The past few days I have been working on the sleeves and finishing up the rest of the gown. I have it pretty much done. All I have left now is the trim on the skirt and the lacing on the top of the bodice.
c. 1535, artist: Lucas Cranach the Elder
The sleeves are based on the women to the right.
The following picture of my sister in the gown. Because I don’t have the lacings yet and am just using pins to secure it, it appears a bit loose and odd, but I am confident it will look better once everything is complete. The sleeves are also a bit loose but I think they look okay, I’ve never made sleeve like this before so if anyone has any suggestions on how to make them better or less floppy I would love to know 🙂
Picture is from the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Re: Floppy Sleeves
Are the sleeves pinned at the cuff? That might change it.
If you really want the sleeves and their panes to look more puffy a good trick is to hand stitch a tuck in the innermost lining or interfacing. This will shorten the over-all length of the sleeve and let the panes puff. I would try a run of basting first, and if it works, whip stitch the tuck on the inside.
Based on and assortment of photos in Janet Arnolds books tailors appear to have adjusted fit on the inside of garment with what we would think are clumsy or large stitches. But they know no one would see them!
Best wishes for a productive weekend!
ahh ok thank you so much! I will play around with them this weekend and try to tuck parts of the sleeves to see if that gives me any luck 🙂
Kay gave you the same suggestion I would – it’s all about playing with the lining on the sleeves. I’m not seeing one in these pictures, but one way to make them slightly stiffer is to lightly attach the puffs to the lining so they are always drawn up.
Also, that’s really lovely fabric. I want to pet it.
Thank you! I will defiantly work to try to improve them a bit (and I actually used a fire blanket for the fabric…I know it sounds crazy but it was the only way to get a lot of pure wool for very cheap. I wasn’t sure how the fabric would feel, or how it would work for this type of sewing, but it works REALLY well! And I don’t have to worry about it catching fire lol)