Sottana

Eyelets can be a little nerve racking, one misplaced hole and your done for. So remember ...

'Alwaies measure manie, before you cut anie.'

John Florio, Second Frutes 1591.

Once the eyelets were in I stitched the straps together then hand stitched the lining in. I didn't get a photo of the lining until after I'd actually finished the whole gown and taken final photos on the dress form which is why it no longer looks perfectly flat. It will once it's cleaned to remove the chalk markings. It's a good idea to clean garments once they're completed.

I've finished the skirt and remembered to get some photo's. First I stitched all the panels together with French seams, which I didn't remember to take photos of, oops.

Then I tackled the hem, it just goes forever, I couldn't even get it all into frame when I tried to photograph it. 

This photo has the hem folded in half then doubled over and even then it just fit the length of my table. That pile of fabric in the back of the shot is the skirt which is about to have the hem pinned to it, the satin piping is already attached to the skirt. The canvas interlining has been stay stitched to the facing.

Once the facing was attached, turned right sides out and pressed there was still the raw edge to finish on the inside. It got tucked over the canvas and stay stitched in place before stitching the top edge of the hem facing to the skirt.  

I found the best way to make sure everything behaved itself whilst doing this was to stitch from the right side of the garment, unconventional I know, but sometimes you've just got to tell convention to take a hike and get on with what works.

I stitched the tuck in 2 parts. I started with the tuck in the train section before I joined the front and back to keep all that fabric manageable. It did make adding the facing a little more interesting but I think it was worth it. 

Which is why you can see the tuck in place in the above photo. The tuck at the front was done once the hem was finished. I used a herringbone stitch for the tuck which helps it to sit better around the curves, and will provide a little give in the stitching if the train gets stepped on.