The Radioactive Neon Bliaut

Over the last week or so I've sewn most of K's bliaut; all that's left is the trim at the hem and the collar facing (and the overdyeing because really it's so bright it changes the light quality in reasonably well-lit spaces). Thus it is The Radioactive Neon Bliaut. It's really rather appropriate; I mean, it is a bliaut. It's supposed to be ostentatious! Just maybe not literally blinding.

On the left, all the pieces cut and stacked. The orange is brighter and the red redder than that picture is showing, but the overall effect is pretty close. And on the right, one of the semi-circular sleeve cuffs. This is going to be a truly fabulous and ridiculous bliaut, and I am delighted.

I flat felled all the color change seams, and did my usual hem stitch to finish the raw cuff edges. Remarkably fast little stitch, and all but invisible from the right side.

I pieced the sleeves first, since they're each made of four pieces of fabric and it seemed wise to construct them before those little pieces could fray too dramatically. Next was piecing the gores into the body (including some total guesswork for placement, since I forgot to get K's shoulder-to-waist measurement and he lives in another city) and French seaming all those. So. Much. Screaming. Orange.

Pulling a thread after marking the important points on the neckline...

Et voila! A lovely keyhole neckline, with a very straight slit. Much better than my usual guess-and-pray method.

The unsleeved body! The sides are also open above the side gores, and K is quite a bit taller and broader than I am. I'm on tiptoe, but on him the hem should fall about mid-calf once I add the bottom trim.

Here's the open slit that lets the cuff fall beautifully over the wearer's hand More of that simple hemming stitch, which works really well for hems that shift width, too, like the point of the slit here.

Setting a sleeve into the body. Tragically, this is attempt number one, in which (despite triple checking) I set the sleeves inside out.

Didn't notice the mistake until after taking this picture, with both sleeves not only stitched in but French seamed already. Sigh. Four ripped and re-sewn seams later, I have a very-nearly-completed garment. You can see here that the neckline is a bit wide and shallow for the style I want, too, so I might cut the red trim there to reshape it a little. I am in love with the sleeve cuffs, though. They do exactly what I want them to do—which is based on this illumination from the Cîteaux Moralia in Job.

So tonight, probably cutting pieces for the trim at the hem, unless I feel ambitious and pattern the neckline trim. So very close! And then all I have left for K is the undershirt and hose.

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