Italian Style Green Gown for a Young Woman

I have been occupied for the last few weeks with a project for a friend. 

Lochac's big SCA event 'Rowany Festival' is coming up, and a young friend wanted to learn how to make an Italian style dress and make a new one in time for Festival. It was a great opportunity to pass on skills, but (as so often happens) there wasn't enough time to get much done during our designated time together. I have been working on the outfit when my health allows, and I can finally see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

The dress is made from a hard wearing and washable cotton drill and lined in drill and calico. The light boning is removable as the wearer is still adjusting to boned garments. There is a pleat at the hem to allow for growth. Three seams are machine sewn, with all other sewing, including seam felling, being done by hand. The dress has commercially made trim applied. The pattern is based on an existing 16thC style dress that is comfortable for the wearer.

Some excellent images of 16th century working class dress can be found here:

Italy: Working Class Dress (1575-1600) - Sophie Stitches (weebly.com)

including this detail from the Nativity of Mary by Pietro Ronzelli which is in the style of the recipient's wardrobe-

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.

Hemming and skirt tucks

Today I am working on finishing a project for a little friend's birthday. The task is hemming and adding tucks to a skirt.