17th century musings

I cut out the canvas for my first mockup today, and I'm in the process of putting it together. But I'm also heavily thinking of how I want to do the skirt - attaching it to the bodice, etc. There's a couple things I can't decide.

I'm thinking of knife-pleating the whole skirt, except about 6" or so in the front. I think I'm going to split it at the sides, like an 18th c skirt, but then I will attach the back half of the skirt to the bodice. The front half will sit at my waist, underneath the front of the bodice, and tie underneath the back of the skirt. Does this sound at all plausible?

It will be a front opening bodice, such as this one. I just don't want the split front skirt. And then the sleeves will be like this one, with cartridge pleating around the back, and one small front panel, with the two openings.

This is a basic sketch, and the fabric I'm using. I added it to my stash for this project a good 1.5yrs ago, before I really knew anything about types of fabric. So I have no clue what it is - but I got about 7yds of it from the home dec remnants clearance at Hancocks. It's sort of a light blue/green/gold color, which doesn't really show in the picture. This project has been in my head for a long time!

First Mockup

First mockup is done, and there's really not all too many alterations that have to be done to it. It was too long in the waist by a little over an inch, too large in the front by about 1.5-2", and I will wind up doing a curved back seam, as usual. I was hoping the stays would allow me to avoid it, but no avail.

The only thing that is really throwing me off is the weird shape of the armseye. Has anyone ever used the Jean Hunniset pattern before? It's very oblong in the front, about 1.5" more oval than circle, which you can see in the 3rd pic. And in the back, there's almost a right angle where the two pieces meet, as seen in the 2nd pic. Any advice? I don't know whether to try to alter it out in my next mockup, or leave it as the pattern recommends.



Also, I realized I never posted pics of my progress with the stays. I'm not sure why I'm having to lace them with the gap at the top in the front, but if I close it, it completely flattens me, and I don't like the look of the silhouette. And I'm back to the pink laces, since the green ones I bought for it don't seem to be long enough. I've also decided that I will be adding straps, which will lace in to the front and back by eyelets. That way, I can use them for my 18th c stuff, and lose them for the 17th c.