Red will be the color

I dug through my fabric stash and found that I had enough light blue (denim colored) or red linen available for the dress. Since I’ve been wearing the light blue as a tunic for the last year I’ve decided to make the linen kampfrau in red. I’m not 100% certain that ruby red is utterly appropriate.. but I think it will look striking. I plan to guard it either with black linen or with some of the black velvet ribbon I used for my Italians (long long ago).

Using the pattern I made with my last German dress I cut out the bodice. I’ll be using two layers of the red linen on each panel of the bodice. The skirt will be a single layer of the same linen. After cutting out the three pieces of the bodice I sewed the individual pieces together to give them a finished edge along the bottom (between the bodice and the skirt) and along the arm hole. I’m planning initially to have -no- sleeves on the actual dress. In the long term I think I’ll add the ability to lace sleeves onto the dress. But I wanted a finished edge there so I can be done with it.

I’m toying with whether I want to put a finished edge all the way around the top of the bodice. IF I use black linen guards then I”ll be attaching them on the inside of the bodice and flipping them around the edge of the opening.. so at that point it’s not really necessary to finish the edge.. BUT if instead I decide to use the velvet ribbons (which I’m really leaning towards) then I’ll need the edge finished before I can attach the ribbons.

Decisions Decisions.