New Gown projects! MURIEL 1

This is the first project diary post for a gown for a lady named Muriel. She had ordered my Queen Mary gown from etsy, http://www.etsy.com/listing/64035274/ooak-queen-mary-of-scots-elizabethan-era .
She wanted habutae silk, a false silk made in Japan that apparently looks like real silk. I am a little skeptical about those claims, but the fabric when it arrived turned out to be lovely! It is a lighter-tone olive green, slightly shiny, but not a lot so the gown will still look period, and it is going to be trimmed in gold (non-metallic) braid. I am lining the bodice with some soft khaki cotton muslin, and it will also be stiffened up with several layers of fabric as well and boned to keep her curves in place.

The fabric on the left, is the muslin, which is actually tan, not green. The bluish looking fabric, is actually the green colour that the muslin shows up as in this photo, it's the habutae silk. It's also not as shiny as it looks in this photo. The braid is the only thing that came out looking similar to real life!!

I got 2 metres of the muslin and 8 of the habutae, and finally the pattern, Simplicity 3782 arrived in her size! As it is, I will need to make adjustments to the pattern anyways, but her measurements are a little bigger than her size so I'll have to modify the pattern even more. I am cutting out and pinning the skirt today, as well as making the muslin mockup of the bodice to send to her for fitting before I start chopping up the habutae.

She only wants a little trim and a single skirt so the main challenge in this gown will be fitting it, not adding 'pretties'. More pics to come soon!

The center fabric is the colour I used

I am trying to sketch where I plan to put the boning.....Muriel has more than me in the frontal department and I want it supported, not sagging, for the overall look of the gown and as far as being period-accurate as well, it needs to be supported, and shaped, and dammit, against all odds, I will win. Eventually, I think. lol