A Child's Renaissance Dress in the Italian Style

Gosh this is an old one from 2014, and I honestly can't remember if I blogged it or not. I am notoriously bad at blogging dress diaries; it seems to be almost like reliving the trauma of sewing! This one was made for a five year old and was made from purple and red cotton (Mummy's favourite colours!) The bodice is lined in calico but there is no interlining or stiffening. The skirt is cartridge pleated. The alternating colours continue on the back of the dress. Hand sewn eyelets are laced with lucet cord made by Heather (thank you!) I put a few tucks in the hem to allow for the wearer's rapid growth. Thank you for your help with the tucks Lady Sorcha.

I must admit that little girl's dresses are much less traumatic to make than "big girl's" dresses. This dress looks lovely on the recipient and she seems to like it. Her Mummy certainly likes the colours. The tucks stiffen the hem and make it stand out beautifully.

Lacing Holes and Boning

I am currently working on a purple Italian style gown. When it came time to bone the back (where the lacing is,) I found that I only had quite wide steel bones (approx. 11mm wide.) I used what I had, but was not very happy with how the lacing looked.

I think the wider bones make the lacing holes look too far apart and too wide.

So I took a chance and ordered thin flat steel and sprung steel bones from an ebay seller. They arrived today, and I am quite delighted!