A Green Cioppa
For our seventh anniversary (which is actually tomorrow) I made my wife a cioppa out of the last of my heavy green wool. I based it on portaits by Pisanello, Uccello, and Lippi. At first, I assumed that the trim on these gowns was fur, but the Pisanello portrait is clearly some sort of fabric. I constructed my trim by binding the edges with a strip about three inches wide, backed with quilt batting, and rolled tightly before stitching it to the inside of the openings. The resulting stiff roll does a very good job of keeping the neckline and sleeve openings smooth and round. The skirt is catridge pleated onto the bodice, a few inches higher than the waistline of the black gamurra underneath. The sleeves are my favorites that I\'ve done in this style. I attached the upper sleeves to the lower sleeves with felt-backed cartridge pleats, and box pleated the sleeve head into a band at the top. The lining of the upper sleeve is much narrower than the outer shell, and is hand-gathered into both openings. The lower sleeve is ladder laced with long, narrow ribbons with the ends tucked up into the sleeves. Three pairs of ribbons are stitched to the top of each sleeve head, and a piece of ribbon is stitched to the inside of each gamurra strap with corresponding loops to tie the sleeves onto. The other pictures in this entry are also from the event this weekend: a couple pictures of all my new bits and pieces worn together, and my daughter in her new green dress, ready to take over the world.
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