Beads, anyone?

I must've sewn on at least 400 of those faux pearl beads onto my hennin. But it is finally finished! Christian says I am the "Roach Queen" with the wire antennae hanging in front. OK, I can see why. On the mannequin they are kinda droopy, but on me they stay up properly. Glad it's not the oppsite way! I didn't have time to figure out how to drape the veil and how much veil I need, so I'll have to do that tomorrow. I'm afraid the chiffon is too soft, and will slip off the "antennae," even when pinned on. I guess we'll see.

After letting gravity take its final take on the sewing and fixing any loose threads, I pinned and hand-sewed the top on, which makes it look so much better. However, after doing all this, and taking weeks to do it, I really don't think anyone could possibly pay me enough to make another one without a diamond pattern already printed onto the fabric!

I was kinda disappointed that the diamonds didn't meet up in the back seam, but I think it's because it's a 3D surface and naturally would not meet, even if the diamonds were perfect. Well they're not perfect, but I think they look good enough. Usually I don't settle for less, but this time, just to keep my sanity (and to make me feel like I accomplished something!) I will use it as is.

Which reminds me of Lynn McMasters who sewed 13,000 pearls onto an Elizabethan chemise. She should be sainted: http://lynnmcmasters.com/chemise.html She should honestly make movie costumes, because I can't believe how much talent, energy, and patience she must have. If I could be half as good as her, I would feel self-fulfilled.

I also finished my chemise, which came from a super-easy rectangle-and-triangle pattern from Festive Attyre: http://www.festiveattyre.com/research/chemise.html I of course had to tailor the 16th century shirt to a 15th century shirt, by greatly narrowing the sleeves. I made them rectangular first (adding 3 inches to the width and 2 to the length - next time I'd add 3) then once they were on I tried the shirt on and figured out how much I needed to narrow them by. I made it drawstring, which is kind of a mistake because the sleeves have to be drawstring too, which makes them a bit weird-feeling. If I were to make another one, I simply wouldn't have made the front and back so wide (45" each, as the pattern said) and made it fit myself better so that sewing on a band would have been easier. Also, I would make the gussets a bit bigger, perhaps 10 inches instead of 7. Plus, I wasn't sure how high or low I wanted the neckline. It didn't come out too bad though, and with a kirtle perhaps the sleeves won't be so noticeable, and I could pin them to the kirtle if I really needed to.

I totally forgot to get a picture of this, so I'll have to take one tomorrow.