Nell Shirt Recreation: Finishing Details

Nell Shirt Recreation: Finishing Details

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Final update on this project. Yay for gender euphoric renegade nell shirt finally in my possession.

The tl;dr:

The Embroidery

Nell's Shirt has a cute little embroidered detail around the collar, neckline and cuffs. I'm ngl it is a bit hard to find any detailed and good quality shots that show exactly what it is, but my best guess is either just a plain zigzag stitch or a zigzag with a straight stitch on the outside edge. It's also done in blue thread.

From what I could see also, I believe it's done by machine with normal thread, rather than by hand or with embroidery thread.

I did some test swatches on my failed cuff pieces to test out different settings, but ultimately I ended up doing just a zigzag stitch. I also used a specific decorative zigzag stitch, rather than the usual type as that was making my fabric bunch up instead of laying flat, and I don't know enough about machine sewing to know how to fix that issue.

There's nothing crazy to note about this step, but this is what my collar and cuffs look like. It's nowhere near perfect, my machine sewing skills are very lacking, but I'm happy enough with it.

To get it so close to the edges on the cuffs, instead of doing a back and forth stitch to lock it in place, I just left the thread strands long, tied them in a knot and hid them inside the cuff.

Collar Button

Once you've done your embroidery stitch, find where you want the button to be. It's placed about halfway down the front neck opening on Nell's shirt, and I've done the same.

Her shirt seems to close with a loop rather than a buttonhole. You can do this in anyway you want, by including one in the seam when you do the lining or attaching it afterwards. I'm not sure what is specifically done on Nell's actual shirt, so I went for an option easiest for me.

I just followed this image I found on google as a guide:

After you've done that, you should end up with something that looks like this :D

Also taking a moment to appreciate the pretty shell buttons I finally got to use after finding them in a thrift shop like 3 years ago.

Cuff Buttons

Originally I was going to do the same method as I've done for the collar, however because I ended up making my sleeves slightly too long, I wanted my cuffs to sit more snuggle on my hands/wrists so that the extra length would just become poof. So if you want authenticity, and didn't make the same mistake I did, do the same as above.

Otherwise, I started with buttonholes. I'm not sure what this process looks like for machine done buttonholes, but I measured out the size of my button, and then used a seam ripper to cut my button hole. Keep the pins in place while you do this will also prevent you ripping your holes too big.

From there, I just did a very dense blanket stitch all around the outside of the hole to secure it.

Using this hole to mark out where the button should sit, I then sewed on my button to the other edge.

And with that you have a finished shirt!!!

renegade nell got cancelled yk what that means! *cries*

Lmao nothing like the show getting cancelled to get the whole fandom hella active

i'm losing my mind over the parallels between the trotters and the blanchfords (+amadin). all three children growing up together in the same place, with a father but without a mother. they all viciously care about one another (see nell with george when she's shot, sofia with her brother, amadin with sofia). but at the same time they are wildly different people. actually, the entire season can be read as a juxtaposition of the trotters and the blanchefords.

whereas nell voluntarily leaves her family in her late teens, amadin joins the family against his will as a child. the love-hate sofia feels for thomas is shown by her disapproval of his general behaviour (even disgust at times), but the fact that she later saves his life proves her love. nell loves george from the beginning on, despite not even knowing her. and while nell acquires power by chance without asking for it, sofia craves power at any cost and goes against her own morals to come by it.

the family dynamics of the blanchefords are characterised by power imbalances: amadin being a servant to his "siblings"/the people he grew up with. thomas being a bully to everyone in his life. the misogyny that sofia experiences. a cold, distant father with high (and specific) expectations of his children.

the trotters are shown as a warm family with loving dynamics. nell is not ostracised for wearing male clothing, and when she returns home her father almost immediately accepts her back. george is shown to be able to move around freely and play what she likes. both sam and roxy have to work hard, but that almost puts them in equal positions? neither of them own the tavern, it belongs to the blanchfords. and roxy being harassed by thomas is a different kind of misogyny than what sofia experiences.

and what is the underlying reason for their differences? what is established right on with the blanchfords living in a manor and the trotters running a tavern?

class.

the reason lord blancheford assures a strict upbringing of his children is because his son has to one day continue the legacy. there is a lot at stake because the family already has a lot of socioeconomic power. thomas is the way he is because he is an extremely privileged boy, who was taught (directly or indirectly) that his life is worth more than others. and the reason why sofia has this thirst for power is not just because she is a woman living under patriarchy but also because she is a rich woman, which makes land ownership something that is in reach but kept from her solely because she is a woman. and amadin is literally bought into the family (there's another aspect there concerning colonialism, but i'm not the right person to dissect that).

the two families are like two sides of the same coin. in contrast to the trotters, the blancheford family is extremely privileged but ultimately cold and twisted in their dynamics. and it all comes down to class difference.