Eowyn's White Wool Dress

To do the embroidery, I traced the pattern onto tear away interfacing. Although this was annoying to pick out of the embroidery, it was very helpful since it was impossible to trace the pattern onto the wool. I used stem stitch for the stems and leaves and a lazy daisy for the flowers.

For the trim that goes around the embroidery, the arms and the edges of the sleeves I braided 4 strands of cream embroidery thread and 2 strands of gold. I got this idea from Shannon's White Wool Dress in the Alleycatscratch scrapbook.

To figure out the shape of the belt, I first took the metal belt and put it on over the dress. I then took a strip of muslin the same width as the belt and pinned it on top of the belt, following the curves. I then cut out a muslin to check the fit and used it as a pattern for the belt.

Next, I traced the belt pattern onto my wool (I could use the fabric pen for this, since it was just straight lines instead of the small design of the embroidery). Then I extended the tail of the belt down the center.

I used the medallions on my belt to decide the size of the half circles on the belt. I put the belt on the curved part of the fabric belt and marked where each was. Then I joined those marks with half circles. For the tail, I made a template and traced the design onto the fabric.

I embroidered the design on using a stem stitch and gold embroidery thread. I also embroidered around the edge of the belt.

Once the belt was embroidered, I cut it out with a half inch seam allowance. I then used it as a pattern to cut the twill lining. Next, I folded the edges in and sewed the two layers together using my favorite 18th century edging stitch (seen on my18c Jacket page.

I then tacked the metal belt to the cloth belt. There are no closures on the cloth belt, The metal belt closes and holds the cloth belt shut.