A 16th century Venetian gown in the making

Those who follow this blog on facebook have probably seen that I have been working on a 16th century Venetian gown. That is actually one of the very few European fashions from the period 1000-1600 that I haven't made previously, but I always knew that I would make one some day.

Anyway, I soon realized that the shifts that I already have wouldn't work with it, since it's cut rather low in the back (and the front, but that's more common). So on Monday I started on a new, hand sewn shift. it is almost finished, but I needed to see where the neckline should be, so I had to try the gown on.

It is made from a cotton damask and the main purpose of this gown is to make something pretty that I can loll around drinking bubbly in. The sleeves are detachable, for decadent lounging on blankets at Double Wars.

My main inspiration for the sleeves was this painting from the 1550s, by a follower of Veronese:

When trying it on I found that I need to reinforce the lacing (it is laced through two rows of ribbon on the inside) and that the cord that I had used for lacing had gotten mysteriously much shorter - thanks to this lovely lady:

In other news I have an inflammation in my uterus (of all places) and I'm on two types of antibiotics and I feel really crappy.