Another 1480s Florentine Gown and Overgown

I enjoy wearing my 1480s Florentine gown so much that I had to make a second one.

The gown itself is made of a turquoise linen. Probably not a period color, but I enjoy wearing it. The bodice is interlined and lined, and has about five cable tie bones along the front of each side. It laces down the front with hand bound eyelets. In this version of the pattern, I eliminated the front curve from the pattern of my blue one - it laces much more smoothly. I also attempted to fix some of the shoulder weirdness present in the blue one, which was somewhat successful, but not completely. The skirt is simply a large rectangle, knife pleated into the waist.

The sleeves are of course, detachable. They tie into the shoulder of the gown at four points. They're solid until just above the elbow, and lace together with ladder lacing from elbow to wrist. I like this sleeve design much better than the sleeves on my blue gown. I couldn't seem to get the blue sleeves laced tight enough, and they shifted and looked odd. As I couldn't find any matching turquoise ribbon for lacing, I opted to go with a contrasting mulberry color.

The overgown is made of a completely non-period polyester cotton blend. It uses basically the same pattern as the bodice, but with a deep "V" in the front. The skirt is knife pleated to the bodice, and has a slight train. The only fastening is one hook and eye at the center front waist. I wanted to be able to put it on for court, and run around in just my linen dress the rest of the day. I tried it out this past weekend, and it fits the bill nicely. Here's another picture from another, much sunnier, day, before my sleeves were finished. With my friend Christmas, who made a similar dress.

As a bonus, here's a couple of pictures of me fighting the Frost Dragon in my dress.

16th Century Embroidered Partlet

After seeing the portrait of Isabella di Medici in Moda a Firenze, I have wanted to make an embroidered partlet. This partlet is made of white linen with an embroidered band, and an incorporated double box pleated ruff. The pattern was taken from this site, which has online copies of 16th and 17th century pattern books for embroidery, cutwork, lace making, and other goodies. I hadn't done embroidery before, (and had no luck with my attempt at blackwork - my eyes go crazy trying to count threads) so I simply traced the pattern onto the linen with a fabric pen that fades in water, and went over the lines with a chain stitch in cotton embroidery thread. When finished, I simply dipped the piece in water, and the fabric pen lines disappeared. I'm not sure if the chain stitch would have been correct for the 16th century (most of the references I saw for it were much earlier), but I feel that it turned out well. Pictures!

1560s Blue Silk Venetian

I was supposed to go to the Caid coronation today. The new king and queen stepped up in 16th century Venetian, and asked anyone who was so inclined to dress to match. I had been meaning to make a Venetian for a while, so I took up the challenge. Unfortunately, I didn't make it due to last minute car trouble. But here's the gown! And thanks on this project to to the Realm of Venus for consolidating all those portraits and being generally awesome.



Under layers consist of a separate Elizabethan style corset, and a silk taffeta underskirt, to give the skirt a little more body. The corset is left over from my burgundy velvet Elizabethan, and the underskirt is made of three yards of copper-colored silk taffeta, cartridge pleated to a band.



Over that goes the white linen chemise, and the dress. The dress is made from 6-7 yards of blue silk shirting that I found on sale from an online fabric store ($6/yard!). The bodice is constructed similar to the Elanor of Toledo square neck gown from the Janet Arnold book. It's cut in three pieces, and has a deep "V" in the center front. It's lined in linen, and interlined with plain weave cotton. I sewed three boning channels along the front opening, and filled them with jute cording. It keeps the center front line just stiff enough to keep the lacing from buckling sides, but isn't as stiff as rigid boning. Each side of the center, "V" shaped opening has sixteen lacing rings sewn along the inside edge. And of course, it's ladder-laced with gross grain ribbon.



Since the fabric was only 45 inches wide, I used four panels for the skirt, and cartridge pleated them to the bodice.

The sleeves were a bit of a challenge. I was beginning to run low on fabric at this point as well, which added to the challenge. I also, as usual, got in a hurry and forgot to take pictures of the intermediate steps.

I cut the lining in my usual sleeve pattern, which I plan to write about in the future. I cut the same pattern from the silk, for the bottom part of the sleeve. The top of the sleeve is made from nine, 2-inch wide finished strips of silk. A gathered piece of white linen is stitched between the silk strips and the lining. Lace cuffs are stitched on the wrist edge. The sleeves are attached to the bodice with six gold buttons and loops.





I have a number of accessories with this gown. There's a rather plain partlet made of very sheer white silk. I had a lot of fun making jewelery for this gown as well: a double loop gold and pearl necklace that ends in a pin/pendant, and a girdle with pearls and chunky gold beads. All the pearls are glass, and from Jo Anns. I very quickly (at about 9:00 pm last night) threw together a sheer white silk veil.




My favorite accessory for this ensemble was the Zibellino. These little critters are also called flea furs. I believe the original belief was that if you carried one of these around, fleas would be attracted to the pelt rather than to you. Then, it became one of those weird fashions that take on a life of their own.




I asked a friend to sculpt the head for me, out of sculpy. I received the pelt as a gift. I colored the head with a couple of layers from a gold leafing pen (found at Jo-Anns), then glued a small square of silk to the back of the head, and stitched the pelt to the silk. I thought this would be the best method, as I didn't want to glue the pelt. I then made a little "harness" for the head out of tiny glass pearls, and added a clasp so I can attach him to the end of my belt if I want to, like in some of the portraits.




Very very fun project. I hope I get to wear it soon. When I do, I'll take lots of pictures.

1520s Venetian Ribbon Tied Front dress with Balzo

I made this a long time ago, for Pentathlon in March, and have been meaning to post it for a while, but have utterly failed.



Here's the dress and construction description from my Pentathlon documentation, so I won't have to re-type it:

A note on fabric and construction method: The gown and sleeves are made from emerald green silk suiting, and lined with a slightly darker green medium weight linen. The bodice is interlined with two layers of linen canvas. The “ribbon” ties are made of black silk charmeuse. The chemise is made of handkerchief weight white linen. The gown, and sleeves were sewn entirely by hand with silk thread. Internal seams were backstitched, for strength. The chemise was sewn by hand with polyester thread, as I had no white silk or linen thread on hand when I started, and no time to drive and get any. The sides were French seamed, and neckline was finished with a narrow rolled hem.

Chemise: The chemise is made from handkerchief weight white linen, using the rectangular construction method. The front, back, sides, and sleeves are large rectangles, with square gussets set into the sleeves where they join the body. The sleeve edges and bottom edge were hemmed. The neckline was finished in a rolled hem, then gathered. A narrow strip of linen was stitched around the neckline to hold the gathers in place. The sleeve edges are left open, as shown in several paintings of the period. I made the chemise very full, and out of very lightweight linen to try to achieve the tiny, dense gathers seen in portraits of the period.

Gown: The gown is made out of silk, and lined in linen. The bodice is constructed in three pieces: one in the center back, and two on each side/front. To my knowledge, there are no surviving examples of Italian gowns from early 1500s, so the bodice construction was based on a combination of portraits from the 1520s, and the construction of a surviving Italian gown several decades later, in the 1560s, worn by Elenora of Toledo. It’s constructed to have a gap of a couple of inches in the center front closure. The “ribbons” are finished strips of silk, which are stitched directly to the interlining.

There seems to be no evidence that bodices were boned this early in the 16th century, so I wanted to find a way to provide support without the use of boning or modern undergarments. I interlined the bodice with two layers of linen canvas, and curved the front closure. When the ribbons are tied tightly, this seems to provide adequate support. The waist is set slightly above the natural waist in this style of gown, which I feel helps with the support issue. The weight of the heavy skirt also helps pull out any wrinkles from the bodice.

The skirt is made of four panels, which were knife pleated and attached to the bodice.

Sleeves: The sleeves are made from the same silk and lined in the same linen as the bodice. The sleeve style is unclear in all four portraits of the ribbon-tie gown. In Vecchino’s Lady with a Lute, the lady depicted doesn’t seem to be wearing sleeves (or she’s slipped her arms out of them, and they’re hanging down the back of her gown) and is playing her lute in only her chemise sleeves. In Cariani’s Portrait of a Lady, I was unable to decide whether the things covering her arms were wide sleeves in a color different from the dress, or some sort of shawl. In the Portrait of a Lady by the unknown artist, we can’t see the wrist area, and don’t know whether the sleeves were open at the bottom or gathered into a cuff. We can see only that the upper portion of the arm is very full. In Vecchino’s Woman in Blue, one sleeved arm is visible – the upper portion is full and in the same color as the gown, a middle portion is also full and in a different color, at her wrist is a more fitted, shear cuff. I wasn’t sure quite how to interpret this into a construction method (these portraits can be found in a previous post.)

I eventually decided to copy the sleeves of other gowns from the same location and time period. A wide sleeve is gathered or pleated at the shoulder and wrist, and attached to a wide fitted cuff. As the decade continued, the fitted portion of the sleeve moved up the arm until the loose portion was only a poof or roll at the shoulder, but at this early in the decade, it was still fairly narrow.
The sleeves are finished separately and attached to the bodice only at the top with a few stitches. One portrait from the Venetian school (Portrait Of A Lady and a Lute Player) depicts a gown with a similar sleeves attached this way, with the chemise showing between the bodice and the sleeve. This was also done for practicality – it will be easy to remove the sleeves and wear the gown with only the chemise sleeves when the weather is warm.

More pictures. Thanks, Natalie, for the photoshoot when you came to visit me!





It's the most sumptuous feeling gown I've made so far; made of silk, and completely by hand. At pentathlon, I entered at the beginner level, and got bumped up to journeyman (!!!!!) and won second place. It's very heavy and hot. I haven't even worn it yet - maybe this fall.

Chopines, or, Overshoe Envy

I've been a little bit crazy about overshoes ever since I saw someone at Pentathlon wearing awesome wooden hinged pattens. So, I've decided I really need some chopines.



And after much searching, I finally found a website that has instructions for making them, here.

So, I'm going to make myself some. As soon as I find someone with a belt sander who will let me use it. Perhaps a pentathlon project for next time?

1480s Florentine gowns

My best friend and original Living Dress Form, Natalie, decided to come and see me for an SCA event. And so, of course, I had to dress her up. As such, I needed something amazing that could be accomplished in a short amount of time, as I only started a week or so after Pentathlon. And, I wanted it to be Italian, as we both love the country.



I decided to stay away from the 16th century, since Natalie wouldn't be present for a fitting. I settled on a late 15th century Florentine dress. Here are some period portraits. Thanks is once again due to the Festive Attyre website for consolidating all these images in one place.






And here's how it all turned out:



We're each wearing a handkerchief-weight linen camica with the neckline gathered into a band, and the sleeves left open at the wrist, Venetian style.

Natalie's dress is made of red linen. It laces at both sides with hand-bound eyelets. Lacing on both sides probably isn't strictly necessary, but I made the gown before she arrived, and I wanted to have some wiggle-room in case it didn't fit correctly. Happily, the fit was almost perfect. The neckline is cut in a deep V, and is attached across the front with two cords via 8 metal lacing rings. The skirt attached to the bodice with knife pleats.




The sleeves are separate, and attach to the shoulders of the gown via 6 hand-bound eyelets. The sleeves are sewn together until just above the elbow. Below that point, they're laced together with metal lacing rings.




The necklace is also of my making, of beads from JoAnns. And I also braided her hair up in a not-quite-period, but still quite fun style.



My dress is of blue linen, and laces up the front with hand-bound eyelets. I need to ask someone to drape a similar pattern on me, as the shoulders aren't quite cut correctly on this one. I cut a curve in the front center opening, but I think it's not quite right - I should have cut a gentler curve that started a little lower. My bodice is interlined with a single layer of linen canvas, and I have six cable-tie bones across the front to maintain a smooth line under the bust. My skirt is also attached to the bodice with knife pleats.




The sleeves are attached to the shoulder with hand-bound eyelets. My sleeves are not connected at the back of the arm at all, but lace the entire way down, with a cut out for the elbow. I had originally planned to make hand-bound eyelets for the backs of the sleeves as well, but ran out of time, and ended up using ribbon loops. I attempted ladder-lacing, but the sleeves buckled, and were generally wonky and not tight enough. I'm going to try to lace them spirally next time.





My necklace is also made of beads from JoAnns. My real hair braided in two braids, which are then crossed and pinned at my neck. I have a false braid running around the top of my head, "taped" in place with a blue ribbon.

I also made overgowns, but we didn't wear them except to take a couple of pictures. These are the tabbard-style overgowns - I think I would be more likely to wear one that was more fitted.




All in all, I was very pleased with the way these gowns turned out. And we had such a fun time at the event. When Natalie returned home, she found this on her facebook - we've come a long way since our first costuming adventure together.

1580s Italian Working Class dress

I actually finished this project in late January, but haven't posted about it yet.

I entered this dress in the Caid Pentathlon, and won first place in Costume Construction at the beginner level (!!!!!). Here it is displayed at Pentathlon:



Rather than re-typing a dress description, I'm going to use the description from my Pentathlon documentation.

The dress consists of a chemise (or camica in Italian), a bodice with attached skirt, detachable sleeves, an apron, and a partlet.

Camica or Chemise: The camica is made of a remnant of cotton I found in a thrift store. The neckline is gathered into a ruffle, and a narrow band of the same fabric is stitched around the neckline to hold the ruffle in place. The sleeves of the camica were gathered into a ruffle with a short slit running up the back of the arm. Two eyelets were sewn into sides of the wrist, so they could be laced together with a ribbon. When the ribbon is removed, and the sleeves can be rolled up above the elbows.

Dress: The bodice and skirt are made of light green linen. No commercial pattern was used. The general shape is taken from burial dress of Elenor of Toledo, as described by Janet Arnold in Patterns of Fashion 3. Though Elenor of Toledo’s dress is a higher class, I felt safe to assume the basic shape would stay the same. The bodice is made of three layers. An interlining consists of two layers of linen sewn into ¼ inch channels and “boned” with a mixture of jute and hemp cord. The lining is yellow linen, and the outer layer consists of light green linen. It laces spirally up the center front by means of a ribbon sewn to either side of the center front opening, and tacked down at intervals, which acts as substitute lacing rings.



The skirt is made of three A-shaped panels of light green linen, and is cartridge-pleated and sewn to the bodice. A small gap if left in the center front of the skirt below the center opening of the bodice to allow the wearer to get in and out of the dress. The gap is generally covered by the apron. The bodice and skirt are trimmed with a narrow band of black wool. Four hand bound eyelets are sewn into each shoulder to provide lacing points for attaching the sleeves. Or, when it’s too hot for sleeves, ribbons in a contrasting color can be tied through the lacing points and allowed to dangle over the camica sleeves.

Sleeves: The sleeves are made of a medium-weight bright yellow linen. My original intention was to choose a yellow in a slightly more muted tone. However, this color was a result of ordering fabric online, and once it arrived, I found I liked it. The sleeves are fairly narrow and simple in shape, and are often depicted in a color other than that of the rest of the dress. Mine have four hand-bound eyelets to match the four on the shoulders of the bodice, and are laced in with short pieces of narrow black ribbon.

Partlet and Ruff: The partlet and attached ruff are made of hankercheif-weight white linen. The ruff is made of a 2 inch wide finished strip of linen, and is set in double stacked box pleats. The partlet is finished with a narrow hem and stitched to the ruff.
Apron: The apron is made of medium weight blue linen. Many of the aprons depicted have some sort of trim. As such, I wanted to liven up my plain blue apron, so I decided to make my apron in three finished pieces, then join them in white crochet threat using a twisted insertion stitch.

Accessories: I sometimes wear this dress with a straw hat when outdoors, as two Vecellio engravings depict lower class women in northern Italy wearing straw hats. When indoors, I generally wear my hair in a high bun, and leave my head uncovered. On my legs, I wear linen stockings and purchased leather shoes. The only other accessory is a mock coral necklace, as illustrated by this well-to-do peasant woman from another Campi painting.

I love how this gown turned out. The colors are so bright and happy. However, I did have some trouble with the bodice. The jute and hemp cord seemed to hold up well and provide sufficient support when I initially tried it on. However, after wearing it for a two hour car ride, it seemed to loose its supportive abilities. Or perhaps the linen stretched. But by 11 in the morning or so, the first day I wore it, it had developed a deep crease under the bust line. Sadly, I didn't realize it was so bad before this picture was taken, and it turned out to be the only picture I got that day.



I need to fix this. I'm thinking about partially deconstructing the bodice and placing 6 or 8 rigid bones strategically across the front of the bodice. I would like to try hemp boning again, with thicker hemp cord. This bodice was boned with mostly jute cord, which is much less stiff than hemp. A quadrupled length of thin, jewelry weight hemp was used in the front of the bodice, but I believe thicker cord would work better.