Does this make my butt look big? Or How to make a Bum Roll....

I've been commissioned to make a few gowns for the upcoming Ren season.  We are starting from the base up and as I've already posted on how to do a corset (though this one has hook and eye closure in front....I may just post pics), I know you are all wondering about what else goes under these huge dresses. 

I won't bore you with all the details of what goes where, but will let you know that I've created a few bum rolls and this one is no different.  This project will take less than an hour to put together and an evening to stuff and stitch closed. 

Here's where you start to get a very in depth detailing of how to create a pattern:
http://www.reddawn.net/costume/bumroll.htm

I used the foil trick to get a true curve for the gal I'm making this for.  One trick that isn't listed on the site is you only have to go to just beyond the front hip bone.  You don't need to measure all the way around the hip line.  The ends don't meet in the middle.

From here, it was on to drawing out the pattern, using this as the inner curve.

These rolls can be anywhere from 4" wide to 6+" in back.  This one is a little over 5".  Don't worry if your back curve isn't exact, you can fold your paper and cut what you think is correct and it should be correct on both sides.

Find some type of fabric that is sturdy to use for your bum roll.  You don't want to use a stretch fabric and it doesn't have to be pretty.  This is one of those items that only you will see.  Since I had cotton duck here, that's what I used.  You'll need two pieces, so fold your fabric and cut it out.  Some sites will tell you that one has to go in one direction and another the other direction (grain and cross grain), but I've never had any problems just using it on the grain.  Once you have it cut, double check that the front curve is pretty close.  Be sure to put in a seam allowance or the curve is going to be too big and the roll will slip and slide.

You can see here that it's pretty darn close!  Now you need to find ties.  You can use ribbon (grosgrain, not satin)or even twill tape or you can do as I like to do, shoe laces.  These you can pick up real cheap and not waste your ribbon on something that's not going to be seen. 

You want to line up your ties with the end of the horns on both sides.  These are then going to be pinned down on ONE of the pieces and out of way of the seams.

Put on your next piece so the pins are inside of the roll.  TIP:  When pinning these down, pin TOWARDS the horn.  It will make it easier to take out the pins when you've finished sewing it up.

You're ready to sew this together.  Starting at the center back, you want to be sure to leave at least 5" or more open to turn the roll and to give plenty of room to stuff it.  You also want to be sure to stitch the ties at the very tip of the horns or it won't fit correctly.  If you miss it, rip the seam and do it again.  Trim your seam allowance close to the stitching.  Now, reach inside the roll and take out your pins and pull your ties through the hole.

Use them to help you turn the roll right side out.  If you need something to push the ends of the horn out, a dowel, wooden spoon or even a chop stick work well.  Press it flat and you're ready to stuff it and then stitch the hole shut.  Be sure to stuff it very firm, like you would a toy or doll.  Done!

Chilled? How about a new Cloak?

Would you look at that!  You've got TWO new posts in one day!  Told you I was busy!

A couple of days ago, I had a mild brain fart on how to do the sleeves.  I know what I want, but laying it out and designing them is proving a bit tougher than I anticipated.  I do believe I mentioned that everything I do is custom done, which means drawing out the pattern on my own, not using some boughten one.  So while I was getting worked up over these sleeves (I mean, do I really want sleeves?  Would a decent noble woman been seen without them??? I don't really CARE at this point!) I moved on to something that I knew I was going to need in our Wisconsin weather.  Since the faire here runs from mid May to mid June, and May is notorious for being unpredictable with the weather (last year it was WINTER coats at baseball) I needed a new cape/cloak.  I have one, but it's  not exactly what I would call warm, just more for show. 

I scoured the internet for a simple pattern that wouldn't take 8+ yards of fabric.  I have a pattern that is real nice and full, but didn't want to use that much fabric.  I know you can make them with as little as 3-3 1/2 yds and know I've seen it on line before, so I did some digging.  Sure enough, I found a pattern for a semi-circle cloak and it fit the need.

I have a nice heavy weight cotton (think denim/twill) that is black that I wanted to use.  Used alone, it wouldn't provide what I needed for the elements and I didn't have enough wool to line it with.  So I opted for comfort vs. historically correct.  I pulled out the polar fleece.  Yup, polar fleece.  I had 5 yds of blue that would fit the bill.  And frankly, looking at it now, it could plausibly pass for wool.  (yeah right, who am I kidding??) Here's a link to the site I found.
http://www.copdandsomuchmore.com/homesewingcape.html

Step one:  Wash and dry your fabric.  With this being a cotton blend and being black I wanted to make sure that if it was going to shrink it did and if the color was going to bleed it would BEFORE I found out in the rain.

Step two:  Vaccum the floor.  In case I never mentioned it, I have dogs and two of my dogs shed horribly.  It never fails.  I get ready to move onto another project, fabric hits the floor and it's covered in dog hair.  Yuk!

Step three:  Measure how long I want the cloak to be.  I want a true measurement from the shoulder area to the floor OVER the hoop.

Step four:  Follow the directions given on the site and measure out the first layer.  This requires getting out my cutting board and hefting the fabric up and over it.  Did I mention that it's a heavy cotton/twill fabric?  Did I mention it's over 8 yards of it?

Step five:  Cut fabric as directed on the site.  Now I should mention that you should NEVER follow what a website tells you to the tee.  Always double check what you're doing before hand.  I, on the other hand, forgot this...DUH!  It worked anyway.

Step six.  Unfold the length of fabric and fold it the opposite direction, giving one HUGE square.  Bigger than my cutting table.  On to the floor I go!

Step seven:  Cuss out the dogs and self for not vacuuming good enough

Step eight:  Find yarn and chalk for drawing on this fabric.
Now would be a good time to let you all know a little tip:  Always gather your gear before you start a project.  Read and re-read what your going to need.  It saves time.

Step nine:  Draw out the circles for the cape and the neck area. 

Step ten:  Cut said fabric on the drawn lines. 

This completes the cape.  Well, almost.  As I said, never follow what they tell you to do.  I then took the fleece and cut it to size and re-folded it over.  Using the cut piece of black, I cut out the lining.  On to the hood.

I couldn't quite understand what she was saying on the site, so I went to another and found a great hood pattern that made sense.  http://home.clara.net/arianrhod/Aldebaran/DoItYourself/Cloak03.html  about half way down is the hood pattern.  I made my hood deeper and taller as I wanted the BIG effect.  BTW, we who are short always want the BIG effect!
Here's a pic of the hood being cut out.

When both hoods were cut out, I stitched them up and attached them to the body of the cape, matching the back seam with the center back. 

I wanted to make this cape have class and be fitting for a noble woman, so I trimmed it in off white fur.  I then dug into my 'tail' collection (yes, real tails that have been tanned, a gift from a dear friend) and found two white tails and put them on near the neckline.  I then matched up both and sewed it together.  Now I had to think about how I wanted to close this.

I know most close with some form of a clasp, and that's great, however, with the sleeves that I'm designing, I needed a bit more space.  So I made a chained clasp and used two buttons to sew it on.  One side is stationary and the other has a hook to go around the button.  The only thing left is to hem up the bottom, but with circle anythings it's best to let them hang for a few days before you hem to make sure that the weight is evenly distributed on the bottom.  This way, it saves from a wonky hem.  Is that even a word?  Anyway, here's the finished (almost) cloak.

What do you think?

The overskirt is done!

I'm a little behind in keeping you updated on my gown.  It's been very busy here with the new season almost upon us! 

I've auditioned for the local MRAG and was scared silly!  But it all went well and it was really only to see if anyone would be paid.  I'd love to get paid to dress up, but that's all I wanted to do...go play in dress up clothes!  So in the midst of all this, we are preparing for a new grandbaby too.  He's being very stubborn in meeting us and it should be any day now.  Like father like son, huh?

While I've been busy doing all this, I did manage to get a few other things completed for my gown, not to mention a corset pattern drawn and the fabric cut out for another client.  But since I've already done the corset blog, I'm just going to talk about the overskirt.

I've already discussed cutting out the skirt panels and how they were to be put together.  It took three panels and I have enough left to do the sleeves.  That's the exciting part...but I'll talk about those later.

So the skirt panels were cut out and ready to be sewn together.  Since the fabric I'm using is a silk weave it tends to fray.  I serged around all the edges of the panels making it easier to handle them without all the little threads coming out.  This works well with big items, just as your fray check works well for smaller items. Once they were sewn together, it gave me a long piece of fabric.  The seams are already finished, so that was the good thing and they were matched selvage to selvage. 

I then measured from the center front to where I wanted the pleating to start, which was just before side waist.  Now most overskirts are completely pleated into the waistband, but I'm doing this one a bit different.  I like a challenge and this has proven to be just that.

I measured the waist area over the underskirt to make sure that I had the right measurement.  Even if you have the measurement for the waist that you used for the uderskirt, always recheck it with that skirt on.  It's extra fabric and there's nothing like having both the same measurement to only have the overskirt be too tight and uncomfortable.  I added 4" to this measurement as I want the waistband to overlap, bringing the front panels closer together.  I cut interfacing to match the measurement of the waistband and folded and sewed the edges the same as for the underskirt.

I double knife pleated this skirt as I did the underskirt.  It takes more fabric up and lays nicer.  Each side goes towards the back.  Again, I left the front section of the overskirt unpleated.  When I got the right measurements, I stitched a seam across the top of the pleats and laid it on the waistband to start pinning it in.  Once it was sewn in, I pressed the seam allowance towards the band, making it easier to fold the band down.

Here is a good closeup of the skirt attached to the waistband.  If you look close enough, you'll see that I used two rows on the waistband.  This fabric is a bit heavier than the underskirt and I don't want any chances of it coming out of the waistband.

Once it was sewn on, I folded the band over and pressed it down.  Now on this band, I allowed for an extra 1/2" on the top folded part.  The extra allows for the back of the band to be over the front of the band. Why would I do this?  Well, I'm just too dang busy to hand stitch it into place, so I stitched it closed by stitching in the ditch on the front side.

I put the overskirt on Betty over the underskirt to make sure that the waistband and the front sections were right.  They were, which is good, because I probably would have left it if it wasn't.  Like I said, it's a time thing.  While it was on Betty, I pinned the hem line to where it needed to fall.  Remember me telling you that the underskirt was hemmed up a bit higher than ground level?  This skirt is ground level.  Once it was pinned, I ironed the crease and started with the padding on the hem.  I used a navy blue corduroy that I had laying around and it worked great!  This gives it the extra body at the bottom and makes sure that it hangs straight.

As you can see, there are two sets of pins.  The hem is sewn in two spots, the top and the bottom.  This keeps the padding from shifting and makes a good solid hem.

Voila!  The overskit is done!

Sleeves?

With the underskirt done, the remaining items need to be thought out and finished.  I lucked out and found a gal who does embroidery with the guild and was able to get my ideas for the forefront to her and she's going to be able to embroider it for me!  YAY!  One less step to do.  As I mentioned before, this is not the only gown I need to finish before season.  I also have two for a friend and another for me.  I'm not overwhelmed (yet) and know that I'll be able to finish them in plenty of time! 

The forepart is going to be embroidered in a blue thread to match the blue in the stripes and when it's finished, I'm going to add beading to it.  I have it cut out, along with the lining and am anxious to get it back to get it finished.  She told me about three weeks to get it back, which is perfect for me to finish the remaining portion of this gown.

I also have the overskirt almost finished and will post on it later.  The bodice is taking the most time, as I'm beading it by hand and should have the beading finished by the end of next week.  It's nice to have something to do with my hands as I sit in the evenings watching TV.  I need to get the bodice sewn together yet, but I also need to think about waist tabs.  So while I have some time to kill, I've been thinking about what type of sleeves I want with this gown.  My last gown has shoulder rolls and removable open hanging sleeves.

Unfortunately, the day that this pic was taken, the gal who helped me tie them on, tied them on on the wrong sides, so they hang wrong.  You'd never know unless I told you, which I just did.

So with this already one sleeve option that I have, I want something different.  I've been scouring the web looking at different sleeve types etc, and think I've settled on one.  Here's a few pics of the idea I have.

 I like this sleeve, minus the lower sleeve portion.  Too much tightness for me and will be unbelievably hot.



 This one is great, but again, the lower sleeve is not what I'm looking for.  Also the upper portion isn't full enough for me.

This upper sleeve has the 'poof' I'm looking for, but I'm not liking the lower portion of no sleeve.  With this being a court gown, I need something that has the lower sleeve portion, but is open enough to be cool and comfortable.  I also don't like the way this one ties on.  I think I'm going to sew the upper portion of the sleeve on and tie the lower portion on.  So here is a sketch of what I'm kind of looking to do.

The circles between the bands will be gold beads, probably two.  I want the upper sleeve to really 'poof' and the lower sleeve to be more form fitting, but not tight.  I like the openish of it.  It's reminiscent of the Italian gowns, but not really.  I'm also thinking that I'm going to add some shoulder tabs to the gown for an extra look, but am still not sure.  Th upper sleeve will have the blue stripe of the gown with the gold in between from the forepart.  The blue will also have a piping on it, though I'm not sure if I'm going to do a blue piping or pipe it with the pearl trim. I'm hoping to get the gold to 'poof' out of the stripe.  Kind of like having the chemise show, but with it being gold.  The lower sleeve will be just blue, again with piping, with the chemise showing through.  This should keep me cool enough and yet look 'noble' enough.  As I've just sketched it out, I have to do a mock up of it before cutting into the silk, as I have just enough to do the sleeves, waist tabs and maybe shoulder tabs.  What do you think?  Will the sleeves work?

The Ultimate Underskirt

I've always made my underskirts with the forepart attached.  They worked great until I realized that I'm always searching for some type of extra fabric to make the skirt and then use the extra for lining for the forepart.  It's a lot of work cutting them out, piecing them together and pleating them into the waistband.  There simply had to be a better way and a more historical way to do this.

Now, I'm not a huge historically correct gal.  I try, I really do, but there are some things that are easier to modern way, like seams and hems.  So, I did some research and found they DIDN'T make an all in one underskirt/forepart.  They made one underskirt (or a few) and many foreparts that were pinned onto the underskirt. DUH!  Wish I would have done this research earlier!  I probably had, but didn't pay attention to it.  Now, with me making numerous gowns for myself (and others) I can see why they did it this way.  So, from now on, I'm following this history lesson!  LOL!

I started this underskit by searching for some type of fabric that was light enough to match the foreparts I plan on using yet sturdy enough to stand up to the abuse it's going to go through, not to mention sturdy enough to withstand the pleating and pulling, etc. etc.  I usually used a lighterweight upholstery material (think tote bags) and sewed the forepart right into the front section and then lined it.  Knowing what I do know, I opted to find something different, something that wasn't going to be too heavy and have a great drape.  Color wasn't real important, as it's not going to be seen, and I wanted something that wasn't going to break the bank.  I found exactly what I was looking for at our local Hancock Fabric.

It's a rather ugly color (for me).  It's like lavender with more pink than purple. It's also a linen look a like and a bit on the heavier weight side so it will work great.
If you've never made an underskirt, or an overskirt for that matter, there are a few things you need to know.  One, you want to make sure you measure your length of the skirt OVER your underpinnings, such as your hoop and bum roll.  You don't want to cut it without this or it's going to be too short.  If you don't have help to measure this distance or don't have a dress form, the easiest way to remember is to add a minimum of 5-6 inches to your waist to floor measurement, that is, unless your bum roll is 5" then you want to add a few more inches.  You'll need the length to go over your hoop and roll and extra for a hem.  Betty is a big help to me for this.  I always put my stuff on her and then measure.  It doesn't change each time, but I always play it safe.   And I always add an extra 2" to this measurement to have extra for the hem area.  What can I say, I really like playing it safe! 

Now that you have your length measurement, you can decide on the amount of fabric to get.  Usually 3 to 4 yards will work and will give you extra to play with for the waistband. 

Another tip I recently learned:  If you have shoes with any type of heel that you'll be wearing with this, measure yourself with them on and set your dress form to that height, or add that amount of inches in to waist to floor measurement.  Nothing like cutting it and then being those 2" or less short on the length.  There are ways to correct that, but we're not going to go into that now.

Next, measure where you want your forepart to lay.  Usually it's the side of the waist to the side of the waist around the front.  This will be the first measurement you'll write down.  Measure the bottom the same way.  You're measurements aren't going to be the same, so be sure to measure from the side waist to side waist on the bottom.  It's going to be 60+".  Measure from the front center waist to floor.  This is your length. The first piece you're going to cut is this center front piece.

Fold your fabric and lay it on your cutting area.  From the center fold, measure out half of the waist measurement plus 1/2" or so for a seam allowance.  Measure down the fabric to the front center waist to floor length.  Mark it.  Then measure from the fold at that mark to the side waist to side waist bottom section and add 1/2" or so (if you can).  Draw a line from the fold to that measurement.  Now, draw a diaginal line from the top to the bottom. This is now your center front. Take the remaining fabric and measure out the length you got from your measurements and cut your remaining panels. You can have two or more extra panels.  The number of panels will determine how full the skirt is.

Once you have all your panels, pin them together starting with the front center panel and working out.  When you get to one of the seams (usually in the back) leave the top portion open about 5-6".  This is to help you get into it where the wasitband will button/hook. The front center panel will not match up exact on the bottom with your other panels and that's ok.  Just make sure the top is even.  We're going to fix the bottom later.  It should look like this.

Once all your panels are sewn together, it's time to fix the bottom.  You're going to draw a slight curve to match the edges.  It's handy to have a frech curve for this.

Then you're going to cut this portion off and even the seams.

See how nice it is now??

The waistband is next.  Measure your waist measurement WITH YOUR CORSET ON!  This is very important because that measurement can differ 1-3 inches depending on how your corset is designed/made.  When you have this measurement, add 3-4" to it.  Take a piece of your remaining fabric and measure out that length.  The width is up to you, if you like a nice wide waistband or a thin one.  I prefer them a bit wide as it feels more secure on my body.  You're going to need some interfacing the same size as the waistband you just cut.  Put it on the way the manufacturer suggests (iron, sew, etc.)

If your open seam is in the direct back, mark your center front on the wasitband.  This will match up to the center front of the skirt.  Take one side of it and fold up a minimum of 1/2" and iron.

Fold it in half, right sides together, leaving the same amount on the other side.  In other words, if you measured up 5/8" you'll leave 5/8" on the other side, but if you unfolded the one raw edge, they would be even.  Get it?  Ok, now that it's folded, pin the side edges.  We're going to sew these closed.  I use my presser foot as a guage.  You can use what works for you, but remember, you've made it 3-4" longer, so keep your seams smaller and always reinforce them.

When your edges are sewn, snip the corner carefully so when you fold it over, you have a nice crisp corner.  Fold over and re-press it flat.  Now for the fun!  We need to pleat the skirt into the waistband!

If you have a pleater, use it!  They are a godsend!  Starting at the one of the side seams that attach to the center front section, pleat to the back.  The reason you're starting at this seam is you want the front to lay flat, no pleating! I like to have my pleats fall towards the back, so both sides are pleated that way.  One in one direction and the other side in the other direction so they match up in the back. You can decide what types of pleats you want, knife, box, rolled, etc.  If you click on the Elizabethan Costume Page link, there is a section in there that talks about the types of pleats and how to do them. Remember, you want the final measurement to be the size of your waist.  I know there is a mathmatical equation you can use to size your pleats, but I'm not very math friendly, so I use the 'trial and error' method of putting them in.  This is the easiest way I know to explain how I got my measurements right.  I measured the center front from seam to seam and divided it by two.  I added two other panels so I knew I needed each panel to be pleated to a certain size.  If you have more than two other panels, take your waist measurement, divide by two and minus half of the center front measurement.  Make sense?  One more thing...when you get to the opening you left, fold it even with the seam allowance.

Be sure to use pins, lots of them, and be prepared to poke your fingers.  It's not a true Ren gown unless you spill a little blood on it!  LOL

 Once you've made sure that it's the size of your waist measurement, CAREFULLY sew a seam across the top portion of your pleats.  This will hold them more secure than just the pins when you put it into the waistband.   If you have plenty of space, you can even put in two rows of stitches.  The pleats I have here are double knife pleats.  It pleats up fast and gives it plenty of body and 'poof' with taking up lots of fabric to get the size I needed.

Attach the waistband matching the right side of the fabric with the side of the waistband that isn't folded up.  I start at the center front and work my way around, thus the reason I marked it on the waistband.  Sew it down.  Fold over the waistband, fold up the sections that are not on the skirt and finish it.  You can either sew it down from the back around, hand stitch it (period way) or if you're real talented, you can 'stitch in the ditch' on the front of the waistband.  Remember, this skirt isn't likely to be seen by anyone but you.

More fun stuff!  Remember the center front section?  Well, the waist area on this needs to be cut into a curve before it goes into the waistband, but I've never been good at figuring the angle so I improvise with this skirt.  I put it on Betty and take a few little tucks here and there to where it lays flat.  That is the key.  Getting it to lay flat.

Once I'm satisfied with how the front lays, I whipstitch it to the waistband with tiny stitches.  As I said, no one is going to see it but me and I'm not showing it off to the fashion police.

Either put on the skirt with your underpinnings and have someone mark where the hem should be or put it on your dress form over your underpinnings and mark it yourself.  You'll want it to be up off the floor by about 1/2-3/4" so you're not tripping on extra fabric.  You can stitch it by hand or by machine, but make sure that you have the hem marked as it should be.  Most likely you'll have more fabric in the front to hem than in the back, due to the roll.  This is normal and the reason to do all the measurements first.  I highly recommend 'padding' the hem with another stiff fabric.  To do this, measure a strip of that stiff fabric to the size of your hem and add it on.  Done.

You can either add a button hole and button on the waistband or a hook and eye.  I have used both and depending on if I'm in my 'fluxuation' period (weight up and down) I'll add a dress hook and eye, the kind that has multiple eyes on the eye part.  Keeps the frustration down when I put it on.  This is period, well a regular hook and eye.  

One more step down!  On to the forepart!

Elizabethan chemise

When I started to work on the chemise, my sewing machine started screwing up.  I ended up having to get a new bobbin case.  I was lucky enough to find a shop here in town that had one and the cost was much more easier on the pocket book than having to order it online.  While I was there picking it up I was also networking.  I plugged the fact that I'm giving sewing lessons and the lady there was thrilled to hear that since they have many customers who ask and they just don't have the time to give lessons and run the shop. YAY!  Go me!

Once I got the new bobbin case in the machine I still had to fiddle with the tension.  It finally works as it needs to, but I'll still have to take it in to have it looked at as it's not quite set as it needs to be.

As I mentioned, I used the Elizabethan Costuming Page again to get the chemise pattern that I needed. I used the custom smock generator and it gave me the pattern to fit me.  It's real simple, too.  You just plug in your measurements and it does the rest for you!  Like having a designer without the cost! They have wonderful information on that site and you can find the link at the bottom of the page.

The chemise is a rather easy project to do and should only take around a day to complete.  Simply follow the directions and you simply can't go wrong.  I had gotten the pattern cut out and the gussets sewn on the sleeves prior to my machine acting up. 

Once the gussets are on the sleeves, you add the lower gussets to the body.  Add the sleeves and then start with the neckline.  Dont' sew it up on the sides yet as it makes it more difficult to work with the neckline.

The neckline is a bit trickier.  You start with a 9" square, 7" on the front, 2" on the back.  The directions on the smock actually tell you to draw this directly onto the front of your fabric when you cut out the body.  You add another square of fabric that's 1 1/2" bigger than your square.  I usually make this square 2-3" bigger, simply because if I need to increase the neckline, I like to have extra fabric to play with.  Make sure you have your original square in the middle of this piece of fabric, so sometimes it's best to find the center of the facing square and re-measure your 9" square. You sew the square onto the FRONT of the chemise around the original square pattern.  You'll have your extra fabric on the sides of this square.  Once it's sewn on, you then cut out the center portion to 1/2" of the sewn square.  You then turn the chemise to the WRONG (back) side and fold the facing in.

At this point, I usually try it on, let the shoulders sit where they should and see if the neckline works for me.  If not, I have enough fabric to resew an additional square and then cut again, fold again and re-try.  When you're satisfied, then iron in the raw edges, making a nice even facing.

Ignore the gross looking ironing board cover.  It works great but simply won't get clean.  A sign of good use, right??

Now, when you sew this, what I've found works best is to sew around the folded part first.  This gives you a nice crisp finish.  I then repeat around the outside of the facing.  The other nice thing about doing this is if you want to do any blackwork on the front.  You have your own template as to where it will sit.

When you have this sewn, pin the chemise together and start at the sleeves to sew, going down to the bottom.  There is a reason for this.  You're pieces SHOULD all match because of how they are cut, but it always seems the bottom is off a bit with the gussets.  It's easier to correct the bottom than it is the sleeves. 

I did mention that this was a very thin cotton lawn, and was going to add a modesty panel.  I did.  And if I do it again, I'll do it a bit differently than I did this time.  Prior to finishing the sewing around the neckline, I took a piece of fabric to the size that would cover 'the girls' plus enough to give a nice seam.  I cut out the section for the neckline, gave it a nice hem all the way around and sewed to the shoulder area and under the final portion of the neckline.  I didn't realized the difficulty this would cause because it's not attached by the sleeves.  Note to self:  When adding a panel, add it PRIOR to adding on the sleeves.  It will be MUCH easier!

Oh, and I should mention, this was also added AFTER the sides were sewn up.  I had what you could call a brain fart until I looked at it and said "duh". 

Now the nice thing with the generator is you can make the chemise any length you like.  I like mine to be at least calf length if not longer.  I gave the bottom a nice 1" hem and then moved on to the sleeves.  If you follow the generator, you can finish the hem on the sleeves and be done.  Me being the person I am, I always have to tweek what I'm working on, so I decided I didn't want plain looking sleeves.  I wanted a cuff with a ruffle at the bottom. 

To do this, the simplest way is to find your wrist size and the size of the bottom of the sleeve. You'll need both measurements.  The next thing you want to think about is how big you want this ruff to be.  I made mine around 3" or so.  And don't worry too much if they aren't exact on both sides.  Only the costume police would measure them ;)!
What you're going to do is take your wrist measurement and multiply it by at least three.  Cut a strip of fabric that you have left from your chemise to that length by a minimum of 7 inches wide.  Fold it in half and sew up the sides and then turn it and iron it to give a nice crisp edge.  Now, adjust your machine to give you a loose tension because you're going to run three rows of gather stitches along the raw edge area.  Leave at least 1/4" from the raw edge before you start.  I like to use my presser foot as a gauge on my stitching. 

It should look like this.  If you've gathered stuff before, you know you need to leave a long tail of thread on both ends.  Decide what end you want to start at and then take the other ends threads and tie them in a knot.  This will eliminate them from pulling out when you start your gathering.  Then gather the fabric to your wrist size.  My wrist is 7 1/2", but I like an 8" wrist on my chemises.  Use your own discretion on this.  If you really like them tight, make it tight, or use an extra 1/2" like I do.  It will look something like this.

I didn't get pics of the next steps, but you'll figure it out!  Measure the opening on your sleeve and cut a strip of fabric to this length plus 1/2-3/4".  Fold the ends in, press and then press in half.  Open and press the edges to the center.  You now have your own binding.  Measure the binding to find the length of your ruffle.  In other words, if you have a 12" binding and an 8" ruffle, you'll need 2 inches on each end.  Make a mark on your binding on both sides and re-measure from mark to mark to be sure that it matches your ruffle.  Pin your ruffle to the binding, matching up the last row of your gather stitches with one of the folded edges.  Pin the bejesus out of it, as you don't want it to shift.  Stitch it as close to the edge by the gather stitch as you can, catching the ruffle to the binding. 

Fold up the edges of your sleeves catching the raw edge on the inside.  Press it down.  Take your ruffle and working from the wrong side of the sleeve, pin the ruffle in matching the ends of the binding with the seam of the sleeve.  You need to pin it so the wrong sides match.  Match up the binding portion that you sewed on to the ruffle with the edge of your sleeve.  The ruffle will be sticking out and that's ok.  Don't sew it the other way, or you're going to end up in a mess!  Now for the fun part.  Very carefully, pull the sleeve so it's right side out and sew it down on the INSIDE.  Even if you have a drop arm machine, chances are that you're not going to be able to fit the sleeve end over it.  When you sew it down, you're going to sew it on the edge that you originally sewed the binding on.  If at all possible, follow those stitches. 

Pin the top portion of the binding down.  This is going to cover the raw edge of the ruffle.  When it's pinned down, sew it carefully.  You're going to have to remove pins, readjust the binding and keep sewing.  It takes some time, but it's well worth it in the end.

When you're done with the sewing portion, turn the sleeve back right side out and make sure that you caught the lower sleeve edge.  If not, hand stitch those areas.

Decide which side you want to put a button on.  You're going to want a shanked button.  Choose one that will be more historically correct.  In other words, don't use neon green plastic, even if that is the only shank button you have.  (You'd NEVER do that, would you??)  This is going to close up the end of the sleeve, making a nice poof when worn.  Stitch the button to the outside of that part of the sleeve, matching it with the start of the ruffle.  On the other side, on the INSIDE, you're going to stitch in a bit of ribbon to use as a closure.  Make sure to make the ribbon long enough to fit around the button, but small enough that it won't slip off.  You don't want to be messing with your sleeves all day long, do you?

And the chemise is done!  At this point, I'm finished with it.  If I wanted to add a bit of embroidery to the neckline I could, but at this point, I think I'll leave it the way it is.