I have a history of not wearing faire period costumes to faire--see the cotehardie, 1950s, and Regency fairy, so, not surprisingly, I wanted to wear my Game of Thrones dress. However, I thought of last year's faire and its 90 degree weather, and didn't really want to wear my silk dress. Expecting similar weather, I decided to make a dress in lightweight linen and line it with cotton voile. Predictably, the weather was gorgeous--in the 60s and overcast--and my silk dress would've been fine! Oh well, I'm quite happy to have a new dress!
I wanted a dress that was summery and light, and I think I achieved that. Working on it though, I could only imagine Cersei smirking at its sweetness, and that it was probably a dress best suited to Lollys Stokeworth.
The construction is mostly the same as my first Game of Thrones dress, with the only differences being the neckline is piped, the sleeves are unlined, I didn't cover the armscye seam allowances with the lining, and the center back seam is done with this 18th century stitch. Like my first dress, I made this one entirely by hand.
I'm wearing the same hairpieces I wore with my first dress.
The dress is made of linen from Farmhouse Fabrics, lined with cotton voile from Dharma Trading, and cotton lawn side panels stenciled with Shiva Paintstiks, also from Dharma Trading. The stencil I used is from Amazon. It ties shut with 1/2 inch loosely woven cotton ribbon (I folded it in half to make 1/4 inch tubes) from Angela Ligouri.
I'm wearing it over a sleeveless linen dress from the same pattern that ties in the opposite direction, the Elizabethan lace stockings from Sock Dreams, my Valar Morghulis/Valar Dohaeris garters, and Robert Land Regency boots.
The dress is embroidered with 1 mm Italian wire mesh ribbon from Mimi's Gems, jump rings from Fire Mountain Gems and Mill Hill beads from my local embroidery shop. I sewed the jump rings into place with very fine silk filament thread.
I decided to wear a fox pendant from WC Goods on Etsy after a friend pointed out that the dress was Sweet Briar colors, and as a women's college graduate (Agnes Scott), I decided to take it a step further as a gesture towards Saving Sweet Briar.
Though the fox is the sigil of House Florent, I still went with my own House Caron of Nightsong bag, of course!
I decided to make the underdress from the same pattern as a dress without a waist seam is more comfortable in the heat. It's unlined linen from Burnley and Trowbridge and ties with their silk ribbon.
The underdress is mostly the same pattern as the dress. The back is cut as one piece instead of with a center back seam, and the bodice and skirt portions of the side panels are cut as one. The neckline is about an inch lower, and both it and the armscyes are bound with self bias.
The side panel and sleeve trim are both edged with Italian wire mesh. The sleeves have the 1mm, and the skirt panels the 3mm. To trim the sleeves, I stenciled a straight strip of the cotton lawn, folded it down the center, and bound the sleeve edge with it.
To stencil the fabric, I first traced the pattern shape. I then measured where the center bottom, and stenciled from there. I rubbed the paint stick onto it, then rubbed it into the fabric like finger paint. Messy, but successful!
For the embroidery, first I sewed the long vine, then the stems. I used a bodkin to bury the ends of the wire mesh in back. The jump rings are just sewn down in a few places and the bead is sewn with a backstitch.
And with my friends, Loren of the Costumer's Closet and Llyra of Creative Chaos. You can't take us anywhere, apparently!
