Elisabeth of Austria Gown Recent Research Findings

I'm still gathering up materials for the Elisabeth gown. My latest purchases include narrower trim for the bodice, wider trim for the bottom, and gold silk taffeta for the goldhaube and "maybe" partlet.

Bottom trim.

 Bodice trim

 Gold taffeta for goldhaube and partlet.

I say, "maybe" because my latest research suggest that maybe that isn't a partlet at all, but something known as "pattern darning". I've found only one example of vertical pattern darning, but lots of evidence that it was used horizontally, especially on shirt collars. I'm certain that the neckline of the hemd is pattern darned. Look:

Pattern Darning on pleated hemd color, and possible horizontal pattern-darning on hemd.

OR

My original theory was that the "rays" seen in the very top picture were sections of a partlet, but now I wonder if the fabric is not "appliqued" on top of the pleats, like this lace has been overlaid on a shirt cuff:

Back of cuff

Front of cuff with lace overlay

If pleating weren't so difficult and my linen so finite, I'd try them both. I DO have zillions of yards of almost-white mystery fabric to experiment with...

Recreating the Elisabeth of Austria (1526-1545) Gown

A while back I was chatting with a friend on Facebook. We were discussing gowns that we wanted to make sometime in the distant future. My choice was the Elisabeth of Austria gown, depicted here:

It looks like the gown is velvet, she has slash-and-puff sleeves, lots of gold embroidery, and a goldhaube (coif) under a tiny Tudoresque bonnet. She's wearing (I think) a high-necked, pleated hemd with a parlet over it. There'd be a lot of handwork in the sleeves, but I think I've figured out a way to "do" the embroidery. (Enter sari trim...) I've done slash and puff for Tudor undersleeves and a Henrician doublet, so have an idea of how to do it. I've also made a pleated hemd as a special project, and while it turned out AWFUL, I learned a lot about pleating - especially what I did wrong that time.

I can't tell from this portrait if the gown is back- or side-laced. Looking at it closely, it resembles a Tudor kirtle (the undergown) in shape and cut. I've got a pattern for a Tudor kirtle, so I'll use that and this gown will be side-laced.

So, I'm now gathering the materials to make this gown. I've ordered 10 yards of burgundy velveteen (on sale!), enough tissue linen to make a shirt-length hemd and sleeve puffs (also on sale!), different widths of gold-embroidered trim (from Indianbeautifulart.com via Etsy and Ebay), and am planning what other notions I will need.

The hardest thing, I think, will be finding something to make the partlet. It appears to be rays of embroidered silk emanating from an embroidered close-fitting collar. OR, it could be rays of embroidered silk atop a very sheer silk gauze. I've seen sheer silk used in partlets in other portraits.

Sari Trim

Perhaps I should explain the use of sari trim on garb. I was making a gown for a friend that had bands of 2-3 inch wide embroidery going up the front of the bodice and skirt, across the bodice, and on the undersleeves. I had arranged for someone to do the embroidery, but due to life happening, this plan did not work out. While desperately searching for an appropriately wide trim, I found sari trim. It comes in widths from 1-6 inches (and probably wider), is available in generous lengths (but usually less than 10 yards at a time), and frequently has a "medieval" look to it. Here's what I used for that gown:



We embellished this with pearls and blue stones. It was lovely and looked very good on the gown. I was able to order enough to complete the entire ensemble at a much cheaper price than trim merchants charge for 2.5" trim (It was $7.50 a yard). Here's what it looked like on the gown:



















For the Elisabeth of Austria gown, I'm going to use this on the sleeves:
It looks silver in this photo, but the embroidery is actually gold. And yes, there are spangles on it. I might take them off, although they are period.

And this narrower trim on the bodice:

Again, the embroidery really is gold, not silver.

Should be fun!

Ours!

We closed on the underground house today, meaning that now it is OURS! Or rather, the debt is ours. It has been nine months and a couple of weeks since we began this odyssey, and I have learned a lot. Mostly the lessons were about patience and how things can be really illogical and nonsensical, but will be OK in the end.

Our Realtor, Nickie, has been a champ through the whole thing, and I have to thank her for her patience, perseverance  and encouragement. We could not have done this without her.

SO.... on to the plans.

I have re-routed the waterfall. Instead of being straight and therefore somewhat boring, it is now curvy. Most of the rocks that made up its sides went into making flowerbeds all around it; it is now a waterfall flowing through a rock garden. I have planted various mints, some peacock orchids, blue monarda, and Stella d'Oro daylilies.

I have also spent most of a couple of weekends hauling rocks out of the woods to build a butterfly garden - but have not planted anything in it yet. I have planted two sourwood trees (lily of the valley trees, commerically), four spireas, four weigelas, two butterfly bushes, tulips, and daffodils. I have yet to plant some crocosmias (red, yellow and orange), the butterfly garden, and the comfrey. I hope to do that this weekend. I also divided up a neglected pampas grass and planted a hillside with the results. There were about 14 new plants, and I'm not finished with the dividing. I need to buy new work gloves before I tackle that again!

Other plans include painting the kitchen cabinets and building a shop for Jimmy. There's fencing to be done for our future goats and sheep, and that means we have to clean out the fence lines. Fortunately, we have the chainsaw-on-a-stick, AKA pruning saw, which will be very handy for that job. I have also recently begun exploring hypertufa containers for a raised-bed garden. I have lots of plans! But, all in good time. I plan on being here a long time.

A spectacular sunset in December 2012. Taken from the lower porch.

Going Underground!

To make a long story short, I lost my position with River Valley Special Consortium and had to find a new School Psych job. Since there were no positions available in the River Valley Area, my search had to expand to a state-wide level. Eventually I found a position with Greenbrier Public Schools, which is two hours from our home in Van Buren, but closer to my wonderful sister, my marvelous parents, and my husband's awesome children. So, this meant we had to move. We searched and searched and undoubtedly tried the patience of our wonderful real estate professional, Nicki. We made an offer on an beautiful property in Conway, but after much deliberation, decided that we MUST have that underground house in Greenbrier. Should be a piece of cake, right? We had prequalified for the Conway place, so purchasing the underground home should be no problem as the price was not as high. Ah, the naivety of new home buyers.

Financing the underground house has been a nightmare. The main issue with this property is that there are no "comps". Lending organizations use comps to determine the value of a property via an appraisal. An appraiser goes to the prospective property, takes a bunch of pictures, measures things and gets a general idea of what the property IS. Then, he or she compares the property with similar properties which have sold in that area within a certain time frame. If they cannot make a comparison, say, for example, there have been NO sales of underground homes within the last six months, then they cannot make comparisons and the lender will not finance that property.

It has been my observation (and I have done A LOT of searching to find financing) that lenders either cannot think outside the box, or not allowed to think outside the box. No comps = no appraisal = no loan = no new house. Now, I have spoken with mortgage officials in states other than Arkansas who have worked with underground home buyers in the past, and they assure me that it CAN be done, but the appraiser has to really work at it and phrase things in a just-so way; experience with underground homes is also a huge advantage. They also assured me that new regulations have made it almost IMPOSSIBLE to finance non-traditional dwellings.

Sadness all around.

We have been fixing the house in which we now live (and plan on keeping as a rental property) and hired a jack-of-all-trades/handyman/really good carpenter to solve some tricky repair issues. He has done a WONDERFUL job and truly earned every penny we paid him. He listened to my moaning and complaining and general grief about the financing issues with the underground house. He also related his home purchase story. He recently bought a run-down, ramshackle used-to-be-something older home in Fort Smith. As the place was virtually caving in, no bank would finance it. (They don't like fixer-uppers, either). So what did he do? He assumed the mortgage on the place via a VA loan.

After weeks of trying to find financing with absolutely NO results, the assume-the-mortgage idea seemed like the only viable alternative to NOT getting the house. I presented the idea to Nickie, the realtor, who presented the idea to the home sellers. The truth is that if WE could not find financing for this home, then neither could anyone else. The only way they could sell this home was to a cash buyer - and I think they are probably few and far between.

The sellers, realizing that they might perhaps NEVER sell their home, approached the mortgage holding bank with the idea. I can't imagine what the owners said to the bankers, but apparently it worked. We are now waiting on the paperwork. We will still have to qualify for a loan with the seller's bank (Wells Fargo) and will have to pay the difference between the selling price and the seller's equity in the home. I think we're good to go. Now we just have to wait - but at least the wheels are in motion!

If and when we move, I'll post pictures. I  have a lot of plans for that place!