Crossing the Finish Line (picture heavy)

And here we are. In a mad last push during the past three days, I finished. Apparently I cannot control myself at the finish line and I have to sprint! I was feeling patient enough to not make stupid mistakes, I'd like to think.



This picture is first for a general sense of the overall outfit. The snood/caul bugs the heck out of me, so I will only be wearing it at War. Maybe. As Authentic As I Want To Be, right? Right.

The chemise turned out well and it is quite comfortable. I made the sleeves very, very long, because I have long arms and I hate it when my sleeves turn out to be too short. However, I also set them in the wrong place, so the collar gapes in the back a bit. By the time I discovered this, I was too far along to care, so instead I have a note on my bathroom mirror: "Sunscreen on back of neck, Feb. 17th." *I* know what I mean.



Here you can see the shape of the bodice. I decided against boning for a few reasons. Firstly, I am small enough that I can pretty much get away without it. Secondly, I had only put it on either side of the lacing, so that was straight while the rest of the bodice wrinkled. Thirdly, the front was straight enough to start jabbing me in the throat (that may be an exaggeration) and ruined the line of the neck. This bothered me more than the bodice wrinkles, so out the boning went. And I have to say, store-bought boning for a flat-front bodice is a ridiculous idea. It curves! Cable ties or hemp for me next time.

If you look at the reflection in the window, you can see that I am not in need of a bumroll. This is for two reasons: I am a classic pear shape and the majority of the skirt is on either side of my rump. In knife-pleating the skirt, I had to fiddle a bit to get everything to work, so the center pleat in back ended up spreading a bit. I like the pleating, however–it lies quite nicely and moves smoothly.







Here's a shot of my petticoat. It's not tan, it's striped, by the way. Making it with the ties was a fabulous idea–it's quite comfortable and hangs well. And I believe that you can see the spiral lacing of the bodice. Tomorrow's post: accessories and details. I would do it now, but I'm giving the outfit a bit of a test run at the moment.