Turquoise Landsknecht-ish - final steps

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We have a dress! There it is, hanging with the underdress I am hoping to wear, if it isn't too hot (it's poly), and my trusty and very comfortable green linen... Tunic? Kirtle? Underdress?

To get here... As the time for the event clicked closer, it was time to quit worrying and to just start the final construction. Skirt... Check. Bodice? Check, but too long in front. Guards? Check, but corners are rough. 

To fix the bodice hitting in the wrong spot, I decided to just close my eyes and cut. I laid out the bodice and noticed how much the front overhung the back. I folded, marked, and then... Cut. Terrifying! 

Problem solved. Then I made a slit in the front of the skirt and did a little hem. The thread showed more than I wanted but it's ok.

The fun part. Pleating! As I am fast running out of time, and I have no court clothes, I pleated the only way I know... Divide and conquer! It's the technique from the pattern of the red cioppa and so I just did it again. Essentially, pin the skirt to the side of the bodice, then put a pin in at middle back. Then keep finding the halves and pinning.

So one section end up with two roughly equal sections. I did this for the bodice (above) and the skirt (below).

It looked so pretty with all the colourful pins.

 I could have been more attentive, maybe ironed etc, but the closer I get to the end of a project the more I just want to get it done. So I ran a 5/8 seam with all those pins. Carefully!! Pleats ended up looking great. 

Last step for the skirt was to run a little heat on the pleats so that they lay "sticking up" in order to pull the bodice lining down and over. I pinned the lining for a whip stitch. I also just folded over the raw edges of the sleeves (I hope they survive so we can do the little sleeve embellishment).


The last thing was to tack down the lacing strips (that I had to unpick in order to trim the bodice). And I might try some embroidery to help camouflage the rough guard corners but that might happen on the ride to the event.

That's as good as it is going to get, for this event! I wish I had made the bodice bigger and there's a gap in the skirt because I can't lace the bodice tight. Might try to camouflage that with a turquoise panel. Or my apron. There's also wrinkles at the back and we'll see if they disappear when properly laced. Could be the whole bodice is too long. 

In the end I'm happy with it maybe a 7/10. Length worked out, the doubling of the fabric at the hem helps. So much to improve on for the next project, which will be the grey linen kirtle for Adelheid. 

Edit: here's a photo of it in the wild. I received a compliment on my apron from someone I hold in very high esteem, and someone asked me if they could have a photo of my garb! Very flattering!


YIS
AW

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