Finished Pictures - Wool Medieval Kirtle

Despite temperatures hovering in the 20's this afternoon, David was still obliging and took some photos of my finished dress so I can share them with my dear readers and fellow costume enthusiasts. A layer of linen and a layer of wool may not seem very warm, but I was actually far more comfortable being outside than I had anticipated. I still need a big heavy cloak though. :)

So this is my first kirtle. I was inspired by many costuming sites and will list the ones I found most helpful at the end of this post. I would like to encourage anyone who is thinking about making a dress in this style to just do it! I was intimidated at first because I have heard it is not possible to fit this kind of dress on oneself. I do not have a sewing buddy and my husband is rather . . .well. . .less than helpful with pins and fitting. ;) The fit is not perfect and the bustline is not as high as I may have been able to achieve with the help of a fitting buddy, but for a working class, active impression I think it will work nicely.

The fit is not all that different than fitting for a corset. The support of the bust is gained purely from the cut of the bodice and the natural stretch and molding abilities of the wool outer layer and linen (for the bodice) inner layer. The critical areas to fit are the neckline, shoulders and underbust. The bust is supported by the tight fit of the underbust and the bosom is pushed as high as it can go and held in place by the cut of the armscye, neckline and shoulders. To accomodate the resulting mounds of flesh, the neckline is cut away so as not to compress or flatten the shape. This may seem immodest, but after experimenting with several mock ups, it was the only way I found to get this shape and as this dress is meant to be, for full dress occasions, worn beneath an outer gown or kirtle, it is not really so bad. Since the bust is lifted as high or almost as high as it can possibly go, there is no danger of "falling" out of your bodice. I find the fit very comfortable and supportive and secure, similar to a sports-bra.

The kirtle is made from four pieces cut as rectangle, shaped above the hips to fit the torso/bust. Four gores were inserted at the sides and the front and back to add fullness to the hem. Since this is technically an under-dress it does not need to be as full as an outer gown. The hem on this one measures about 140". The Medieval Tailors Assistant calls for a kirtle hem of about 103" so mine is fuller than that - just because to me, that amount seemed so skimpy. The length is ankle length, for active wear. Fashionable ladies would have had longer, trailing hems. I plan to cook over a fire and chase children in this, so ankle length is the most practical for me.

I used a combination of machine and hand stitching. All the main seams are done on the machine but all the finishing work and any stitch visible from the outside is done by hand. The lacing cord I braided from four strands of brown wool yarn. It laces the fifty-three eyelets up from neckline to hip. I use a bobby pin to lace the cord up and have to almost fully unlace the dress when putting it on or taking it off. So far, it takes me about fifteen minutes to get this dress on and laced and everything arranged properly.

The sleeves are narrow but not tight. They are slit for about six inches up from the hem and close with six handmade ball buttons and buttonholes. A more fashionable lady may have many more buttons on her sleeves than these. The buttonholes are worked close to the edge of the sleeve and the buttons sewn directly on the edge, so there is very little overlap.

I made a simple and quick kerchief to wear based on instructions in The Medieval Tailors Assistant. It is basically a 32" square of white cotton (I had no linen light enough and TMTA recommended sheer cotton or semi sheer cotton to use in place of linen for headdresses) knotted at the neck and with the ends brought up and pinned around the face. It was very easy to make and it easy and comfortable to wear. Even in blustery winds, it did not come off my head. :)

My next accessory will be an apron. I definitely need an apron if I want to do work of any sort in this dress! Then I will be making a dark gray surcote to go over this dress, hopefully to be finished before January 8th. A hood would be nice too, for winter wear.

Here are some of the links I found very helpful:

Dame Helens Site
Jessamyn's Closet

Costly Thy Habit

From the Skin Out

Historical Life

La Cotte Simple

The Medieval Tailor

Robin Nethertons Site

Love,

Sarah

Kirtle Progress

I have been working on my kirtle this week and today finished what I think was the most time consuming part - the eyelets. They are spaced 3/4" apart from neckline to hip level so there were a lot of them. It took me about 3 hours to do the eyelets and another hour to make the lacing cord. I was extremely nervous when I tried on the kirtle to make sure of the fit before I continue on with finishing it. Here are some pics of it so far, thoughbe forewarned; they are very bad pictures and I look horrible in them but they will give you an idea of the look.

I am pretty happy with how it is working, though! When I stand perfectly still it fits smoothly, but as soon as I move, well, there are wrinkles around the waist. Not terrible by any means, but they are there. Sigh. I guess I will have to wear this and get used to how it fits and feels and moves with my body.

I have to make the sleeves still and then hem the skirt, but otherwise the hard parts are done.

It is such a simple garment, but the more I work with these styles the more I realize that it is the simpler garments that are hardest to make well. Because of the utter simplicity of style, everything must be executed as flawlessly as possible - the fitting, the cutting, the stitching. If not, the error glares out at you and makes everything look just awful. No room for error to be hidden beneath gathers or pleats. :P No corset to take the strain of wear - it must be fitted exactly so, to support yet not be too tight nor too loose.

It is definitely not perfect but for my first kirtle I'm pleased. It will work! The only thing that really bugs me is the drape of the skirt at appx. hip level on the front of the dress - see how it kind of droops in a scallopy shape? I think it's because of my stomach though. :P If I suck my stomach in to appear more slim, it droops. If I let it naturally bulge out (having 3 babies just does that ;) ) it does not really droop at all. I guess I will have to get used to the protruding stomach look.

More pics this weekend of everyone, hopefully!

Love,
Sarah

Another Mock Up

There is not very much to report on since last week. The children were all stricken with an illness (runny nose, cough, etc.) over the weekend so I did not get any sewing done. We stayed home since we thought the boys would get worse if we camped in the windy chill at the last Civil War reenactment of the season. We had pizza, watched all three Lord of the Rings movies, had lots of tea with honey and on Sunday celebrated little David's 4th birthday with an outing to the park, traipsing the wooded trails (we did 3 miles!) and a big white birthday-cake with white frosting and 4 slim candles. Malachi walked almost half the trail and when he got too tired, I carried him on my back in the sling I made for him as an infant. A versatile, long-use and very cheap piece of baby equipment!

Yesterday I did get a little sewing done. Or, rather, fitting. I decided I didn't like all the wrinkles in my last bodice mock up so I pinned out most of the wrinkles as excess length and lengthened the bodice more to fit the length of the torso better. (That makes sense, right? Shortening the bodice and then lengthening it?)

I cut the new mock up from the brown linen I will use to line the bodice of the kirtle. The result? Quite smooth. The linen has the perfect amount of give and I am very happy with the fit now. There is a slight wrinkle over my right hip but I think that is because that hip is a little higher than the other. It is quite slight, so I can live with it. Plus, once the gores are put in at the sides I think the winkle may go away entirely. I did cut the neckline a bit wider since taking this photo, to get a more boat-shape to the neck.

I will use this as the actual lining and now am ready to cut the wool. I want to wait til I get the right thread though, so today will work on finishing David's underclothes - his shirt and braies. If the boy-O's cooperate! Lately I have been able to sew very little since it seems they KNOW when I'm not actively overseeing their pursuits and so they use the time I am occupied to wreak havoc in the house. I have decided that keeping them out of mischief is more beneficial to my sanity than sewing anything. ;P

It is a beautiful, COLD autumn day! Have a blessed week dear friends!
Love,
Sarah

Constructing The Kirtle - Step 2: The Fabric

Thanks to everyone who had advice and tips for me on my last post! I am working on getting my shift/smock complete and making a mock up of the sleeve and then will baste the sleeve in and try the mock up on one more time to make sure of the fit before I cut into my wool.

I have also decided to forego the linen kirtle, at least for now. Thank you for your advice on that as well. I think the wool will hold up much better anyway.

So, after fitting the mock up my next problem was my fabric. I had 8 yards of a beautiful wool/silk blend fabric that washed up very prettily, with a slightly fuzzy surface. The problem was the color - a light tan. Skin tight bodice + skin colored fabric = a very uncomfortable Sarah and a husband who won't let her out of the house. I spent a loonng time trying to decide if I ought to dye the wool a different color or just buy new wool. Frugality won in the end, and I decided to try to dye the wool.

My last dyeing experience was not successful at all (overdyeing an already-constructed 1860's style dress). The dye came out splotchy and uneven. It was a failure. It was hard for me to actually dye the wool when it came to the point. I didn't want to ruin it. I prayed about it and spent about an hour on Sunday night heating water, standing over a steaming washing machine and agitating the fabric in the dye for about a half hour before giving up hope and letting the cycle finish and plopping the wet fabric in the dryer. I had no idea how it would come out.

Much to my suprise and thankfulness (why I am always suprised when God answers my prayers?) the fabric came out splendidly. The dye was even and clean and the color was almost exactly the same color as the linen I had planned to get for a linen kirtle - a pretty blue-green. The wool is a few shades darker than the linen sample, but still! I'm very pleased. I used 1 box of Rit dye, dark green, and 1 box of Rit dye, royal blue. I dissolved both packets in 4 cups of hot water and agitated it in the hot-water-filled machine before adding in the wet, warm wool fabric. The color came out very soft and muted since I used the 2 packets to dye 5 yards of 60" wide wool.

Now; another question for you experts. To line or not to line? I do not really want to fully line this dress but am thinking I may need an extra layer of fabric for support in the torso area. Has anyone done this? How does it work? My wool fabric is a tad stretchier than the sheet I used for the mock up. I have some sturdy and tight woven dark brown linen I could possibly use to line the torso. From what I've read, linen was only blue, cream or white in period but this would be hidden anway and seems a better choice than cotton. What to do?

Love,
Sarah

Constructing The Kirtle - Step 1: The Mock Up

Having procrastinated too long already, I decided this morning that I needed to do something creative and start work on my 14th century things. I am starting out very simply with a linen smock, wool hose, and a kirtle. I am not yet sure what kind of overkirtle or cote (the terms are quite confusing to me still!) I will make yet. But first things first.

Having looked at quite a few different sites and read about different methods of making this basic, supporting under-dress I took bits and pieces of advice from different places and put them together to make my initial mock up. I'll share some of these great resources as I go along.

I started with a big rectangle of fabric from a sheet and cut a hole in the middle for my head. Then, keeping the center front on straight of grain, I began pulling and pinning and cutting til I had something that looked like it was starting to work. I then took the basic rought shape of those pieces (front and back) and smoothed out the lines and averaged them up. That was used to make a second mock up which fit pretty well, but still needed a bit of fine tuning. The 3rd and last mock up is pictured here.

My question to you ladies is; what do you think? I am not exactly sure what level of fitness I am going for. I know the bosom has to be supported but how tight does this dress need to be? Right now, it is fairly tight but does not feel confining. I am so used to wearing corsets, though, that tightness does not really bother me. It is very tight just below the bust line and for a few inches down the torso. Then just above the hips it begins to flare out. The pattern stops at hip length since from there I will just make it a rectangular shape to the floor and add gores as needed to get fullness in the hem.

There are some wrinkles under the bust and some at the waist from time to time. I have heard from other costumers that this is normal. I really don't see how I could get a supportive garment totally wrinkle free without the use of boning or cording of some kind, so are the wrinkles here okay? After all, the only thing holding me up and in is fabric! :P

How about the neckline? Is it too low? Too high? (I don't want to go any lower!) too shallow, too wide? Too scooped?

Aghh!! I'm so excited to finally be starting this dress but am so nervous I'll make a dreadful mistake which will render it unwearable.

I hope to have some progress posts in the next week or so. My next step is dyeing some wool to make this dress in. The current colour of the wool is very nearly a flesh color and I think I want something a little darker, for the sake of modesty. We'll see how the wool ones comes out, and then I will make a linen one. I got my fabric samples from Fabric-store.com and found exactly the color I wanted. :) It's a lovely pale blue-green-grey called "Meadow".

Any and all input and constructive criticism on the fit will be extremely welcomed!

Love,

Sarah