A bit about the sleeves

When I made my 'bella' gown several years back, I stiffened the baragoni with -eek!- modern interfacing. It did work really well, especially with the synthetic fabric I sewed the dress with. Just for fun here's a picture of that....

All in all I love that dress, and I've even thought about making a new one like it, knowing what I know now. I sewed that dress with cheap fabrics and completed it in about three weeks, applique and everything. If I were to re-do it I would make it a long term project and embroider it instead of machine appliqueing the gold bits.

Anyway, back to the point. I couldn't use interfacing this time, seeing as it is not period. My theory (again unresearched) is that since we know skirt pleats were padded with wool, and the hems stiffened with wool, why not pad the pleats on the baragoni with wool?  If I'd have really been thinking I would have just interlined the outer fabric with a layer of wool, but instead I took a strip of wool doubled and gathered that into the seam at the bottom of the baragoni, and about a one inch wide strip at the top of the baragoni and smocked that to fit to the lining. The doubled wool gives a sharper 'fold' where the baragoni reaches its fullest puff and I think it did turn out well, but like I said, if I was thinking I would have just interlined the whole thing with a solid layer of wool. 

The sleeves are bag lined. The seam where the baragoni and lower sleeve meet is basted to the lining to keep the puff from sliding down.  The top of the sleeves are then whipstitched to the shoulder of the gown across a little more than half the sleeve opening.

 And here is a picture of the wrist tabs, which I am very happy with.

I've got the hook and eyes sewn on the skirt openings and the method works wonderfully. I've also finished the guard and sewing it to the bottom of the skirt, but I'll post more about that later. Just a few places on it I need to finish up a bit neater, and hopefully sometime this weekend I will get pictures of the whole thing. I won't be able to finish the camica for it, and will have to wait on the partlet and other accesories for now, waiting on spending money, but hopefully I can throw enough together from my stash and current wardrobe that I can wear the whole thing properly. I need to do a good go-through of my current wardrobe and clean out much of my earlier things I've made, many things of which are done with synthetic fabric or don't fit well, and then re-plan my wardrobe to better match my persona and reflect the fact that I hardly ever even go to events where I need court gowns.... sadly.