Pin It

(5) print

Italian Renaissance inspired gown

The dress is made from a coral and gold colored jacquard.  The dress has corset back.  The front of the bodice is boned with professional corset steel bones.  The dress is embellished with a gold ribbon band around the waist and the puff sleeves.  The ribbon trim on the sleeves and around the waist is topped with a gold filigree broach covered with rhinestones and pearls.   The long trained overskirt has cartridge pleats and opens in the front to reveal the darker coral colored underskirt.    The dress has an empire waist (finishes half way between the bust and the natural waist line) as is indicative of the time period.

kkemper, member
Posted on Feb 18th, 2011 in sewing, design, fabric, embellishments, reader's closet, Italian Renaissance costume

Pin It

(5) print

Comments (5)

michellepaganini writes: Wonderful coloring! Beautiful in every way.
Posted: 12:41 am on November 24th

kkemper writes: I am so pleased to know people like the dress. I have to admit the Renaissance is my favorite time period and “Ever After” is one of my favorite movies. I did not make this dress to fit anyone in particular. It fits my dressform. The dress was sewn simply for the love of sewing and my fascination with historical garments and costumes. The fabric was purchased on clearance from the home décor section. The brocade is light weight in comparisons to most brocade fabrics. My machine did not have any issues with it at all. The pleating for the skirt was done utilizing cartridge pleating tape, typically used for drapes. I then hand sewed on the skirt to the bodice utilizing a heavy weight super strength thread. I draft/drape my own patterns so I am not familiar with any commercial patterns. If you are interested in drafting your own patterns I would recommend “Period Costume for Stage and screen, patterns for 1700-1800” by Jean Hunnisett for 18th century garments. I will try posting pictures of some of my other garments soon.
Posted: 1:03 pm on February 23rd

gillzach writes: Gorgeous job! I have a couple of questions if you can spare the time:
Did you use a decor-weight brocade fabric and if so, how did your machine handle the weight (of pleats, etc)?
Have you seen any patterns for late 18th century/French Revolution-era dresses? I ask because I'm interested in sewing myself something for the Venice Carnevale one year (a future dream of mine).
Thanks for sharing your creation.

Posted: 3:09 am on February 23rd

jovifriend writes: Wow, kkemper. How intricate and lovely - are you a member of Society for Creative Anachronism? This is a dream of a dress.

Posted: 9:33 pm on February 22nd

rakijaa writes: Beautiful! I love the color. Did you make it for yourself? It would be so fun to wear-it reminds me of the gowns from "Ever After".
Posted: 10:39 am on February 21st

You must be logged in to post comments. Log in.