Renaissance Festival Season is back! And with only a week to go until my local faire I decided that I wanted to wear something new – nothing too difficult – just new. So I decided to make a new chemise since those can be a simple project that shouldn’t take too long. Originally I was going to go for a vibrant red or purple to wear with my black bodice because this faire had a pirate theme, but then I was at my local thrift store, and happened upon this beautiful pale green cotton (poly blend?). I got 4 yards of it for like $2, it was meant to be. And since there were 4 yards rather than 2, I had to make a full length dress rather than just a shirt – those are just the rules.
I got home and pulled out the pattern Simplicity 9966 – an old favorite. It is shirt length, and would have to be lengthened, but that was easy enough. Poking through the pattern I noticed that they recommended edging the sleeves and neckline with lace, which I’ve never actually done before. I figured that this was as good a time as any to try that, and started pulling lace out of my stash. I really liked the pink nylon lace with the green, but I only had enough to do about half of one armhole, and honestly it was kind of scratchy. Then I found some off-white crocheted lace and tacked that onto the arms. Unfortunately, after doing that there wasn’t enough left to do the neckline. This was a double-blow since the poufy sleeves mostly covered the arms so that you can’t really see the arm lace, but the neckline is much more exposed. Lesson learned, if I’m going to the effort of adding lace, add it to the neckline instead, or use wider lace. Either way, I’m glad that I used the crocheted lace. It’s nice and soft on my skin.
While digging through the lace stash I also stumbled across some ribbon flowers, and decided to add those to the dress as well. They were the last thing I added to the dress, and fortunately I had already learned that the arm lace was hidden, so I changed my original plan of adding them near the arm bands and chose to put them closer to the shoulders instead. I think that they look very sweet. They certainly keep with the pastel vibe, and give the dress a little something extra in design features.
While adding to the length of the skirt I also decided to add to the circumference and created gores from the waist down using what was left of the fabric. However, I made the dress a little bit too long, ended up stepping on it, and got mud on near the hem of the skirt that did not come out in the wash. Oh well.
You may have noticed that there are even fewer photos with this post than usual. As I said, I wanted to finish this project in a week, and with the added lace details as well as the skirt length/gore additions I didn’t have time to take process photos or even photos of the garment until after it was worn and washed! I didn’t actually have time to wash the fabric until the dress was mostly sewn. Fortunately the pattern was so loose that I wasn’t worried about it shrinking in the wash.
As for final style decisions, I opted not to wear the black bodice or even attempt any sort of pirate look. I fully embraced the Spring/Fae/Easter/Pastel look and donned a pale blue over dress bodice and some glitter. It left me feeling pretty.
Item: Chemise
Challenge: n/a
Material: Cotton/Poly Blend
Pattern: Simplicity 9966
Year:
Notions: Thread, Bias tape, Elastic, Lace, Ribbon Flowers
Hours to Complete: 8:30
Total Cost: $2 (fabric) + $3 (lace) + $3 (bias tape)
Audiobook: The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson
Although this title had been on my TBR list for a while as I read about it before it was published, the timing still turned out to be extraordinary. The first book I read this year as I crossed from December to January was “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” (a story about a girl coming to terms with her sexuality through nightclubs and “male impersonators” at clubs in 1960s San Francisco). Additionally, two days before starting this audiobook I just happened to decide to pull out the soundtrack to “Cabaret” without realizing that the audiobook was about to be released. So when the story of an 18-year old wandering the streets of Weimar Republic Berlin stumbles into a gay nightclub just happens to be my next audiobook…it was meant to me.
The story is told in verse, and it’s a beautiful love story of 2 young women falling in love despite the rise of fascism and the Nazi party. The protagonist is also uncharacteristically aware of the needs and feelings of those around her for a YA protagonist – she realizes that others have their own struggles too and seeks to support them especially after one disastrous run-in. It’s refreshing to have a protagonist attune to the feelings of others while simultaneously fighting her own battles.