Goldberry's dress - new and improved and FINISHED

After the disappointment of the darker green dress, the lighter (silvery-green) version went very smoothly.  I am quite happy with the overall look and the construction.

To start, I did a Google Image-search for cotehardies and 14th century fashion to determine silhouette, lacing styles, gore numbers/placement, and (most tricky) sleeve styles (since, once again, I had an idea of what I wanted to do and I wanted to see if it was even remotely historical - lo and behold, I found not one but several examples of sleeves that had the same 'look' - how it would be translated into a painting - as mine).  I used RomanticHistory's post about the construction of her cotehardie as a model for mine (except for the sleeves, since I wanted to do sleeves like on the darker green gown - not the super-narrow tippet-strips that are the most popular).  

So, without further ado, here is the final ensemble, the HSF information, and then (below the break) construction notes).

...yes, the curtain behind me to my closet has water lilies on it.  ...no, that was actually NOT intentional/deliberate to match the scene in the book of Goldberry surrounded by lilies (that just happens to be the curtain closing off my closet).

The darkest photo is most true to the fabric color.

The Challenge:  HSF#10: Literature.  Goldberry, from The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkein, as reimagined through a 14th century lens.
(Technically, due to the shapes used - purely rectangles and triangles - this also counts for the HSF#11: Squares, Rectangles & Triangles since at this rate if I want to make a 'princess'-inspired dress I will have to start on that now because I think it'll take a month.)

Fabric: poly-something that looks like a very thin fake silk, silver-green in color (like new white oak leaves); existing yellow linen hand-sewn long-sleeved shirt (1yd 54" wide fabric); existing ivory poly-something (same fabric as green) long shift (3 yd fabric)

Pattern: based on observations of historical artwork, combined with a basic pattern found on the internet, heavily influenced by RomanticHistory's construction of her linen cotehardie (except for the sleeves)

Year: later 14th century

Notions: thread to match the fabric, no trim; 24" of thin (5/8" width) ivory satin ribbon for lacing; 3yd modern gold floral ribbon for 'belt'; 1yd (three strands) golden florists' wire and thin red ribbom for circlet; (not really a notion, but... hand-carved white onyx goblet from Ten Thousand Villages - second favorite store ever, so have to put in a plug for them)

How historically accurate is it?  The look/silhouette is relatively accurate (though I'm not a fan of body-hugging clothes, so it's a tad looser than most of the paintings portrayed it), the fabric most certainly is not though it could pass for silk at a distance (both shift and overdress); linen shirt would be accurate.  Construction is accurate (hand sewn).  So, I'd give it a 40% with adding in accessories (circlet, ribbon strip 'belt', cup), shirt, and shift.

Hours to complete: 12-14 (that's hand-sewing for you)

First worn:  Only for photos; not yet for anything else.

Total cost:  Everything came from my stash (or else already made), so technically 'free' for this project.  I had bought the fabric for $2/yard a couple years ago (yay for red tag!), plus thread for $3 = $11.  With accessories... the gold ribbon was $4/yd, the wire was $5/roll, the ivory poly was $1/yd (best deal ever), the linen was $3/yd remnant, so add in $18 - $29 total for the entire ensemble.

Some more "in character" shots, and details of the final product, below.

The shirt and shift:

"Medieval" (non-accessorized" version:

Sleeves and skirt:

And a few more shots because this came out so well...:

And now, for the construction...

Goldberry's green monster of a dress

Yes, the green UFO overdress dress is still giving me issues... So though I fixed and mostly finished it (just needs proper lacing), I'm not going to count it for this challenge after all... The fit is less than stellar, even with taking out and re-sewing all of the skirt seams, and it doesn't work with the image of Goldberry as I had hoped it would. She is graceful, the dress is not; she is elegant, the dress is not. *sigh*  It's not a bad dress, per sé, it's just more appropriate for a faire or something like that.

Thankfully, I have a back-up plan, though there is (yet another) time crunch (sadly, this looks like a pattern...).

I will recreate her silver-green dress as a medieval cotehardie instead, using non-period (though looks it, almost) fabric.  I was originally planning on a reversible dress using the UFO green dress and this other fabric, but since that dress isn't quite up to par, and I'm making the silver-green anyway, might as well just make it as it should be and on its own.

(Once I finish the lacing of the UFO dress, and making of the silver-green, I'll post photos on here for comparison purposes.)

Hello, Monday. :-)

...and the challenge continues... HSF #10: Literature

So... the "flora and fauna" challenge was engaging enough that I'm going to try my hand at another.  And, yes, I have 10 days in which to do it. :-)  Again.  Hopefully this is just coincidence and not the beginning of a trend... (well, I will prolly have to bow out for a lot of the challenges this summer due to work and class, so guess I'd better get the sewing in now while I can.)

The next challenge in the Historical Sew Fortnightly is:
#10: Literature – due May 20. The written word has commemorated and immortalised fashions for centuries, from the ‘gleaming’ clothes that Trojans wore before the war, to Desdemona’s handkerchief, ‘spotted with strawberries’, to Meg in Belle Moffat’s borrowed ballgown, and Anne’s longed for puffed sleeves.In this challenge make something inspired by literature: whether you recreate a garment or accessory mentioned in a book, poem or play, or dress your favourite historical literary character as you imagine them.

The intent of this one is for it to be a literary (read: historical/period) source and/or inspired garment or accessory.  And, being me, I gravitate toward garments... So, after wracking my brain for something that I would love to do (one of Christine's dresses from Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux - because now I can't read it without seeing the costumes of the movie; an Edwardian outfit from a favorite *fantasy* historical fiction novel; or a Regency dress like something Eleanor would wear) but can't due to time and learning curve...

I finally settled on something similar enough to what I've done before that doesn't require learning a new silhouette/pattern/style and therefore can be finished relatively quickly, and is something I have wanted to do but hadn't had a solid concept for exactly what it would look like before, AND (takes the cake) incorporates the use of (finishes) a UFO (UnFinished Object).  Tri-fecta.

And it is...