Shoshiplatypus

Cutting it fine…

The last couple of days before the Tudor banquet on Saturday, I had to pull out all the stops to get everything finished in time.

Yesterday I worked on the braid and pearl embellishments on the bodice, and today I sorted the jewellery and made one or two necessary adjustments on various parts of the outfit.

Trimming the gown

Tudor gowns worn by wealthy ladies were always richly embellished with trims and braids and precious stones, amongst which pearls seemed to be especially favoured. Women of the poorer classes had to be satisfied with beads made from wood or bone. For my modern interpretation, plastic will have to suffice, and miscellaneous haberdashery from my stash.

I have quite a large collection of braids of various kinds, and originally made this selection, but did not use all of it in the end.

I also used the pearl trim I bought on Ebay.

I began with the top of the bodice, covering the top edge of the stomacher and continuing around to the side seams of the bodice. After this I trimmed the inside edges of the shoulder straps of the bodice with matching braid, and finally added the pearl trim around the stomacher.

I also trimmed the cuffs of the sleeves.

Jewellery

Today I sorted through the junk jewellery I’d selected, and chose two long chain necklaces to make into the girdle.

I also went through my decent jewellery and made a selection to wear.

Miscellaneous adjustments

After making the mistake with the attaching of the veil to the paste of the French hood, I thought it wouldn’t matter, because it seemed to feel pretty secure, but today when I was trying on the whole outfit, and moving around in it, I realised that the French hood really wasn’t secure enough. I knew I had to do that part again, so that the prongs of the hairband would actually engage with my hair.

I used a needle holder and a curved needle to get as far into the crevice of the hood, and although the result isn’t perfect in appearance on the inside, the result is 100 percent better now. I did some experiments with my hair, and eventually took on board the recommendation of someone online who said that the hood is most secure if you put your hair up first. With a top-knot plaited bun on the top of my head, the hairband has something to rest against, and the result is very nice and firm and secure. It was really worth the effort of correcting my mistake, and I’m glad I’ve done it now.

Another minor adjustment was to move the fastening on the skirt waistband so that it was tighter, and I added a couple of press-stud fastenings as well, and the result is nice and secure and feels more comfortable.

The bodice and sleeves are a really tight fit, and it’s quite an effort to get it on! However, once it is on, it is very comfortable.

Here are some photos I took of myself wearing it, before I made the final adjustments. I don’t know why I always have such an appalling grim expression on my face when I’m taking selfies but perhaps it’s just concentration! I had to fiddle around with the iPad to get it to take the photos I wanted, and discovered the timer setting on it, allowing me to press the shutter and then get into position. Nice to be able to see myself in the screen to make sure I was in the right place!

I am so pleased I’ve managed to finish it in time! The big day is tomorrow. We are meeting some friends for lunch and spending time with them in the afternoon, and I am hoping they will allow me to change in their house before we go off for the banquet. I expect I shall have some more photos after the event, and that eventually I shall make a video slideshow of the project.

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