New Blackwork stuff!

I have finally made some actual garments out of the replica embroidered linen that I had made!

 Up till now, I've made coifs out of it 

but that doesn't really tell you much about how it will wear against the skin, or how it will drape.

I was going to wait till I was all done with my new white satin corset to take these photos, but I'm waiting for the nice wooden busk to arrive in the mail, and that could take forever, and the corset is really mostly almost done and anyways I have the patience of a gnat.

So - without decent lighting or further ado, I present: my new blackwork linen shift and partlet:

Ta-Daa! Ok - don't look at the busk part - cause I've totally just stuck a paint stir stick down there. It's the wrong shape, and all bumpy edged and....just look at the pretty embroidered linen!

I was going for this sortof neckline effect:

pretty groovy, no? I think this also made me want black lace on the edges.

The embroidered linen has a beautiful drape once it's all washed and ironed, and is very comfortable to wear! I was concerned that it might be too stiff or too scratchy. It's neither. :)

I am also pleased with the way the pattern shapes ended up (after some ado with directional patterns and nap...) It is both comfortable under a corset and flattering to lounge about in. Sorry - no photos of the lounging about.

Sadly, you can't see the pretty lace on the edge in the shot above since my dress form is covered in black fabric. Plus - that red silk  in the background totally steals the show. I think it wants to be a dress that goes over this, don't you?
Here's a better view of the lace:

I'm pretty pleased with it. I think it was an eBay find.
It started out white, so I used some ancient union Tintex dye that I've had for like, ten years.  I had no idea if it would still work, but it did!

Here is a closeup of just the lace, before and after I dyed it. 

And here's the lace I used on the partlet, which is less exciting, but got the job done. I dyed this one too.

 

This is a nice angle that shows the way the partlet lies over the shift. It forms the ultimate in the peek-a-boo neckline, no?

SUPER CLOSEUP!

I'll work on adding my pattern layout to this post later, so you can try it out yourself.

The shift is 48" long, and took exactly three yards of the embroidered linen. (And I'm a size 12/14) The partlet took exactly 1/2 yard, but that was really squeezing it on there and lining the collar with plain, white, non-embroidered linen. It worked though. I'll try to share that pattern too.

Anyway - I'm pretty jazzed and could not wait to show it off!
Love to hear what you think!