Renaissance Dress: Assessing the Damage

My Renaissance dress needs SO MUCH WORK! Losing ~30 lbs after making a costume tends to cause problems. I've been trying to avoid going to Jo-Ann's since I've been trying to stash bust but I definitely need to make a trip for notions and things and I thought it would be a good time to take a closer look at my costume (since it hasn't seen the light of day since October) and see what I might need to buy. So this is really more for me than you, but I'm ok with that.

The patterns I used.

If you want to see older posts on this costume, go here.

So, from the inside out:

Chemise:

When I made this, it was too small in the arms and I never got to wear it. Now it fits! Assuming the neckline isn't too high (since I never actually tried it on with the dress), no work needs done on this piece.

Corset:

I need to start from scratch on this one.... It was always just a smidge big but now it's huge. I plan on reusing the busk and lacing but that's about it. Last time I made size 16 and this time I'm going with 12. Thankfully, the pattern was printed in such a way that I can cut out the 12 even though I already cut it as a 16 so no need to buy a new pattern.

hoops:

My hoops have a drawstring waist so I don't need to adjust them at all.

I did, for some reason that has now escaped me, pry up the casings a bit all the way down one side so those will need tacked back down.

Bum roll:

Bum roll (aka butt poofer to my husband) is ok as is.

Under skirt:

I slipped the under skirt on with no foundational garments and the waist is too big so it'll definitely need taken in with a new corset.

This does not have a drawstring so I'll have to take the grosgrain waistband off and gather the skirt a few inches tighter.

The dress:

I was most worried about the dress because I couldn't remember how I finished the seams! Thankfully, I finished each side separately with bias binding.

The thing I'm dreading really is the cartridge pleats which I hand sewed on. They'll have to come off so I can take in the bodice and then be sewn back on again. I'm really hoping that the waist is where most of the adjustments will have to be. I won't know though until I get my new corset done.

I may try and drop the neckline a bit. Since it'll have trim, I can just pop the top open, shorten the boning and then just top stitch through all layers. Not sure about it yet, but I did think this area looked a bit funky last year.

I also want to remove the sleeves and make them interchangable. These sleeves were a bear to get on though. There are two yards of fabric in each of the bottom parts of the sleeves! I do have some extra red and gold fabric to make a simpler long sleeve.

I also want to kind of pump up the volume with some more trim. These are some I have in my stash but we'll see how my budget and time are looking closer to the end of the summer.

French Hood:

I also have a lot of faux pearls that never ended up on my French hood.

Other bits:

My husband bought me this FABULOUS hat from The Blonde Swan last year and I promised to make it work with my outfit. It definitely reads more Elizabethan than Tudor and ideally, I'd like to do the smooth sleeve plus a new underskirt in a green color to tie in the hat.

I also never got around to the foresleeves last year and there were actually some days that were cold enough for me to welcome them! I have the main fabric and I did have some white fabric but I think I used it for something else.... Will have to scour the stash if I get this far.

I'm also on the wait list for an Elizabethan wired cap class at Costume College so that'd be nice to add to my Renaissance wardrobe.

Phew! That's a lot! The original ensemble took me the entire month of August and that's all I did. I wasn't working so I probably put 40-50 hours a week on this dress not to mention about $500 so I'm so not going to give up on this dress!