The Pearl of Venice

A gown based on three paintings from the city of Venice dating 1510 to 1515.  Its important design elements are:
 
•    Large, full, cone-shaped sleeves.
•    A tightly fitted bodice, with a wide, low neckline, trimmed with black and gold strips.
•    The tops of the sleeve caps have been cartridge pleated and sewn to the bodice to form part of the neckline.
•    A full skirt, pleated into the bodice. In this case, cartridge pleating was used.

It is made from red wool twill, the sleeves being lined with black wool, popular color combination for the time/location. The gown was constructed with a combination of hand and machine sewing, using modern thread. All the pleating was done by hand. The bodice is lined with two layers of linen and the sleeves are interlined with silk organza.

The modern shortcuts I used in this gown were hook and eye tape at the closures, used as a time saving measure and woven trim at the neck of the bodice, used as a substitution for my lack of embroidery skills. I also modified and simplified the cut of the skirt to work with a lack of fabric.

For more information, please see the complete documentation.