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A Dress-Diary Of Sorts...

8-8-03

I need something to wear to Faire this year (I went in mundanes last year because I was too lazy to make something to fit me), so I decided to pull out a half-finished doublet I started a year and half ago to see what could be done with it. I knew I wanted to make a kirtle to wear under it (and countless other outfits that are still in the planning phases), and I happened to have several yards of off-white lightweight wool lying around, so I figured I'd just dye it another color and make a kirtle with it. However, I didn't want to go through the trouble of using RIT dye, as it has lighter results on wool (as I've been informed by several friends who have tried to dye wool with it at one point or another). I considered using a good acid dye from Dharma Trading Co., but being broke at the moment, that probably wasn't such a wise decision. So I went a-digging through the 'ol fabric stash and promptly hit pay dirt: Several yards of gorgeous lightweight maroon wool from Italy with a small stripe woven into it (a score at House of Fabric's going-out-of-business sale sometime in the early-mid '90's) which I'd been saving for years, waiting for suitable project to come along. At first I was hesitant about using the wool because of the color scheme: Green and maroon are typical faire color combinations and I wanted to avoid using the two colors together because it's almost cliche' these days. But the more I fondled the wool, the more I realized that I *had* to make a kirtle with it, regardless of the color scheme issue.

This is a pic of the doublet from last year when I first started on it. It's a dark green damask I found as a remnant a couple years ago at Hancock's. The tabbing is matching green wool gabradine.

A close-up of the tabs on the shoulder. I'm thinking I'll probably add more to the shoulder as it looks rather small and plain as it is. Also notice that the doublet closes all the way up in these photos. I've put on a few pounds since then and while it fits in the waist still, I can barely close it over my chest, so it will have to do as a decorative jerkin now.

View of the kirtle - Bodice Front. The fabric is maroon lightweight wool, with a fabulous drape. I've been hoarding this fabric for years now and it's about damn time I did something with it!

Bodice Back. The side lacing *barely* meets, as once again, I've miscalculated the seam allowance. You can see the padding I put int the skirt to make the pleats stand out.

A fuzzy full length shot of the kirtle with the skirt pinned to the dummy for reference. The skirt is unlined and will be cartridge pleated directly to the bodice, even though this pic shows the skirt knife pleated (which does look nice, I have to admit, but is more work).

The green damask doublet in the final phase of being fitted. The buttons are wooden beads covered with green embroidery floss. They could be better, but they'll do for the time being. I'm going to add a row of buttons down the other side of the doublet, too. Right now there's a set of internal lacing strips to lace the doublet closed, but I may add a few hook and eyes at the edges for extra security.

Testing to see what the doublet looks like over the kirtle. The doublet will have a matching skirt attached to it as well, and sleeves made from matching green wool. I haven't settled on the design of the sleeves, but they will either be plain straight sleeves, or have slashing and puffs of linen pulled through. Knowing me, I'll go with the slashing...

8-9-03

Starting to look like an outfit, now! The skirt is pinned to the doublet and I added my ruff to see what it would look like with the outfit. I'll be attaching it to a partlet in the near future. I'm just amazed at how the outfit is turning out... I didn't really anticipate it being particularly spectacular, so this is a pleasant surprise! When it's all said and done, I think this will probably be my *favorite* outfit yet.

8-24-03

After a long day of sewing, here I am modeling the kirtle. I've got my hands behind my back because I'm pulling on the lacing cords to make sure they don't slip out, as Natan didn't fasten them (I didn't feel like explaining how to tie off a spiral lacing closure). It fits perfectly. The only thing I'm slightly annoyed with is the skirt. I had to remake it several different times before it actually worked. I first started out with my usual method of skirt making, which is to take a 3 yard rectangle of fabric and pleat it. It's a no-brainer. This method, however, didn't quite work this time around. The yardage refused to pleat down to the waist measurement and was complicated by the fact that I was intending to sew the skirt directly to the bodice. I didn't want to do large box or knife pleats out of fear that it would add to much bulk, so I decided to recut the whole thing using Alcega's skirt layout. This created a more manageable waist, but I sacrificed a lot of hem yardage. This would not be a skirt that could go over a farthingale as the hem is only 120" in circumference. I kept the padding in the pleats and cartridge pleated everything to the bodice. The bodice, by the way, opens at the side back seams.

Here's the overgown, about 98% complete. I have finished the sleeves aside from some detailing (more pearling, which doesn't exactly show up in the photos). Each of the slashes on the sleeves have a 4mm glass pearl at the top and bottom. I'll be adding more as I go. The top row of puffs, which are hardly visible in this photo, have 10mm garnet beads surrounded by four 3mm garnet beads at the base of each slash. The puffs are from 3 oz white linen. I'm holding the overgown on because it has no real method of being secured right now, but you get the idea. ;)

For some reason, the skirt was terribly easy to pleat to the bodice this time around. I double box pleated 3 yards of the skirt, no sweat. The skirt is lined with fuschia/orange shot duipioni, which is probably not exactly the best choice for a skirt lining for a couple of different reasons (least of all that it's not documentably period in terms of color and weave). Duipioni likes to snag horribly when it's being dragged along the ground. I'll have a fairly deep hem and will probably edge it with a small fringe to hopefully deter the silk from getting messed up. The sleeves are lined in the same silk which shows through the slashes. It's really not that neon in real life, but it is pretty bright.

PICTURES OF THE FINISHED OUTFIT