Let's. Try. This. Again.
Aug. 11th, 2009 10:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mandie_rwIf I write out another nice long picture-containing post and LJ eats it again, I'm just going to assume it doesn't want to hear about my adventures in French hood-sville and give up.
So. I made a French hood to wear with my Tudor gown. I find that it's always good to make accessories sooner rather than later...because I always run out of time to do something, and one really needs something on one's head with a Tudor gown, or people will be really confused. (My sister saw me with it on tonight while I was taking pictures, and told me I looked like a nun. Um, yay?)
It's not actually 100% done, as I realized I wouldn't have enough pearls to finish the billaments on the veil, and I want to make sure the ones I get aren't a different shade or something, because I'd be really annoyed if I had to take them off...have discovered that I am tremendously slow at sewing on pearls, and consequently, doing so is not my favorite thing to do. But besides that, it's done.
Type your cut contents hereFirst, I actually have done avery small bit of research, and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
modehistorique 's article on French hoods on her website was really really helpful. In my extremely expert opinion (hah. hah.), the idea of a French hood being constructed of separate components makes more sense than just one contraption you have to perch on your head and pray it doesn't fall off. I mean, I only wore my hood around the house for about ten minutes, but it seems pretty sturdy to me!
To simplify, for those of you who don't feel like reading avery good article today, the French hood, at least the one I'm putting together, has three parts: the coif, the paste, and the veil, which has the billaments/decoration at the edge (an yeah, that's what mine's lacking right now!). (Linky to the portrait I'm basing my outfit on, by the way...the one in my icon. I realize that the portrait wasn't even painted during Anne's lifetime, so I'm not trying to copy it exactly, just an "inspired-by" sort of thing.)
Onward to the pictures! First, the coif, which is the part that has the gold organza. (I used organza, anyway - knife-pleated. Took forever, because organza does NOT like being pleated.) On later portraits, you can see some of the white of the coif showing, but not on this one. The ties go round the head to hold the coif on. If I were making a coif of a later date that would actually be seen, I'd have put more space in the back of the coif for my hair, but to wear the hood, my hair's in two braids and pinned round the crown of my head, so I don't need much space in the back. (The phrase "junk in the trunk" is coming unbidden to mind for some godawful reason...)
Next bit to go on is the paste. Mine's made of the same black velveteen as my dress, and the front two inches are backed with a layer of canvas, because I wanted to make sure I had something substantial to sew thestupid glass pearls to. I would have made it longer in the back if I could, so it wouldn't stick up like that, but I'm saving my one large piece of fabric for the sleeves, and I had a limited amount of scraps! And I shaped the front edgeof the paste because I was afraid that if I didn't, the white coif would show.
Then, with the veil! Which I didn't remember to get a picture of on its own, but I think we'll survive without it...It's made of the silk taffeta from fabric.com (that came today, yay! And just to note, the yardage I got is slubbier than the $16/yd stuff I got from renaissancefabrics, but that stuff is really nice, and for the price, I am not complaining!) The front edge of the veil has a wire sewn in to keep its shape - actually it's a couple of wires twisted together, because I only had some thin stuff and would be damned if I'd wait to make this thing because I didn't have the exact thickness of wire.
I mean, I'm making stupid faces, my bangs are doing their best to escape, the veil's gone wonky in the back picture (I swear it's even when not shifting into wonky-land!), and it's hard to see where the paste ends and the veil begins (it'll be more obvious when I get those pearls), but I think I like it!
Oh, and I got my umpteen yards of silk from fabric.com today, and I luuuurvs it. (See above, under cut for comment on slubby silk taffeta.) Well, everybody hates the yellow shantung. Poor yellow shantung...I like you! The green dupioni for my bridesmaid dress is really pretty, and I was actually entertaining the thought of starting it today, but I realized I need to buy matching thread. Poo. Add it to the list...
So. I made a French hood to wear with my Tudor gown. I find that it's always good to make accessories sooner rather than later...because I always run out of time to do something, and one really needs something on one's head with a Tudor gown, or people will be really confused. (My sister saw me with it on tonight while I was taking pictures, and told me I looked like a nun. Um, yay?)
It's not actually 100% done, as I realized I wouldn't have enough pearls to finish the billaments on the veil, and I want to make sure the ones I get aren't a different shade or something, because I'd be really annoyed if I had to take them off...have discovered that I am tremendously slow at sewing on pearls, and consequently, doing so is not my favorite thing to do. But besides that, it's done.
Type your cut contents hereFirst, I actually have done a
modehistorique 's article on French hoods on her website was really really helpful. In my extremely expert opinion (hah. hah.), the idea of a French hood being constructed of separate components makes more sense than just one contraption you have to perch on your head and pray it doesn't fall off. I mean, I only wore my hood around the house for about ten minutes, but it seems pretty sturdy to me! To simplify, for those of you who don't feel like reading a
Onward to the pictures! First, the coif, which is the part that has the gold organza. (I used organza, anyway - knife-pleated. Took forever, because organza does NOT like being pleated.) On later portraits, you can see some of the white of the coif showing, but not on this one. The ties go round the head to hold the coif on. If I were making a coif of a later date that would actually be seen, I'd have put more space in the back of the coif for my hair, but to wear the hood, my hair's in two braids and pinned round the crown of my head, so I don't need much space in the back. (The phrase "junk in the trunk" is coming unbidden to mind for some godawful reason...)
Next bit to go on is the paste. Mine's made of the same black velveteen as my dress, and the front two inches are backed with a layer of canvas, because I wanted to make sure I had something substantial to sew the
Then, with the veil! Which I didn't remember to get a picture of on its own, but I think we'll survive without it...It's made of the silk taffeta from fabric.com (that came today, yay! And just to note, the yardage I got is slubbier than the $16/yd stuff I got from renaissancefabrics, but that stuff is really nice, and for the price, I am not complaining!) The front edge of the veil has a wire sewn in to keep its shape - actually it's a couple of wires twisted together, because I only had some thin stuff and would be damned if I'd wait to make this thing because I didn't have the exact thickness of wire.
I mean, I'm making stupid faces, my bangs are doing their best to escape, the veil's gone wonky in the back picture (I swear it's even when not shifting into wonky-land!), and it's hard to see where the paste ends and the veil begins (it'll be more obvious when I get those pearls), but I think I like it!
Oh, and I got my umpteen yards of silk from fabric.com today, and I luuuurvs it. (See above, under cut for comment on slubby silk taffeta.) Well, everybody hates the yellow shantung. Poor yellow shantung...I like you! The green dupioni for my bridesmaid dress is really pretty, and I was actually entertaining the thought of starting it today, but I realized I need to buy matching thread. Poo. Add it to the list...
