- A 16th century Venetian courtesan -
Red 16th Century Venetian Gown ("Venetian Deadpool")
updated ?
This entire outfit was inspired by this black and red scarf I found in 2016 while shopping for red veils for the KWC. I wanted to design a semi-plausibly 16th century Venetian outfit that was nevertheless recognizable as Deadpool.
​
This was my first undertaking of a late period gown. I used the Elizabethan Custom Corset Pattern Generator created by the fabulous Mistress Drea di' Pellegrini to draft the pattern for the bodice and then altered it to allow for the wide V shape with assistance from Mistress Magdalena la Sanguigni.
​
I got the linen from Grey Lines Linen (6 yards of Judy medium weight in #20 Red). I got the cotton duck canvas from Jo-Ann. The bodice is 2 layers of the canvas covered with the linen. The boning is heavy duty zip ties from Harbor Freight, with the edges rounded and melted with a lighter.
​
Progress as of 10/1/17
The dual canvas layer has been through a LOT of finagling. At this point, any issues that remain I'm willing to work around. The zip tie boning was inserted from the bottom, so I went around the bottom edge with bias tape. I used polyester twill tape for the lacing channels. I forgot to leave space for them between the boning channels, so they've been ripped out and re-stitched several times. This time around I used the buttonhole stitch setting on my machine to sort of tack them in place. It ain't pretty but so far it works.
​
I cut the bodice pattern out of the linen with roughly an extra inch in any given direction - I have a chronic not-enough-seam-allowance problem, so I wanted to leave myself plenty of extra in case I messed up anywhere. As you can see in the photos below this was definitely a good idea. That's about it - I'm a lot farther along now but I will need to take some more photos. I will try and remember to record the order I've been whipstitching the linen edges on.
​
Progress as of 10/7/17:
Tacking the linen layer in place on the inside with a whipstich. I went along the bottom edge first. The awesome thing is that because I cut the bodice on the straight of grain, all the curves are on the bias (therefore stretchy) so I've only had to clip around the front of the straps, where the corners are more angular. After I finished the bottom edge, I started doing seams starting in the center and moving outwards (rough diagram on the left). Once I've tacked all the edges down, I'll be tacking ribbon over the raw edges to prevent fraying. (I didn't want to mess with a lining this time around)
Progress as of 10/29/17:
So I totally lapsed on my progress photos - whoops. I tacked sheer black ribbon down over the raw edges of the linen. It took just shy of 3 yards to go all the way around the edges, minus the armscyes. I stitched a hook and eye closure at the base of the V, which I will be replacing by moving the start of the lacing down to that point (I'll probably use a ring for that one row). I had to use fray check and a ton of extra stitches around the clipped corners where the straps meet the bodice in the front.
​
I tried to gather the skirt using the sewing machine but when I went to attach the skirt just pleating it by hand was actually way easier. I was trying to get the stitches to go through both canvas layers then as close to the bottom of the bodice as I could, then leaving a small amount of the skirt fold before stitching through it so that even if the thread sagged a little you wouldn't see a gap. I had to go back and tighten the thread along the seam 2 or 3 times for each length of thread. I had to safety pin the skirt closed in front. I will hopefully be replacing the pins with an actual closure.
The sleeves were thrown together really fast. I drafted a quick pattern using one of the sleeves on one of my other gowns, cut 2 from the red linen and 2 from the handkerchief weight white linen, and machine stitched all the edges except the cuffs. I did a running stitch along the cuffs and then whipstitched the long seams. I stitched black satin ribbons to the top of each sleeve to attach them to the gown. I will be removing all but the center ones because they need to be spaced out way more. I will probably stitch rings to the underside of my shoulder straps to tie the ribbons on - for the two times I've worn them so far I just tied them around the bodice straps.
I threw this camicia together super fast for Pennsic. It's made of white handkerchief weight linen - I believe it's IL030 Bleached from fabrics-store.com - and white 0.25" double fold bias tape. I followed a couple of camicia patterns: this one by Lady Madylyne Grey and this one by Festive Attyre (the latter for step 3, making the neckline lower in front). The collar ended up being too wide because I measured the thread I was using to gather the fabric rather than the bias tape I was stitching it to. D'oh! As you can see I haven't finished the hem yet, heh... For the sleeve cuffs I used my handy rolled hem stitch that I learned from the lovely Baroness Greer Jonsdottir. I was trying to figure out how to get enough volume of fabric to have poufs at the shoulders while still fitting inside a narrow sleeve, and what I came up with was THE BIGGEST GUSSET EVER. It's not ideal but it works okay for now.
The necklace and earrings are made from red coral bamboo beads from AC Moore. I disassembled some of those wine glass charms to use for the earrings. My profound thanks to Lady Arnóra in Rauða for allowing me to use some of her beading wire, crimps, and jump rings. The hook clasp is from.... Michael's, I think?
For the vest I got a black linen button down blouse from a thrift store. I cut the sleeves and buttons off, sewed a seam down the back, took it in at the sides, and cut the hem to be even all the way around. I also folded the front plackets for the buttons and buttonholes inward and altered the collar. I was running low on time so there's a lot of fray check on raw edges involved! I have some trim and some frog closures to put on but didn't have time to before War of the Wings.
I bought the belt buckle from Amazon. I used bits of wire to affix it to the front of the belt. Eventually I'll figure out a better method of attaching it. The belt buckle was only black and silver, so I used the nail polish from my Alison Hendrix burying-a-dead-body cosplay gloves from Dragoncon 2014 to add the red. The belt itself I bought from Amazon as well. I was looking for something with square links in different sizes to give the effect of Deadpool's utility belt. This belt is a pain. The metal bends and breaks at the drop of a hat. Thanks so much to Mistress Oriana of Xylina for her suggestion to use flashing on the backs to stabilize them. The smaller links needed something added to make them less modern looking, so I bought some square slider beads at Michael's, which I hot glued to pieces of flashing then glued the whole thing to the links using 2 part epoxy. I need to cover the flashing with something on the back (probably felt) so no sharp edges snag on any fabric.
The fan is from Amazon. I cut a length of ribbon, used fray check on each end (I was rushing), and tied one end to the fan and one to my belt.
The original mask I bought from Amazon was all white. For my first attempt, I tried to use Sharpies and couldn't get the black shapes right. I also tried a paint pen that had a weird texture when it dried, which I had to take off with nail polish remover, and the smell wouldn't go away. So I ordered a new one, for attempt #2. This time I measured the mask's height and width, looked up some photos of Deadpool masks, resized them to be the correct size, then turned the image into lineart using this tutorial. Then I printed it out, cut out the eye shapes, and used them as a pattern. I used acrylic paint this time. It took several coats of the red, but I used black Sharpie to color in the black parts before painting over them so they didn't take but a couple of coats. The stick is hot glued on, then I ran some ribbon through a few holes I made on the side. The mask is too flimsy to stay up on its own, so I will probably outline it with wire on the inside. The inside of the mask is really messy! I decided after a few coats that it would look better with the mouth and nose openings closed, so I used duct tape to put small pieces of paper over the openings and painted them to match.
​
I bought this set of 3 pairs of thigh high socks and wore one red and one black.
​
Reference Image Gallery
​
Reference: vest
Francesco Montemezzano (attributed to)
Portrait of a Woman with a Squirrel
1565-75
Rijksmuseum
Objectnummer SK-A-3990
Stunt coordinator Philip J. Silvera in costume as Deadpool on set in Vancouver (via Wikimedia Commons)
Photo Gallery
​
 Progress as of 10/1/17 The dual canvas layer has been through a LOT of finagling. At this point, any issues that remain I'm willing to work around. |  Progress as of 10/1/17 The zip tie boning was inserted from the bottom, so I went around the bottom edge with bias tape. I used polyester twill tape for the lacing channels. I forgot to leave space for them between the boning channels, so they've been ripped out and re-stitched several times. This time around I used the buttonhole stitch setting on my machine to sort of tack them in place. It ain't pretty but so far it works. |  Progress as of 10/1/17 I cut the bodice pattern out of the linen with roughly an extra inch in any given direction - I have a chronic not-enough-seam-allowance problem, so I wanted to leave myself plenty of extra in case I messed up anywhere. As you can see, this was definitely a good idea. |
|---|---|---|
 Progress as of 10/1/17 That's about it - I'm a lot farther along now but I will need to take some more photos. I will try and remember to record the order I've been whipstitching the linen edges on. |  Progress as of 10/7/17: Tacking the linen layer in place on the inside with a whipstich. I went along the bottom edge first. The awesome thing is that because I cut the bodice on the straight of grain, all the curves are on the bias (therefore stretchy) so I've only had to clip around the front of the straps, where the corners are more angular. |  Progress as of 10/7/17: Left front side |
 Progress as of 10/7/17: Back |  Progress as of 10/7/17: Right front side |  Progress as of 10/7/17: Lower back |
 Progress as of 10/7/17: Left strap |  Progress as of 10/7/17: Right strap |  Progress as of 10/7/17: You can see the lack of clipping here. Yay linen! After I finished the bottom edge, I started doing seams starting in the center and moving outwards. Rough diagram in the next image. Once I've tacked all the edges down, I'll be tacking ribbon over the raw edges to prevent fraying. (I didn't want to mess with a lining this time around) |
 Progress as of 10/7/17: If I'm remembering correctly, this is the order I'm doing the edge seams. In order to make sure the back seams and curves etc align properly, I've been starting in the center and moving outwards. |  Progress as of 10/7/17: Same diagram, now with (skillfully rendered) directional arrows |  Progress as of 10/7/17: Right front side |
 Progress as of 10/7/17: Right strap |  Progress as of 10/7/17: Back |  Progress as of 10/7/17: Left front side |
 Progress as of 10/7/17: Left strap |  Progress as of 10/7/17: Left front side |  Progress as of 10/7/17: Left strap, flipped inside out |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: So I totally lapsed on my progress photos - whoops. I tacked ribbon down over the raw edges of the linen. It took just shy of 3 yards to go all the way around the edges, minus the armscyes. I stitched a hook and eye closure at the base of the V, which I will be replacing by moving the start of the lacing down to that point (I'll probably use a ring for that one row) |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of right side |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of left side |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Shoulder straps - I had to use fray check and a ton of extra stitches around the clipped corners |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Shoulder straps |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Shoulder straps |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Shoulder straps |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of lower right front |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of skirt attachment. I tried to gather using the machine but when I went to attach the skirt just pleating it by hand was actually way easier. I was trying to get the stitches to go through both canvas layers then as close to the bottom of the bodice as I could, then leaving a small amount of the skirt fold before stitching through it so that even if the thread sagged a little you wouldn't see a gap. (cont) |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: (cont) I had to go back and tighten the thread along the seam 2 or 3 times for each length of thread. |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of lower left side - you can see the eye from the hook and eye closure. The hook part randomly popped off at the party. |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of skirt opening - I had to pin it closed. I will hopefully be replacing them with an actual closure. |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Sleeves - thrown together really fast. I drafted a quick pattern using one of the sleeves on one of my other gowns, cut 2 from the red linen and 2 from the handkerchief weight white linen, and machine stitched all the edges except the cuffs. I did a running stitch along the cuffs and then whipstitched the long seams. |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of ribbon attachments. I will be removing all but the center ones because they need to be spaced out way more. I will probably stitch rings to the underside of my shoulder straps to tie the ribbons on - for the two times I've worn them so far I just tied them around the bodice straps. |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of ribbon attachments. I will be removing all but the center ones because they need to be spaced out way more. I will probably stitch rings to the underside of my shoulder straps to tie the ribbons on - for the two times I've worn them so far I just tied them around the straps. |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Underside of sleeve - I ended up safety pinning the sleeve at the top. I will be adjusting them at some point. |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Underside of lower sleeve |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Underside of upper sleeve |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Inside of sleeve |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of upper inside of sleeve |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of lower inside of sleeve |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: I threw this camicia together super fast for Pennsic. It's made of white handkerchief weight linen - I believe it's IL030 Bleached from fabrics-store.com - and white 1/4" double fold bias tape. I followed a couple of camicia patterns (links in text above on this page). The collar ended up being too wide because I measured the thread I was using to gather the fabric rather than the bias tape I was stitching it to. D'oh! As you can see I haven't finished the hem yet... |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of the sleeve cuff - used my handy rolled hem stitch that I learned from the lovely Baroness Greer Jonsdottir |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of the side |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of the collar - it's super messy XD |  Progress as of 10/29/17: I was trying to figure out how to get enough volume of fabric to have poufs at the shoulders while still fitting inside a narrow sleeve, and what I came up with was THE BIGGEST GUSSET EVER. It's not ideal but it works okay for now. |  Progress as of 10/29/17: This is the linen shirt I adapted for the jerkin/vest. Got it from Goodwill. |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: I cut the sleeves and buttons off, sewed a seam down the back, took it in at the sides, and cut the hem to be even all the way around. I also folded the front plackets for the buttons and buttonholes inward and altered the collar. I was running low on time so there's a lot of fray check on raw edges involved! I have some trim and some frog closures to put on but didn't have time to before War of the Wings. |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of back seam |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of left side |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of right side |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of inside of left side |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of inside of back |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of inside of right side |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of hem |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of hem |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of left armscye |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of right armscye |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of right packet |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of right packet |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of left packet |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of left packet |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: The necklace and earrings are made from red coral bamboo beads from AC Moore. I disassembled some of those wine glass charms to use for the earrings. My profound thanks to Lady Arnóra in Rauða for allowing me to use some of her beading wire, crimps, and jump rings. The hook clasp is from.... Michael's, I think? |  Trying on the earrings and necklace |  Progress as of 10/29/17: I bought the belt buckle from Amazon (link below). I used bits of wire to affix it to the front of the belt. Eventually I'll figure out a better method of attaching it. |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: The belt buckle was only black and silver, so I used the nail polish from my Alison Hendrix burying-a-dead-body cosplay gloves from Dragoncon 2014 to add the red. |  10/07/17: trying out the beads I got at Michael's (see link below) to fill in the smaller links |  Progress as of 10/29/17: This belt is a /pain/. It's from Amazon, and the metal bends and breaks at the drop of a hat. Thanks so much to Mistress Oriana of Xylina for her suggestion to use flashing on the backs to stabilize them. The smaller links needed something added to make them less modern looking, so I bought some beads at Michael's, which I glued to flashing then glued the whole thing to the links. |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of plaques |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Closeup of plaques - yes, that is hot glue, I was in a hurry! |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Backs of plaques - flashing held on with 2 part epoxy. I need to cover the flashing with something on the back (probably felt) so no sharp edges snag on any fabric. |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: Fan is from Amazon (link below). I cut a length of ribbon, used fray check on each end (I was rushing), and tied one end to the fan and one to my belt. |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Mask attempt #1 - tried to use Sharpies and couldn't get the black shapes right. I also tried a paint pen that had a weird texture when it dried, which I had to take off with nail polish remover, and the smell wouldn't go away. |  Progress as of 10/29/17: This is mask attempt #2. This time I measured the mask's height and width, looked up some photos of Deadpool masks, resized them to be the correct size, then turned the image into lineart using this tutorial (link below). Then I printed it out, cut out the eye shapes, and used them as a pattern. |
 Progress as of 10/29/17: I used acrylic paint this time. It took several coats of the red, but I used black Sharpie to color in the black parts before painting over them so they didn't take but a couple of coats. The stick is hot glued on, then I ran some ribbon through a few holes I made on the side. The mask is too flimsy to stay up on its own, so I will probably outline it with wire on the inside. |  Progress as of 10/29/17: Inside of mask. It's really messy! I decided after a few coats that it would look better with the mouth and nose openings closed, so I used duct tape to put small pieces of paper over the openings and painted them to match. |  10/13/17: Both masks |
 09/17/17: Trying on my stockings (link below) |  Progress as of 10/29/17 Wearing the (mostly) finished costume at the The 15th Annual Cathouse Halloween Party |  Progress as of 10/29/17 Wearing the (mostly) finished costume at the The 15th Annual Cathouse Halloween Party |
 Progress as of 10/29/17 Wearing the (mostly) finished costume at the The 15th Annual Cathouse Halloween Party |  Progress as of 10/29/17 Wearing the (mostly) finished costume at the The 15th Annual Cathouse Halloween Party |  Photo from 02/05/19: I added trim and frogs a while back. However, I forgot something very important: the vest in the painting is straight waisted. When I tried it on with my V waisted gown and fastened the bottom closure, it did NOT lay right. I plan to add one more frog to the bottom, which I hope will fix that. |
 Photo from 02/05/19: I added trim and frogs a while back. However, I forgot something very important: the vest in the painting is straight waisted. When I tried it on with my V waisted gown and fastened the bottom closure, it did NOT lay right. I plan to add one more frog to the bottom, which I hope will fix that. |