GSC Practice session

To prepare for the upcoming Golden Seamstress Competition (GSC) our team decided to have a practice session.  We had to finish drafting the pattern and then create a mockup of the garment.  The overall design of this practice garment is the same as the one we will create for the competition, however the colors will differ slightly.  The model was funding the project and decided that having two suits which were exactly the same was not to his liking.

Here is a redering of the design we were shooting for.

(See the following link for more info about the competition and the design we have chosen:
http://ercc-glaison.blogspot.com/2011/02/more-late-period-buttons.html)

We drafted the pattern from a doublet found in one of Janet Arnolds' Patterns of Fashion.  While the foundation was based on, and mocked up from, the doublet found in POF, the overall design was inspired from a slightly later period French doublet wich had more slashing.

We scaled the pattern up 16% from the size of the original garment, and then continued to tweak it until it fit the model properly.

Four members of the team plan on focusing on the overal construction of the Doublet, Sleeves, Slops and shirt while one member will be focusing on embelishments.  She will be blackworking the collar and cuffs for the shirt.

Garment in progress.  No buttons and no points and sleeves are still WIP, but I think that you can tell that the model is pleased with the progress.

Here is a sample of the blackwork which will be on the cuffs.

Here is the blackwork for the collar.

By the end of the day we had made good progress.  One of the goals of the practice session was to make sure that we will have time to finish everything.  Based on the progress which we made, I don't think we should have too much trouble finishing in the 20 hours we will be given.

Here are the slops in progress.

Here are the points which will be used to connect the sleeves to the doublet.  They are made from silk and tipped with silver.

Here is one of the sleeves.  I think we will end up tacking the panes of the sleevs together.   We still have to agree on the embelishment used to tack them together.  We also have to gromet the top of the sleeves where the points will go through.

Here is Mistress Arrienne working on the blackwork.

Here is our model trying on the slops.  Note that there is no foundation layer added yet.  The cannons will sit a bit higher than they appear currently.  This was late in the day after about 13 hours of work.  We were all getting a bit slap happy and we were joking about the period hula skirt.

Overall the practice session was a success.  We had to spend 2~3 hours making tweaks to the pattern pieces.  I think we are all more comfortable about the scope of the endevour now.  We decided not to stick around and finish.  The goal was to validate the pattern, allocate work assignments and then practice those tasks.  Those goals accomplished, we decided to break and finish our respective articles later.

When I get photos of the finished garments I'll be sure to post.