Elizabeth, You make some excellent points. I had already planned to have a red (we're talking turkey red, not a bright cherry red) box pleated ruffle down the CF, the cuff and (a smaller one) at the neck. That may be enough contrast; however, I really want to challenge myself with correctly making the double piping at the waist edge. It may end up that I double pipe with the fashion fabric; it depends on whether the originally-planned contrast seems to be enough red to spice up my predominately toast and brown pattern. The dress will be an English woman's dress, not American, and I know that there were some differences in fashion styles. (And, since I always wear an apron tied around my waist, very few people will ever see the contrast piping once I'm dressed. It will be something *I* know about my dress - like using one real pearl amongst the good fakes in my Renaissance court outfit.)
Elizabeth, thank you for your input; I know your focus and have often appreciated and sent others to your website for how-tos and to see how it looks when it's Done Right. I will keep your message in my references for when my dress absolutely, positively needs to be perfectly authentic. For my theatrical focus, I will still keep my options open until the dress is more complete, maybe by next Christmas time. LynnD On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 9:00 PM, Elizabeth Clark < elizabethstewartcl...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > If your costuming goal is to have a garment that reflects overall norms for > the mid-century, then please do use self-fabric piping or corded piping on > cotton print dresses. It is *by far* the most typical. Mrs Lincoln's gown is > atypical, even for a high-fashion dress, and should not be used as > documentation for contrast piping on a cotton print dress. > > That doesn't mean, however, that you lose the opportunity to add color > contrast. Pick up the red with covered buttons (perhaps do little ones, set > in close groups of three... that's one treatment I've seen on a print dress, > and it's very effective), add flat bands of red to a cuff (perhaps with more > buttons), and/or add a belt with a red rosette at the closure. Or, add a red > ribbon bow at your neckline instead of a brooch. There are lots of ways to > pull up that red that would be quite normal and typical for a cotton print > (or wool or silk print) dress, so you'd be both individually stylish *and* > consistent with decorative dress details for the period. > > (Of course, if you have a different costuming goal, don't worry about it! > Do as you like! Not every use calls for an outfit that stays fully > consistent with the period.) > > Regards, > > Elizabeth Clark > > The Sewing Academy Main Site > The Sewing Academy "Historic Clothing Tech Support" Forum > > > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
