Finished kirtle

[theladyrebecca]

I actually wound up finishing the kirtle this morning, since I was super tired by 9pm last night, and just decided to go bed and wake up early to finish. All I had left were 12 hooks and eyes, and a little bit of tacking down of seams. So I finished this morning, and wore it today to go to the faire! It was so nice to attend a faire in a dress that I don't have to worry about, and that allows me to fit in all the shops! Though I have to admit, I do miss the complements. ;) It even survived the rain. It started raining during the joust, and though I had an umbrella, it was coming down pretty hard, so we waited till our knight had jousted and then headed out. By the time I made it to the car, my apron was pretty much soaked (it was actually just a pinner apron I bought in Williamsburg in middle school and flipped the pinner part to the inside), but my nice wool kirtle hardly felt wet at all! I wore it over my 18th c quilted petticoat, and it gave it a nice amount of body, too.

Anyway, it turned out to be a nice, quick, and relatively simple project. I may add the second skirt guard at some point, and I'm debating about taking out the second row of cartridge pleating stitches (I took out the third, since it was pulling the skirt way too tightly). I also had spaced all my hooks and eyes 1.5" apart, and I definitely need to add two between the top hooks, because I had to pin those gaps closed. But overall, I'm quite happy with it, and I have to admit - although I didn't plan it that way (this project is entirely stash-based, after all), it really made me feel like Belle!

Here's some pics:

Comments

[atherleisure.livejournal.com]

It came out very nicely, but I can see why you want the second guard on the skirt. It would add something extra to what is already a very good-looking kirtle.

[theladyrebecca.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm sure I'll add it eventually. Though I was surprised that adding the guard was actually the most difficult part of this whole project, just trying to hold that much fabric in my hand while hand-sewing!

[atherleisure.livejournal.com]

When sewing on trim that is well away from the edge of the fabric, I hold a fold of the fabric from the back with my non-needle hand rather than bunching up everything from the hem to the trim in my hand. The fold is perpendicular to the row of trim. I'm not sure I explained that well, but it works without tiring my hand.