Girl's Italian Gown

Today I finished the girl's Italian gown that I have been working on. It is a gift for a little friend's birthday this weekend, so I just scraped it in in time. It is cotton broadcloth with commercially produced pink gimp braid. The Birthday Girl loves pink, but her mum hates the colour. So this dress  is a compromise. It has cap sleeves with fabric puffs, because the Birthday Girl usually wears only a chemise underneath. It has a couple of tucks in the hem to allow for growth, which also helps to hold the hem out. It is a size 8 so that she will get (hopefully) at least two or three years worth of wear out of it.

This is the third or fourth gown that I have finished this year - I really must try to blog some dress diaries soon. Hopefully I can get some nice shots of the recipient wearing the dress.

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.