I Got Married!

So it's been radio silence for a while. I got engaged! And then we had to plan a wedding, and then things got crazy, but now I'm back! In addition to our completely modern wedding...

(Photo by Nicole Park Photography) 

...We also had a period ceremony! Our pastor was a friend who is a retired Methodist minister, who happened to have a copy of the very first Book of English Common Prayer. And naturally I made us clothes! 

(Photo by April Edwards of Kungaloosh)

My dress, specifically, was based on this line drawing in Dress in Anglo-Saxon England.

Some things I did wrong, and some things I did right: I used silk dupioni, which is wrong. Wool or even linen would be a more plausible choice, but I wanted it to be a very specific color, and didn't want to deal with dyeing fabric. Also, the sleeves aren't quite right. I used my normal dress pattern, which I've detailed on this blog, and just adjusted the sleeve. While I find that body pattern plausible, a set in sleeve would probably have hung better, and would be plausible for a garment like this. Using silk dupioni for the trim is only wrong because of the weave. Using strips of silk for trim is entirely documentable, but the weave would have been far more even. 

The gold threads, which are synthetic, by Kreinik, are supported by written documents of the 10th-11th centuries, which is what I'm shooting for. And it's couched down with fine silk. Also, stitching beads on is supported by extant 12th century garments. My only real crime there is the sparseness of them. Garments of this quality would have been more richly embellished, but I was working with limited time. I was also working off that inspiration image, and I truly have no idea how accurate the artist's depictions of the cuffs and collar are to a real garment. 

This was my first foray into gold couching, and I have to say I wouldn't do such long, straight (they're curved, but they curve smoothly) lines again. I had tension issues to the point of tearing everything out and redoing it, twice on one piece, and there are still some tension issues in the final pieces. It looks lovely from a distance, though. In the future, though, I'd use gold colored silk for this type of thing, and keep the actual (or artifical) gold threads to non-wearable items. Washability is a factor to consider with both that thread and the real pearls at the necks.

Overall, though, I'm happily married now! And my next few posts will probably be about my new, non-sewing hobby!