HSM Challenge 6 - giant sleeve ruffles (and a bonus stomacher)

Last year I finished all HSM challenges, this year it's taken me into June to do a single one. First it was all focus on Enfys, and then I wasn't able to really fit Lady Poe into the challenges.

The challenge for June is: Favourite Technique: make an item using your favourite sewing or embellishment technique

One of my favourite techniques is the rolled hem. It makes tiny hems easy and quick, it's definitely the fastest hemming technique I know. For Lady Poe I really wanted a pair of big lace ruffles. Way back when I did my 1787 revolutionary I had had to order the trim from a site in the US, and the freight was really expensive so apparently  decided to order more stuff to make up for that. One of the things I ordered was a gorgeous soft lace, that has just been sitting in my stash and waiting for the right moment, and now it was time to use it. 

The lace was wide, but not wide enough to make up the whole ruffle, especially since I wanted three layers of ruffles, and the bottom would have to be pretty big. I decided to add the lace to some cotton voile that I had. 

I started with cutting out three layers of cotton voile. I simply used the same calculations that you would for a half circle skirt or cloak. I seed them togeher and felled the seam. The voile is very fine and frays so in order to have something to attach the lace to, and to have a top edge that I would be able to attach to the sleeves I made rolled hems on all raw edges of the voile.

Then I added the lace to each ruffle, I used approximately 3 x the length of the bottom edge for how much lace I wanted to add to each ruffle. 

These are the three layers of ruffles. Then it was just a matter of stacking them together and tacking them on to the sleeves of the robe.

These sleeve ruffles might be my favorite thing with the whole outfit. They are just so fluffy and wonderful. In fact when working with the lace I fell so much in love with it that I wanted to use it for more embellishments and I decided to use it on the stomacher as well.

The stomacher was the last main piece that I did for the gown, and the reason was simple. I couldn't find any inspiraton for how I was supposed to decorate it. I looked through all my reference books, and went back to Patterns of Fashion 1. There is a description of a stomacher with rows of lace and pinked ribbon, and I decided to do that kind of stomacher.

I cut out the triangular shape of the stomacher in cotton coutil and the main silk. Stitched them together, but I also sandwiched a cotton grosgrain ribbon in between the layers in order to have something to put the pins holding the robe to the stomacher in place.

I decorated the stmacher with rows of lace and grey silk that I cut out and pinked.

I have realized after looking at photos that with these horizontal stripes it's important to look down and make sure that the stomacher is even, if it gets a bit crooked it's very obvious.

Anyway the stomacher was a bonus, here are the HSM facts.

The Challenge: 6 favorite technique 

I chose to work with rolled hems

Material: 0,5 cotton voile, several meters of lace

Pattern: a basic half circle shape

Year: 1760s

Notions: silk sewing thread

How historically accurate is it? I haven't really seen any examples of a wide lace added to a base pattern, it's either  a thin lace or the whole ruffle is from lace. I think they are 70 % accurate though since they are handsewn and in a pattern that is accurate

Hours to complete: 10

First worn: June 8th, for a 1762 ball

Total cost: I don't remember what the lace cost, it was expensive though, but that was for the whole roll of lace, and I still have a lot of it left.