Kirtle in progress - skirts attached

Kirtle in progress - skirts attached
Originally uploaded by Catrijn.

Here's the state of progress on the kirtle. There are four flared skirt panels (instead of rectangular with gores). I think you could make an argument for either cutting layout, but it's ultimately a practical decision to minimize seams on a handsewn garment. The two back panels have more flare than the front panels, and there's a small reverse box pleat at center back to take up some extra width in the skirt panels and match the bodice back width. The fabrics drapes very nicely (swish swish :) ). Next up are eyelets and finishing the front opening.

Transitional gown images from the British library

Progress continues on the kirtle, but there's not much to show. I've cut the skirts, and I'm working my way through those long seams.

Instead, here's some link-spam from the British Library. Unfortunately, the BL's viewer, while very good, appears to be a bit 'sticky', in that these direct links may try to load the manuscript you just viewed instead of the one that's actually specified. If you have trouble, head to the manuscript index page (also linked), load the viewer from there, and then select the folio as needed. In all cases, I've selected a few images of particular interest, and there are generally several other pages that feature the style.

The Breviary of Queen Isabella of Castile - begun in the Netherlands in the 1480s, portions later
f.3v, shows back of gown
f.417r, St. Martha, c. 1500 - square neck kirtle

Hours of Joanna I of Castile - produced in Flanders 1486-1506
f.5r, lady in gown and working woman in kirtle
f.6r, alternative gown with a skinny V-neck
f.26r, miniature of Joanna of Castile. She's got wider sleeves than I'd normally categorize as being this style (probably later, and/or a regional difference), and her headwear is in the French hood style.
f.288r, additional miniature of Joanna of Castile

'London Rothschild Hours' or the 'Hours of Joanna I of Castile - southern Netherlands, c. 1500
f.2v, lady in gown and working woman in kirtle
f.7r, working women, including V-back kirtle

Filippus Albericus, Tabula Cebetis, De mortis effectibus and other poems - France, Central (Paris); 1507
f.6v, allegorical depictions (and not the virtuous ones)

Kirtle bodice drafting and adjustments

Kirtle bodice: adjusting the neckline
Originally uploaded by Catrijn.

For the kirtle bodice, I pulled the basic shape of the pieces from my existing 15th c. cote pattern. I cut them directly onto the linen canvas I'm using for interlining, and basted that together as a muslin. After tightening up the fit in a couple places (the cote pattern is cut a little generously), I sketched in the basic neckline shape (square in front, V in back), leaving it a little high to be cut down and finalized on the actual garment. Once I was happy with it, I pulled out the basting and transferred the design to be kept as a pattern for later.

With that done, I cut copies of the pieces out of the outer fabric and started assembly (handsewing with black silk thread). The only difference between the interlining and the outer fabric is that the interlining has a wider extension at center front, to be turned back with a double fold to support eyelets, while the outer fabric will have only a single fold. I've also chosen to put all selvedge edges at the waist seam, which should give a very sturdy edge for attaching the skirts.

The picture here is after I've sewn side, back and shoulder seams, and has the adjusted neckline drawn in on the front. The angle on the corners is significantly sharper than what I initially sketched. And although it looks like there's a rise at center front, in practice that is stretched down around my bust, and appears flat and level. (Presumably, ladies with smaller busts would need a less severe adjustment, if any.) The back neckline also needs to be cut down to a slightly sharper V (about an inch lower than here, which is already lower than the initial design).

The Next Big Thing

It's been a while since I did a grand-scale dress project, and I've got the itch. I'm pretty excited about the next thing I'm going to be working on.

Here's the setting: 1490-1500 Flemish - contemporary to the Henry VII era in England. We've got square (or W) necklines, but still a natural, mostly unstiffened silhouette. Waistlines have dropped back down after the V-neck Burgundian gown. Sleeves are still closely fitted, but might have just a hint of a bell around the lower arm. Skirts are flat at the waist and flared to the hem, at least in the front, although there is some fullness starting to gather in the back. Hats have come back down to earth, with black lappets and veils, but are still simple compared to the gable headdress and French hoods that will come later.

Project plan: I'm starting with the middle layer, a kirtle. I've got medium-weight black worsted wool from Mood Fabrics. Bodice to be cut from my basic cote pattern, straight front with eyelets for lacing, linen canvas for some support, and it should just need a new neckline. It'll have short sleeves, and I just need to decide if I want plain gored skirt or some pleats in the back. The Tudor Tailor books mention wool lining for this layer, but I think that'll be intolerably warm for the settings where I'll be wearing this - probably a lightweight linen lining, and even then maybe only the bodice. The chemise should be pretty easy once I've got the neckline set on the kirtle. And for the outer gown I've got some lovely red wool in the stash. I might do wool with wool lining for the gown - currently leaning toward a white wool flannel or similar. Last up is headgear, I've already got suitable jewelry, and the deadline for the whole thing is next March. No problem, right?

Resources: The Tudor Tailor and Queen's Servants books are really good for this, despite being concentrated a bit later and a different country there are a lot of similarities. Amalia Zavattini has a good collection of material, especially the image bibliography, although the focus is a broader than what I'm going for here. Mary-Grace of Gatland also has some inspiration pictures.

Examples:
Guiron le Courtois, fol. 009r
Annals of Hainaut, fol. 028r

French:
Book of Hours, MS Douce 72, fol. 002v
Book of Hours, MS Douce 72, fol. 045r (David and Bathsheba)
Book of Hours, MS Douce 72, fol. 077f
Book of Hours, MS Rawl. liturg. e. 36, fol. 090v
Book of Hours, MS Buchanan e. 3, fol. 032v
Book of Hours, MS Buchanan e. 3, fol. 037r
Le roman de la rose, MS Douce 195, fol. 001r
Le roman de la rose, MS Douce 195, fol. 002r
Le roman de la rose, MS Douce 195, fol. 007r
English:
Founder's and benefactors' book of Tewkesbury abbey, MS Top. Glouc. d. 2, fol. 015r

... and that's just what I found in the Bodleian's digital collection; I'll be trawling some other collections later.

When it ceases to be fun, it ceases to be

Although no one but me's keeping track, it's been four years since I started this surcoat. And it is still not finished, although it's way closer than it was this time a year ago.

So, what happened to this obviously ill-fated project?

This surcoat was always intended to be hand sewn. That's not a problem; I hand sew a lot of things. But for some reason, and I don't even remember why, I decided that I was going to sew this with the same threads that the fabric was woven from. Maybe I had trouble getting a decent color match, maybe I just wanted to try working with a wool thread, but I decided I would get my thread by unraveling small sections of the main fabric. I know that other people have done this successfully. But for this project, it was a Bad Plan. A Very Bad Plan.

You see, this is a very fine lightweight wool. And the singles from which it is woven are also very fine, too fine and too weak to sew with. So they had to be plied - roll the ends between your fingers to build twist (but not too much, or it will break), fold it in half on itself and allow it coil. This is a lot of work, and I'd be lucky to get an 8 inch length to sew with. Even then, it might snag, or break, or untwist while I was sewing. It should be easy to see how, before much progress at all was made, this project began to sit in the basket untouched for longer and longer periods of time.

Friends, when a project inspires such dread of working on it that you'd rather pretend it didn't exist, it is well past time for the project to change. And so I made a simple change: I started over with different thread. A plain cotton thread in a contrasting light grey color. It's still handsewn. It's still the same pattern. And I still have more frustration than love for the project (have I mentioned that the fabric frays extremely easily, even when you're not trying to unravel it?), but at least it's going to get done. Someday. Maybe even someday soon. And if I want to sew with wool thread, I'll find a commercial source for something that's made for that purpose.

My Birgitta: interlacing diagram

My Birgitta: interlacing diagram
Originally uploaded by Catrijn.

This was a long time in the making - I know just enough Illustrator to really frustrate myself when something isn't working the way I want it to. Anyway: this is the interlacing pattern I used for my previously blogged Birgitta cap. This builds on the diagram presented in the MC&T article, but the end product is a little different.