Pink Fabric Trim Sleeves (for Realm of Venus Perfectly Period Pink Costume Mini Challenge)

This is my first entry into any costume competition and my first attempt at anything Italian Renaissance (see me in the list of participants here!), though I have admired the style and Realm of Venus for quite some time now.



I ended up having substantially less free time than I’d originally thought, and no budget whatsoever, but refused to let that stop me from entering this challenge. Funding breast cancer research and diagnostic tests for less fortunate women is such a good cause and I didn’t want to fail the cause or let myself down.



After poring over my existing stash of fabric and fabric trim, I decided to go with a pair of sleeves, inspired by this portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni done by Domenico Ghirlandaio. In 1488. According to the Web Gallery of Art (http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/g/ghirland/domenico/7panel/07tornab.html) “She came from one of the most important Florentine families and in 1486 married Lorenzo Tornabuoni. “ The portrait is permanently housed at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid (http://www.museothyssen.org/en/thyssen/ficha_obra/365)

I found a fabric trim that echoed the brocade of her sleeves with the floral element and the arrow shape of the leaves. I realized, excitedly, that while I didn’t have the budget to purchase this gorgeous brocade, nor the time to embroider that design onto the sleeves (or frankly the talent – the only fibre arts I’m good at are crochet and knitting) I could lay out strips of the fabric trim on a lining fabric to make the brocade out of it! Granted, the fabric trim is made out of poly and lurex instead of silk and real gold, but such substitutions were necessary due to cost and budget.

My next challenge was that I didn’t already have an actual pattern for the sleeve. I knew what the basic pattern shape was supposed to look like from having done cotehardie sleeves, but I wanted to try to incorporate the slashed area on the outside of the upper sleeve. Sadly, when I tried to make the pattern accommodate both the slashes and the layout of the fabric trim, I ended up with a disaster every time, so I decided to stick with a sleeve that was open down the back of the arm and use ties or buttons and loops to attach it together. I chose to do the smaller segments of lacing all the way up the length of the sleeve, similar to this painting which was my original inspiration from the beginning of the challenge when I thought I would have time to do a whole gown. (I plan to go back and tackle this gown another time. I have this lovely bright pink linen and a great teal and pink fabric trim to go down the front of the sleeve where it’s open to reveal the camicia.)

I used an existing sleeve from a gown already in my wardrobe, and laid that out on paper and which I cut apart for making adjustments.

After a lot more fiddling, I was able to get the pattern piece I wanted. In the process, I realized that I would not be able to just attach the fabric trim to a single layer of lining, I would have to make one layer of lining to attach the trim to, and another that would actually be the lining of the sleeve.

I played with the placement of the strips of fabric trim and determined that alternating the direction of the strips looked the best.

Since the outer edges of the sleeve were going to be the most visible, I chose to start the fabric trim layout there and figured I would butt the fabric trim in the center. As I got closer to the center, it became apparent that laying the strips of fabric trim over each other in a sort of basket-weave treatment would be more attractive as well as easier to line up and stitch.

Lastly came stitching down the fabric trim and adding the lining along with the ribbons to fasten the sleeve to the (eventual) gown and up the back to tie it together, which would allow the camicia to puff out so beautifully.



VOILA, the finished product (I could only take the pic with one sleeve on and, as I said before, I do not have a camicia yet so had to make do with a regular chemise):

I will probably add more to it, but I am pretty happy with how they turned out!





Resources:
Portrait Inspirations
Web Gallery of Art portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni
Giovanna Tornabuoni at its permanent home at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Web Gallery of Art portrait of Woman in a Red Dress (sleeve puffs)

Costuming Books
Dressing Renaissance Florence by Carole Collier Frick (Google Books)
The Silk Industry of Renaissance Venice by Luca Mola (Google Books)
Seeing Through Clothes by Anne Hollander (Google Books)

Pink!!!

I am working on a pair of Italian Ren sleeves in Pink and Gold out of all fabric trim...well, except for the lining fabric which is a soft, lightweight cotton which will be more comfortable on the inside...

Here is my inspiration:

I did a test layout of the fabric trims. Sadly, my good point-and-shoot camera was taken out by my mischievous sewing assistants (BAD KITTY! BAD!!!). A friend was kind enough to lend me her digital video camera that takes stills. I haven't figured out how to get it to take good pics. I'm such a techno retard anymore...Sigh.



Well, here is the best one showing the strips of fabric trim with the gold braid passementerie criss-crossed over top. The chevrons on the fabric trim are going opposite directions in the layout cause it was easier that way. In the real sleeves, the pink fabric trim will all be facing the same way. I believe I will have the points of the chevrons facing down, but I might change my mind.

I might add some pink beads too, but not sure, as it's hard to decide where to stop so that you aren't leaning on beads...not too comfortable.



Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that these are for a costume contest that I entered for Realm of Venus' October Perfectly Period Pink mini-challenge to support breast cancer awareness?? I did forget? Well, far be it from me to do things the easy way...gotta get crackin! This is my very first costuming competition, the first of many I hope. I really want to prove myself and strive to better and better projects and skills. Click here to see me on the list of participants!



BTW, if you're reading this and want to help me replace my broken camera, go buy LOTS of fabric trim at www.athenasgrove.com! ♥♥

News From the Costuming World

I decided to take a look around today to see what was going on in the world of costuming and get out of my own head. It's really important to get a fresh perspective now and then so I don't get stuck in a downward spiral that tightens on itself until it strangles my creativity like a rapacious anaconda (*sparks random thought* "Oooh, snake print brocade would make a cool corset fabric!" See what I mean about new paths and creativity???)

This leather, dragon-scale waist cincher isn't exactly what I pictured, but is super cool. I found it through google images, then tracked it back through pinterest to Etsy. So many links, whew!

Now, where was I? Oh yeah...costume news.

Has Nerd Chic jumped the shark?
Whenever a fringe concept gets noticed by a super main-stream source, its future shelf-life is suspect. Well, the Huff is now reporting on The Big Bang Theory costumes as well as other trends at San Diego's costume con! I love that show and would be tempted to go to Comic-con to see Nathan Fillion.

Maybe The Huff is just that savvy that they could spot the Geek Chic trend before it was over??? *dubious*

Note: I've only been to 2 cons in my life, Lunacon and Syndicon. I don't remember much from Lunacon, but the Syndicon I went to featured Forever Knight and Highlander. I got >this close< to the astounding hotness that is Adrian Paul *swoon*. That man is way hotter in person than on TV, and THAT'S saying something!

(thanks to wikia for this pic)


*swoooooooooooooooooooooooooooon* Huh? Wha? Oh yeah. Costumes.

Obituary
OK, so the next bit of news is a little sad. The costuming world has had a death in the family. Sunday, June 8 2012, theatre and SF Ballet costumer Martin Pakledinaz passed away, apparently after a long illness. I'm not sure what production the following image is from, but it's Elizabethanesque (the flattened skirt silhouette is more 1789 than 1589), which is always enjoyed on this blog for its elegance and prolific use of embellishments.

MJ & Cirque du Soleil?!?!
The next article that I want to talk about may spark a little controversy, and that's ok. I just ask that you be polite about it. Now, regardless of what you think of Michael Jackson the person (my opinion is another blog altogether), there is no denying the talent he possessed. Cirque du Soleil is clearly equally impressed by his talent, as they have designed an entire show around his legacy, entitled "Michael Jackson Immortal World Tour". This article talks about the costumes for the show which take up 3 trucks in the show's caravan!

Thanks go to cleveland.com for this pic.


Arachna-phabric!
And lastly, for those of you who haven't already heard of the project that earns my just-coined prize for "Best Timed Press Release" (so named because it coincides cleverly with the release of the new Spider Man movie), here is a really fascinating article and video about a group that wanted to see what would happen if they wove spider silk into fabric. All I can say about it is ubuh, ubuh, ubuh....the video shows the team that came up with this remarkable idea and the project in-process. Here are some pictures to enjoy which I take no credit for (I have attached a source link to each picture from where I found it):

I think I would have preferred a different kind of garment, but there is no denying the mastery in this project.

I think I would have made a Chanel-style suit out of the resulting fabric...maybe a wall tapestry, so it could NEVER be ruined by the drycleaners!

That's all the news for now. Thanks for coming by to visit. Hopefully I will have a camera again soon and can share more pictures of my own progress.

Happy costuming!

Photo Shoot: New Pics of Fabric Trims!

Before my 1 year old kitten broke my camera last week (she thought the now ironically-titled safety strap was a cat toy), I was very busy taking my own pictures of the fabric trims I have available. The images I had previously were a small section of the trim, and didn't show much of the detail or honestly, the beauty they contain.

Celtic and Renaissance faire costumes look great with this fabric trim (plus it comes in other colors and a wider width as well)

This fabric trim is called Knotwork

Halloween is coming soon

This fabric trim is called Magykal

This fabric trim is perfect for Elizabethan styles for SCA, Opera costumes or high end home decor

This fabric trim is called Byzantia

This last trim has lovely shades of burgundy mixed with gold on a black background. Imagine this beaded with some pearls! 

Ooh la la and HUZZAH!

This fabric trim is called Butterfly

Click on any of the images to see more results from the photo shoot as well as purchasing details. I'd love to know what you think of all the pics here and on Athena's Grove Fabric Trims store since this is my first venture into this kind of image layout.

Happy embellishing!