The Never Ending Eyelets of Doom

Not quite never ending. But in the midst of the swimming, one feels like one is drowning. Drowning in eyelets.

All made quite the same way. Tiny dots 3/4" apart. Take small pointy object, insert into a dot and twist. Take knitting needle, insert into the hole made, and twist til the hole is nice and large. Whip stitch around edges. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Half are done. The other half will be done today and once I have made a new lacing cord I will be able to put the dress on and fit the sleeves. We are in the home stretch, people!

Love,
Sarah

Cotehardie Progress - Hand Finishing

Once the main pieces of the dress were sewn together it was time to start the lengthy process of hand finishing. I'm still not done with all the hand finishing - there are a lot of seams! But all the bodice seams are now finished and about a quarter of the skirt seams. They are all finished in the same way, so I will share what I do. Just apply  the process mentally to the yet-unfinished portion of the dress. ;)

For my pre-sewing machine-era historic dresses I prefer to use a straight machine stitch for seams that are not visible from the outside. For any stitches that will show on the outside of the dress I will use hand sewing. Alas. I am not a purist.

The first thing I did was attach facings to the center front opening of the dress. I carefully cut the center front edges of the dress to the curved shape I traced onto it, and then sewed 1.5" wide strips of linen to each side of the opening, right sides together. The strips are on the straight of grain, to help add stability to the center front opening. Since the curve of the front seam is not very dramatic, the straight strip of linen easily molded around the curves.

I then pressed the facing strips to the inside of the dress, turned under the raw edges of the facing strips and pinned them into place.

Using a small slip stitch I attached the facing to the lining of the dress. Below the lining, the stitches show on the outside of the dress. In this picture  you can see how the front opening curves (I laid a piece of brown fabric beneath the opening so you can more easily see the shape).

I topstitched close to the edge of the opening with a running stitch to firm up the edge. Now the front opening is ready for eyelets!

To finish the neckline I could have sewed on another narrow facing strip and attached it the same way as I did for the front opening. However, I decided to just press under the hem about 1/2" all the way around the neckline. I then tucked the raw edge under and slip stitched the folded edge to the dress - through the lining and the outside layer. Here is how it looks from the inside:

And from the outside:

The inside seams of the dress are finished with felling. This creates a much stronger seam and also serves to stiffen the seam to prevent wrinkling - it almost acts as a kind of soft boning! Here you can see one of the bodice seams felled. The seam allowance is pressed to one side, the raw edge turned under, and the folded edge slip stitched down to secure it.

And one of the skirt seams:

Here are what felled seams look from the outside of the dress:

Love,
Sarah

Cotehardie Progress - Sewing the Main Dress

Well, once the cutting of my dress was done I had to take a break. I hate cutting things out and it's a bit nerve wracking to lay out large pieces of fabric on the floor and try to work quickly before a dog or a cat or a boy comes in and tramps across the laid out cloth.

The fun part is actually sewing the dress together! To start with, I sewed the front half gores to each front panel.

Then the rest of the sewing was extremely straightforward. Just sewing the gores to the dress and stitching up the side seams and shoulder seams. Here you can see the gores sewed to each half of the dress. After this photo I sewed the side gores to the front panels and sewed the back to the front along the side seams and shoulder seams.

Then it was time to check for fit! Although I fitted the pattern for the torso before I cut into the linen, with these types of self-supporting dresses it's important to fit as you go, because the stretch properties of each fabric is different. I found the fit to be pretty good but I did have to tighten up the center front seam under the bust to get good bust support (it doesn't help I've already increased a cup size or so since getting pregnant) : / Instead of a straight-seam front opening for the dress, I found the support and shape to be MUCH better by curving the front opening. I pinned it along that curve to try it on, and here you can see the black line indicating where the curved seam will be located. I have read that for ladies who need more support this curved-front-seam method is better. For my wool kirtle I used the straight front seam method, which works pretty well but always gives a crease under the bust after a while because the fabric stretches and the boobs droop. It will be interesting to see the difference between the straight front seam method of fitting and this method of fitting after I wear this dress for a day or so. Maybe there won't be as many underbust wrinkles?

Because of the curved seam in the center front, I think I will probably do eyelets and a lacing cord for the front opening instead of buttons and buttonholes. I think I'd get better tension and a firmer fit with the lacing cord; plus that means I can wear this dress alone as working attire if need be, without the wool dress underneath it. Both the wool dress and this dress support and shape without the need for anything on underneath except the shift. Here you can see the side: (I am really happy with the drape of the skirt!)

And the back: (and yes, the center back seam is not exactly straight on my body - I didn't adjust it to be straight when I quickly pinned myself into it so the back line isn't straight and the front line isn't either! But that can easily be remedied when I put it on and can shift it around to lay properly instead of having to pin it)

And the front:

The skirt gores on this dress start higher up on the torso than on my wool dress. I find it more comfortable to move in but I do think next time I will make the skirt gores slightly lower to give a more streamlined shape over the hips. However, I do have a bit of "wiggle room" in the lower torso so that ought to be adequate for the growing baby bump and hopefully I won't have to adjust the dress to fit a new shape in a few months.

I'm contemplating an elbow length funnel type sleeve now instead of a tight short sleeve. It seems it would be more appropriate for this type of dress. Alas. I don't know what to do! But I have to finish all the seams before worrying about the sleeves. That should be at least six hours of work so I ought to have had plenty of time to decide on a sleeve style by then. ;)

Love,
Sarah

Cutting the Cotehardie

Since I did not do any indepth posts about how I constructed my fitted underdress, focusing instead on the fitting of it, I decided to document my progress as I work on this dress. That way, in case I ever forget how I put things together I can go back and read what I did. (and that happens way too often with me!)

So in this post I will describe how I cut out dresses like this. I cut my kirtle in the same way as I am cutting this one although the skirt gores were narrower, making for a narrower finished hem on the dress.

So, to start out with, I had my 5 yards of washed and dried linen. It ended up about 58" wide so I decided to use full widths of the fabric to avoid waste. Instead of planning my fabric around my pattern, I plan my pattern around my fabric! First, I measured from my shoulder tip to the floor plus a few inches for play. That was the length of my front and back dress pieces. I measured my bodice pattern pieces (the part of the dress that is fitted to my body) across the widest part. The widest part on the front piece was about 10" and on the back about 12", so I cut the 4 panels (2 front, 2 back) 13" wide and 53" long. See:

To shape the upper body portion of the panels, I laid on my pattern pieces and cut around them. From the hips up, the panels are shaped to fit the body closely. From the hips down, everything is squared. Easy.

I cut lining for the bodice from a purple linen dress I had on hand. I decided to use this linen instead of the pale green since it is heavier and will take the strain of wear better. I will use the green for the lining that will show (in the sleeve). The dress is lined only to the hips, since from the hips down there is no strain of wear and the pink linen is heavy enough to drape nicely on its own.

Here is the back seam pinned together, ready to be sewn:

To add flare to the skirt, gores are inserted at center front, center back and each side. I made my gores by measuring from my hip to the floor, plus a few inches. I tore a full width of my linen to that length, and then another one. I had two panels approximately 42" long x 58" wide. Here is one panel:

To cut the gores, I folded each panel in half and pressed it flat, matching torn edges and selvedges. I cut from corner to corner diagonally across the fabric. This gave me two gores - one whole gore and two half gores, which are sewn together to make a whole gore.

I repeated this for the other panel, ending up with two whole gores and four half gores. I rounded off the bottom edges to make things even.

Here are the front pieces laid out with two half gores. Since the dress will open down the center front the seam down the middle of this gore is ideal. You can see how much width the gores will add to the dress skirts - quite a lot!

Here are the front pieces and the center gore and both side gores laid out on the bed. I think the skirt will hang very prettily in the finished dress!

Next up: sewing it all together!

Love,
Sarah

Success in Dyeing - Pale Pink Achieved!

Okay, I know posts about fabric and colors are getting old. It's kind of a cop out. I don't have anything interesting to post so - whoopee! - I'll post about dyeing. Or trimming ideas. Or style musings.

In my defense, though (and I did want to have this dress at least half way done by now) I have been working on the Great 1860's Steward-Dressing Project and finishing up the baby gown I started several weeks ago. In addition, I was taken violently ill on Saturday and so was not able to do any work this weekend. (never eat buttered movie-store popcorn and drink pepsi simultaneously, especially if you are feeling nauseous to begin with and are in the habit of unwillingly ejecting your meals - even healthy ones - shortly after consumption). I determined to not start on this project until the baby gown was finished and the first part of the stewards outfit done. The baby dress is finished, ironed and ready to be mailed tomorrow and I am about three hours away from finishing up the stewards shirts (square-cut, blue-checked cotton) so I do firmly intend to start my gown tomorrow and have it done by Saturday.

Last week I dyed my tan linen with wine colored dye and consequently turned it a bright fuschia pink. I was unhappy with the pink color so I decided to remove the dye and redye it a light gray. David brought me home some dye remover although he could not find gray dye anywhere. So on Friday, I thought that at least I could remove the dye so the fabric was prepared for taking gray dye whenever I found some. I filled the machine with hot water, agitated the dye remover, and plopped the 5 yards of fuschia linen inside it. I then was gone for about five hours to take my oldest son to a doctor appointment. When I got home, I lifted the lid and was shocked to see the color the linen had become. See:

A very light brownish-pink - exactly the color I had wanted in the first place. Not close to the color I wanted - not similar - no, but the EXACT color I had wanted!

It looks SO much better with the greenish-blue undress than the bright pink did. I like it just as much as I would have liked gray. Perhaps even better than gray, since this color seems to turn up a LOT in medieval images and I haven't found nearly as much evidence of gray, especially combined with the greenish-blue color of the underdress. From what I've been able to find, greenish-blue is a popular combo with this certain light pink color.

In other news, my lil baby boy is three years old today! He was such a red and squishy little fellow with dark blue eyes and black hair when he was born; the eyes lightened into a light blue-gray, the black hair fell out and   blonde hair grew in its place. And here he is today.

Three years old! The baby of the family, but the bossiest, most opinionated and dare-devil member by far. Of all the children, he is the most like me.

And he's still not too sure about giving up his place as baby to make way for a new one. But no matter how old he gets and how many other babies will follow him, he will always be my special little boy and my own true love. We are pards.

Love,
Sarah

Cotehardie Progress - Trim Ideas

I have been scouring the internet for images that show how a fitted gown may be trimmed - all to little avail. It is HARD to find any clear details on how these garments may have been trimmed. After deciding I wanted to put trim on my dress I started thinking about proper trimming materials, how trim would be applied and where it would be applied. I am so afraid to be putting my own modern tastes of what "looks right" into the place of what IS right!

I did find this image of dancers and looking at it, there is a lot of interesting detail that gives some good ideas of trim placement and scale.

This dress looks a lot like I want mine to look, with the sleeve tippets, lined with a contrasting color. There is a band of trim around the bottom of the hem - it looks like it may be fur?

These ladies are wearing light-colored gowns with dark trim around the neckline. They both appear to have some sort of (non matching) trim at the hem. It also looks like the lady on the left has put trim down the center front of her gown. 

There are a lot of interesting details in this group of 4! The hairstyles (are these young unmarried ladies since they aren't wearing a  headcovering?), the colors. Oddly enough the figure on the far left appears to have a non-matching top and bottom portion to her gown. The second-from-left figure looks to have a parti-colored garment, the second-from-right looks to have a plain, untrimmed gown and the one on the far left appears to be wearing a short sleeved overgown with tippits and a split skirt, showing the underdress at the sides, with the hem finished in a light colored trim (looks like it MAY be a pleated flounce?) 

And this one depicts a short sleeved overgown with interesting trim placement on the bodice. It also appears to have an overgown with trim at the hem, but the hem of the overgown is shorter than that of the underdress. 

So, I think I may be one step closer to deciding what kind of trim to put on my gown. Now I need to figure out WHAT to use for trim - strips of fabric? If so, what kind? Linen, wool, silk? Velvet? (too fancy??) Fur? (seems an odd combo with a linen gown though and I don't feel exactly comfortable wearing real fur - and fake fur looks kinda. . .fake. . .) 

And Peter is coming over this weekend to be fitted for a plain, basic doublet. It will be interesting to make a more fitted male garment for the 14th century period. David currently prefers the loose skirts of his tunic. (odd, since he likes the fitted nature of his 1860's attire). 

Love,

Sarah

Cotehardie Progress ~ Dyeing the Linen

So, I decided to make a cotehardie. And for clarification, I don't know if cotehardie is a period-correct term for a fitted overgown, but, since it is the modern term that most people use when referring to this type of garment, I will use it, since everyone who reads this IS a modern person, like it or not! :P It will be fitted to the waist since my belly bulge is in my lower abdomen (and based on all my previous pregnancies my babies always carry quite low) and will close with buttons instead of lacing. The sleeves will be tight fitted short sleeves finished with a band of fabric and a faced band of fabric hanging from the back of the sleeve to above the dress hem (I'd love them to go ALL the way to the hem but will have to see if I have enough fabric for that).

If I am feeling adventurous, I will make it with lacing at the sides from hip to underbust. If not, I will just sew those seams as I regularly do and either make lacing holes for it later by facing the seam in that area and working eyelets, or I will just wear my sideless surcote over my fitted undergown (modernly called a kirtle) for our event in April. The sideless surcote has quite a bit of room below the waist.

The next step was dyeing the linen. I had good results when dyeing the wool for my underdress so I felt more confident as I filled the washer with hot water, added the salt and the dye (appx. 1 TB of "wine" RIT dye; it wasn't crimson as I had thought) and added the wet fabric. Before putting in the whole length of fabric I dyed a few samples, so I could get an idea of how long I needed to let the full length of fabric sit in the dyebath. Here you can see a few of the samples. The tan is the original fabric color; the pale pink is the tan after 5 minutes in the dye and the dark purply-pink is the fabric after 30 minutes in the dye. I was shocked at how vibrant the colors came out after only a few minutes.

I liked the middle sample (the pale pink) the best, so added the wet length of fabric and let it sit for 5 minutes. However, I didn't take into account the time it would take for the dye to leave the washing machine so the fabric ended up being in the dye for probably 8 minutes. As a result, it came out darker than I was wanting:

Here is the finished pink linen with the underdress (darker blue-green) and the pale green linen I plan to use for the lining. It's very. . .pink.

It caused me considerable troublesome thought yesterday. I did find a few examples of similarly colored vibrant pinkish-purple gowns in a few period images:

However, I never got to the point where I loved the color. : / And if I am going to put time into making something, I want to love it. I deserve to love it! The pink is pretty and cheerful, but just not ME. So, I had an awakening last night when I woke up around 2:30 a.m. and started thinking about the color. I will remove the dye and re-dye the linen a soft gray. With gray, I don't really care about the particular shade as long as it doesn't come out looking black. Gray is nice. I like gray. It's me. It should be easier to get a nice gray than a pale pink. And gray will look nice with the color of the underdress and the lining (you will be able to see the lining on the sleeves).

To dress it up a bit I may trim the sleeves, neckline and hem with dark brown. (I know, a boring color, but, alas, me). I think a really dark color for trim would accent the lines and make it look more festive.

So, farewell pink linen.

Love,
Sarah

Medieval Pin Keep ~ And Peter ~

Our annual 12th Night party was held on Saturday night. David had to work for half of the day so we had a late start getting there. In fact, I wasn't even sure that we were going to be able to go. I was thwarted at every turn. I couldn't find anything we needed. The wrapping paper and tape for our contributions to the gift exchange. Judah's hood. All 3 pairs of little brown shoes and hose - nope. No where to be found. David's red lion appliqued bag. My plain wool bag. Still missing in mysterious circumstances.

I did finally find enough to get us clothed - although we looked a bit rumply, and the children had to wear modern shoes and pants beneath their tunics - and we packed into the van and made it just after court started. It is extremely embarrassing to go go into a room that is already filled with people who are trying to pay attention to one person who is speaking. Even more so when your eldest child is fidgeting and grabbing at your skirts and proclaiming to all who will hear, "I have to poop!"

We did end up having a nice time, though. A wonderful abundance of savory foods were spread and a fascinating array of desserts to finish off the evening stimulated the senses of all. My contribution was venison, stewed in broth with sage and onions and garlic, with tiny potatoes and finished off with a sprinkle of cardamom and a dash of red wine, as well as flat biscuit-like cakes of oat and honey. My favorite was the smoked beef one gentleman had been cooking for the previous six hours. . .smoked meat is heavenly!

I didn't get any pictures save one, of my right-side dinner companion, Mr. Peter. We all have seen more flattering photographs of this gentleman, but I shall post it anyway for the sake of interest.

These other pictures are ones I had David take right before we left home, because I wanted everyone to be able to see the beautiful gift I received last month. I never would have had the patience to make anything like this, so I am doubly grateful and honored to be the recipient of this beautiful pin keep. Isn't the workmanship amazing?!

I love how it looks with my dress; so much so I decided against wearing my surcote so the pin keep wouldn't be covered up underneath it! It is so very, very useful to hold pins. So much more so than keeping them in a bag or worse yet, pinned into the hem of my skirt where I would often get tiny pricks on my ankles when I walked.

I'm now planning a new surcote to wear for Festival of Maidens; I would like something a bit more cheery and festive than what I already have, although not too overboard, or done up, or fancified. I ended up getting 5 yards of medium-heavy tan linen. I know, I know, it ought to be wool but linen was half the price and, well, the compromise was worth it to me. ;) I really like how the plain tan looks with the kirtle but David is right, it would show dirt quickly and it is kind of "blah". I have a bottle of crimson dye so I am going to try to experiment today and see if I can manage a light dusky pink with a diluted bit of the dye, since the fabric is tan to begin with.

This is the look I absolutely ADORE. I'd love to make an overgown exactly like this.

Then I will need to decide if I want to do a very fitted "cotehardie" style dress, or a looser gown that will leave room for belly growth. I really would prefer a more fitted style but already my shape is changing due to Little One. After Maidens, I think there is only one more event we will be doing before the baby is born, and that will be in April when I will be a little over 20 weeks or so. So, I still shouldn't be THAT big then. Thinking about it now, I can always make the skirt start flaring out just under my ribs, instead of lower down the torso, to give room for baby. Or I could make the gown tight fitting and open up the seams at the sides with lacing if I find I need to, in April. At any rate, I want to do something with interesting sleeves.

Love,
Sarah

New Year Sewing Plans ~ A Rather Boring Post with No Pictures of Sewing Projects ~

I was absolutely overwhelmed with the many congratulations and kinds words following our happy announcement last week. Thank you - I am happily dreaming of tiny clothes and little blankets, and a new warm bundle with downy hair, tiny clinging fingers and bright eyes to cuddle. I am purposely avoiding thought of inconsolable infant screams, explosive diaper excretions and less than two hours of sleep per night. I like to think happy thoughts. Although, of course, I do wish that I did not have to go through seven more months of pregnancy to get to the reality of a new baby in my arms. I don't really like being pregnant. Plus it throws quite a spin on what my costuming plans for this year would have been. However. It is a small sacrifice to pay for the very great joy of a new baby. August cannot come too soon! And I do know it will be here before I know it - probably before I'm really truly ready!

Look! Mary the Mother of Jesus portrayed as a pregnant medieval lady.  The drape of medieval clothes makes even a baby bump look elegant and graceful. I love her pointy toe shoes peeking out from under her hem. :) 

Since the arrival of the New Year I have not been sewing on any large projects. I have a wee linen medieval baby gown I am working on (and I hope to finish very soon) for a sweet new baby boy, born recently to the lovely Edyth Miller. It is the same style as Malachi's yellow wool gown and ought to fit the baby for quite a while. I love how sheerly practical and roomy medieval children's clothing is! I will have pics of it as soon as it is completed and safely sent on its way.

I have also been contemplating my ill-fated medieval shoes. It has been nearly a year since I made the pattern for my shoes and I have yet to actually make a finished set. I bought medium weight leather for the soles last fall but couldn't find any suitable lightweight leather for the uppers. After attempting (without success) to make David a new tobacco pouch lined with thin leather for Christmas, I decided that working with leather is very troublesome since thin leather has a tendency to grow and shrink and slip and slide every which way. I am now pondering the possibility of making a complete shoe out of stout woolen cloth, lined with linen or lightweight wool, and gluing a seperate leather sole to the bottom of the cloth shoe so it is functional for outdoor use. I know such a method is not period correct but I think it would give a better look than wearing modern shoes and would keep my feet warm and happy. Plus, strict authenticity in the SCA is not completely necessary. Our barony is very relaxed and laid back and as long as you make an attempt at period attire, you are good to go. :)

This weekend is our SCA 12th Night Party and at the end of the month is the Festival of Maidens. I am so excited about being able to attend this year! If I am diligent in sewing I would love to make a short sleeved overgown, the sleeves finished with streamers, to wear over my kirtle, like the blue one (second from right) below, only adapted for full length, of course. :)

I really have no need for a new medieval dress but it DOES get old wearing the same thing all the time. I just have no idea what a good color would be for a dress like this! EVERYONE wears dark, jewel tone colors, or red, or black. What would look good with a dusky green-blue underdress? A tan or mustard yellow? A lighter blue or gray? I like the color combination of the blue-green underdress in this picture, worn with what appears to be a pale pink or oatmeal colored overdress.

To yank my mind out of the medieval sea it is currently swimming in, I am about to embark on a rather intense sewing project that ought to keep me busy for the next month or so. A complete 1860's hospital stewards uniform, from shirts to frock coat to sack coat, all to be completed before the end of March for a dear friend of ours who just joined the 108th IL field hospital. I'm fairly sure such sewing will not be of that much interest to the majority of my readers, so I will try to sneak in a few pretty, frilly projects to keep up my feminine morale and to share here. :)

So, my Feminine Sewing Goal for the month of January is a cream-and-brown striped 1770's jacket, made like this one from Colonial Williamsburg:

I figure I better make it now before my belly gets too big to fit normal things over! I would like the petticoat to be green or blue. Then I will be all set for the trade faire in September. And it will be a good incentive for me to loose weight after Baby arrives.

Love,
Sarah