Applique

As bought up in the last post I have an incredible amount of applique, reverse applique and opposite gathered inserts to complete on this costume and it was sure to be the most time-consuming, mind-numbing and tricky part of the decoration and overall construction.

I'm not quite sure how, but the applique has been completed! I am so excited and chuffed with how it looks. The fabric was dyed by myself, every single star moon and triangle was cut out by my own fair hand and each one painstakingly placed and stitched on by me. The entire pattern and colour was created by me. This thought is so exciting to me. Being unsure on my ability to create costumes with technical textile techniques this project made me really nervous. However after seeing the hours and hours and hours of work pay off, and see your garment starting to take shape and come together, it's just the best feeling. I'm unbelievably proud of what I've achieved, even if I do say so myself!

All the pieces that make up my doublet and breeches.

Slightly over-decorated doublet front and sleeves!

Breeches back.

It has taken quite a massive amount of hours to complete all this decorative work. Especially as some of the stars and moons are only a matter of centimetres big.

Unfortunately, I was not warned about 'shrinkage' prior to cutting out on my top fabric, or beginning my applique, so there has been some distorting in the shape of the pattern from the original shape. Some of the seams and edges have either shrunk or been stretched out - making the overall shape slightly different to the original pattern. However it is not too drastic and I still have more than enough in the seam allowance to play around with and make up for any shrinkage. Although in future I may cut my top fabric the recommended 5cm bigger all the way around the pattern, so ensure this shrinkage and warping will not happen again and effect my pattern.