume
satin was cheap - on sale for 70% off, and it snags like crazy with
dry winter hands, but it is the prettiest pale pink, and it flows very
nicely. Very soft. One of the JoAnn's workers said she actually made
some pyjama bottoms out of it, because it is so soft. Definitely not
for garb uses, but perfect for making a little girl feel like a
princess. :)

So what is everyone else up to?

[mollymishap]

Hi, ALL!

The project I'm working on, in theory at least, is that Dress QEI is
wearing in her Ditchley Portrait. I say in theory because I just
haven't had the time to touch it since Sept. I'm hoping that things
will quiet down for me in the next few months.

Anyway, so part of the reason I stopped (paused) my work on it is I
ran into a wee bit of a problem with the sleeve farthingales...the
other reason work stopped (paused-- I have to keep telling myself it's
only PAUSED...) is that I'm dealing with some significant construction
at home, and frankly I don't have the space to sew right now.

In the meantime it would be helpful to get some input from y'all
though...it might motivate me to get un-paused...the problem is in the
SIZE of the damnable sleeves...you can see what I mean if you go to
http://www.myfairelady.com/?page_id=31 (I can't see how to do HTML on
here, so please just cut & paste).

You'll see a solution I came up with, but I haven't actually tried it
yet. It looks exactly as it does in the picture at this point. Any
thoughts are welcome!

Thanks in advance!

P.S. Constructive criticism is not only being sought, it's welcomed!!!

[Elinore]

HI Molly! Looks great so far! I can't wait to see the finished
product! I can completely understand not wanting stuffed sleeves. One
of our cast members had them this year, and I believe that even though
she used netting to stuff them, they were still hot, so the sleeve
farthingale is a great idea.

I think that you are right about the sleeve in the portrait being more
tapered from shoulder to wrist. Maybe just trimming a bit off of the
"wires" at the elbow would help. You could just test it without
cutting anything, and see if it makes the silhouette look more like
the painting. A mock up of the sleeve sounds like a great idea at this
point, to see if it is an illusion caused by being able to see the
frame.

I can't really tell too well, because the ruff is in the way, but it
also looks like the shoulder goes up first, then out, like this
(warning, bad ascii art ahead!)

_
/ \ (top of sleeve)
/ \ (only not so severe)

Maybe with an additional, slightly larger bone halfway between the
shoulder and the first bone will make that pop up? In the portrait, it
seems like a really awkward part of the sleeve, and it probably won't
show anyway if you have a ruff. I'm just wondering if I am seeing
things... (LOL, tends to get like that this late).

This is such an interesting gown, and I am sure it is going to be
spectacular when finished! How many flower puffs are there, and how
many do you have to go?

You can do it, mollymishap!!! We need an equivalent of a football
cheer here!

On Dec 21, 9:55 pm, mollymishap <mollyhes...@juno.com> wrote:
> Hi, ALL!
>
> The project I'm working on, in theory at least, is that Dress QEI is
> wearing in her Ditchley Portrait. I say in theory because I just
> haven't had the time to touch it since Sept. I'm hoping that things
> will quiet down for me in the next few months.
>
> Anyway, so part of the reason I stopped (paused) my work on it is I
> ran into a wee bit of a problem with the sleeve farthingales...the
> other reason work stopped (paused-- I have to keep telling myself it's
> only PAUSED...) is that I'm dealing with some significant construction
> at home, and frankly I don't have the space to sew right now.
>
> In the meantime it would be helpful to get some input from y'all
> though...it might motivate me to get un-paused...the problem is in the

> SIZE of the damnable sleeves...you can see what I mean if you go tohttp://www.myfairelady.com/?page_id=31(I can't see how to do HTML on

[mollymishap]

Thanks for the input, Elinore! I actually had the same thought about
adding another casing for the sleeves exactly where you suggested. I
think I'll try that first, then reappraise the situation. And I can
"shrink" the size of the sleeves by overlapping the bones a little,
maybe that will help with the tapering, too...

As far as the poufs go, what you saw in the picture is all I have done
so far. Maybe 40 or 50, I dunno...I figured I'd just keep making more
between other things, and that if I had extras when the time comes, I
could always use them on another gown. I have NO idea how many I'll
need, probably about 3 or 4 hundred...I'll know how many once I
actually have a useful pattern for those sleeves!

And thanks for that cheer, I might just go see if I can clear some
space tonight to work in (though I probably *should* work on my
sweetie's Christmas PJ's before I get back into this dress, shouldn't
I? Hmmm....decisions, decisions...

> > SIZE of the damnable sleeves...you can see what I mean if you go tohttp://www.myfairelady.com/?page_id=31(Ican't see how to do HTML on