Finished 'fleur-de-lys' gown with hat

Finished 'fleur-de-lys' gown with hat
Originally uploaded by Catrijn.

I really had a great time at 12th Night in this outfit; the hat especially is just so much fun (and other people seemed to think so too, which always makes my day).

Final wrap-up on the project:
The dress I am mostly happy with, although it's been a long road with some serious doubts along the way. It doesn't look quite as nice as I originally imagined in my head, but it does still look good. The fabric, a rare find I just couldn't pass up, has a bit too much body to it to drape quite right. Coupled with my decision to go with a pullover style and skip a long opening, and you can't get the body-skimming fit and soft folds that the inspiration has. If I was doing this dress again, I'd either pick a fabric with a softer hand (let me know if you find any wool brocade, mmmkay?), or I'd put an invisible zipper in one of the side seams under the arm. Plausibly, the original might have been laced (front, back, or side, there's no way to know), but I just couldn't picture it, and the thought of putting stress-bearing eyelets into satin makes me want to run screaming.

The hat I'm more positive on; essentially my only reservation is that it's a little larger than I intended. I failed to account for the extra volume taken up by the covering of feathers, which was just a silly oversight. So it's even more over-the-top, and I can hardly be sad about that. My technique at sewing feathers has improved quite a bit too - it's harder to do on a solid base like this than a flat hat like the Tellebarrett where you can work from both the top and the bottom.

Feathered hat progress

Feathered hat top
Originally uploaded by Catrijn.

There's nothing like a deadline to get you moving on a project. I really want this hat finished for 12th Night, which is this weekend, as it will really make or break the outfit. It's looking good from the top, but the side shows the truth. And yes, it will be completely covered in feathers, aside from the inside band. Actually, I'm a bit further along, since I took these pictures before working on it last night. The bottom edge is now covered in as well, and I'm just starting to work on filling in the middle, overlapping feathers so the change in direction isn't so obvious. (For comfort, I've kept the stiff root end of the quills always away from the head opening, which means that the top and the bottom have feathers going in different directions.)

The large string of beads from the original inspiration will probably be a miss for this weekend because of time constraints, although I would still like to make it. I do, however, have a new pair of appropriate shoes that I got for Christmas, which makes me very happy.