Robe à la Française: Lace Sleeves

Hi there!

Long time, no see. 

So, what's been going on?

Basically, I finished the gown about a month ago, but I'm just waiting on some ribbon to arrive from America. I did order some ribbon before I finished the gown, but when it arrived, I was not happy with the colour so I ordered some more.

So while we wait, here is my post for making the tiered lace ruffles that go in the sleeves!

Disclaimer that I was a bit silly and didn't take photos of me making these so enjoy the photos of the end result :)

As with almost everything sewing related, we started out by pattern drafting. I upscaled the pattern from the book which took me about half a day. It's a pretty basic shape so I wasn't too worried if there was a millimeter out of place. 

Cutting out the silk organza was... interesting. I tried my best to cut it on grain and to the shape. It is a very shifty fabric which I'd never worked with before so I'm sure I didn't do a perfect job cutting it out.

Now, after cutting out all the pieces from the organza, the instructions want you to hem the edges with a fine running stitch. I seriously did not want to do this. I put it off for a couple of days, but I knew I had to just soldier on and get it done. It was a very tedious but necessary step. 

It was all worth it when I finally got to sew on the lace. This lace is the first thing that I got in the post when I first started ordering and preparing for this project. It has been on my desk, staring at me, and begging to be used. So it was such a gratifying feeling when I finally got to sew it on.

I'm not an expert on historical lace either. I did look at fashion plates and extant garments online and tried to pick something that had the right sort of look that I'd been seeing. Nonetheless, I love this lace and stand by my choice of it even if it might not look quite right for the period.

I started sewing the lace on one of the middle-tier flounces as I knew if I made a mistake, it would be pretty hidden and I could learn from it. I did learn that I needed to do way more tucks in the lace to get it to lie the way I wanted it to. It was way too stiff so for the rest, I made sure to make plenty of tucks.

Sewing the organza to the twill tape was pretty straightforward, as was attaching it to the dress. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to sew the ends of the lace together to make a full circle. I haven't right now, but if I feel like it needs to be done, I'll just slip stitch it together at a later date.

Then it was done! This was a pretty easy make considering what I've made beforehand. It was definitely very fiddly and took a couple days more than I thought it would, but I am so happy with the end product. I think it just adds that extra element to the gown which elevates it. 

Now onto the lace tuckers that go around the neckline! That might be two or so weeks away as I'm working on three things at once. The next update will probably be on the shift remake as I'm just finishing the hem at the moment.

I'll talk to you soon. Have a swell day!

-Maysie