Tudor skirt and French hood

I'm having a big problem. The knife pleats in the front of the skirt make it too big, even with the rest of it cartridge-pleated by hand. I'm at a loss of what to do, because I cartridge-pleated everything and it looks bad in the front. It has to be knife-pleated. I've used cartridge pleating before, but I don't recall having this problem. Might be because it's velvet, and it's kind of bulky. Damn pattern.

On the flip side, the cartridge pleating was super easy because I used gingham to create a 1/2" grid. You sew it to the top of the skirt so it has a finished edge and won't fray. I've never thought of that before! Complete ingenious! I'll have to use that technique on everything I cartridge pleat. Only part of the pattern I actually understood and really liked.

Also had a really hard time understanding the directions for the French hood. I'm not liking this pattern a whole lot. I went to see my Period Patterns one and it's just as bad. The directions are all chopped up into sections that pertain to other hats. God.

Been busy this weekend and didn't have time for Christian to fit me in the bodice. It is fitted to the dress mannequin I have, but that doesn't guarantee that it perfectly fits me. So I guess I'll have to do that tonight when he comes home from work.

Also I have been working on the gold false sleeves. Those were easy, even with the slashing. Only thing is, I can't make the real sleeves detatchable because my crummy straight-armed chemise would be showing. I was thinking if I have enough fabric, I might be able to swing a whole 'nother bodice without the sleeves for when it's warmer. But I just remembered the skirt is attatched because of the V in the front. Damn.

Hope this comes out right because it's getting frustrating...