Shift

I'm taking a short break from the waistcoat and doing some thinking about the shift. This is the underdress, similar in purpose to the chemise.

I have a muslin chemise that was given to me that has a reddish stain on it. If I didn't know better I'd say it looks like Kool-aid. It's the generic elastic at the wrists and drawstring at the neck. While the shift would have been made out of linen I've had this one laying around and it was FREE.  The picture on the right is from the website Extreme Costuming - Working Women's Clothes in 1580s London:  Servant, Alewife, Housewife (a link to this page is listed in my Coif post) and is what I hope to end up with except for a simpler neckline. I'm still not sure which way to go with this.

                                                   
                                          
I cartridge pleated the neckline and I'm now sewing on the neck band.

Today

It was a play, not a musical. And we enjoyed the afternoon out.

I tried on my muslin and I don't think the 2nd armscye needs as much work as I thought. I will be doing fitting this week then cutting the fabric and sewing it together.

Someone asked me when I need to have this done; a week and a half. In SCA time, that's forever!

Waitcoat muslin

I have the back neckline and one armscye fitting the way I want. I hope to finish the other armscye and front today but I will be taking a break. I received a gift of free tickets to the musical, "Christmas Story" for this afternoon. My daughter and I will be attending.

Bear With Me. I'm new at this blog thing

As the heading says, I'm new at this blog thing. After viewing my blog it really is  boring. I will be posting pictures as I start my sewing and I will be learning how to add more pizzazz in general. Please come back to see my progress and feel free to comment.

Pilgrim's Progress - coif

My mundane hairstyle is short. So when I do my SCA thing, I'm usually wearing a veil and wimple or a head wrap.  Well this period didn't have either so I starting researching coifs.  I can't believe how much I enjoyed this research. But I've said many times, I really enjoy the research end of things.

So first I started with a general search for 1620-30 coifs.  And of course, I found several. Even though this will be a simple outfit (to start with anyway. It appears I'm hooked), I like the coif with the slight curve to it like this one from the V&S Museum  http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O130601/coif-unknown/. With my hair being short, having some bangs and the coif sitting further back on the head, I had to do something about my forehead. I kept seeing this thing called a forehead cloth with the coifs but couldn't figure out how it was worn.  Then I found this page:  http://0061ebc.netsolhost.com/articles/womensclothesin1580slondon.html  It almost makes me want to do a full Elizabethan era outfit! I said almost.
If you scroll through the article you come to her coif and forehead cloth. This is the look I want.

Another site I found both interesting and helpful:
http://www.marquisofwinchesters.co.uk/Ecwr-Guidelines/coifs.html

I have lots o' linen scraps so no extra money here either. Now to sketch the pattern and start cutting.

A ew days later...

I got my coif pattern sketched. FYI, there is math involved in doing this! At first it was a little slow going but as I thought it through, it seemed to come together. The fabric is what I found in my stash of linen scraps which fit the coif and forehead cloth. I may even try starching it.

I have my coif and forehead cloth done, sort of. I was having trouble figuring out how to wear the thing then realized I was wearing it backwards and didn't have the back sewn together.  Extreme Costuming came to my rescue again!

http://www.extremecostuming.com/articles/howtowearthecoif.html

Pilgrim's Progress - Bodice

 11/15/14
I've never put so much effort into something that is supposed to be just for fun. That having been said, I'm learning as I go. I worked with math to expand the patterns. I learned what a forehead cloth is and how to wear it. That one really puzzled me. Now I'm working with the "muslin" or what is sometimes called a toile for the waistcoat. I could tell that the back was not going to be wide enough so I added a few inches to the center back. This seems to be because of my cup size. With this extra there is a gap in the center which will have to be taken in.  I will have to adjust the armscyes (arm holes in pattern pieces) which are too low for sleeves. It's a good thing I'm not intimidated by sewing. I make mistakes but I find it a good way to learn.  Pictures to follow.

Here's a doll I found with a more realistic outfit.




11/12/14
This idea was supposed to be a once a done thing so I didn't want to invest a lot of money in historical patterns, more fabric (when I have a small closet and plastic tubs already filled with fabric). I have, in the past,  used the Elizabethan Corset Generator found here:  www.elizabethancostume.net/custompat   to make both Elizabethan corsets and bodices for myself and friends. So I went back to the familiar and started by creating a pattern for an Elizabethan corset with my own measurements. I then took the instructions I had, one step further to Drea Leed's instructions to making a bodice with your corset pattern: www.elizabethancostume.net/kirtlepat/

I need to find tune the pattern and actually cut the pieces and begin sewing it together. That is scheduled for this weekend. 

Pilgrims Progress

This latest idea started because we are having theme days at my job. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving has a Thanksgiving theme. I thought about make a "Pilgrim" dress and wearing it to work. While day dreaming is fine, the first question is, do I have time to get this done? Hmmm. the skirt would be easy. Relatively easy. I've been making different kinds of skirts since I was 10 years old and started sewing. The time consuming part will be what is called the bodice although it looks more like a jacket to me.  I forgot to mention, the all one color black and brown dresses we grew up thinking were the standard Pilgrim uniform, are a myth.  Women of the era were able to dye their fabric in natural colors. I have some medium green wool I want to check out for the bodice. And some lightweight brown wool for the skirt.  I've seen pictures of re-enactors where the women's aprons are colors. I like!

 It sounds like I'm thinking this is a doable idea.

FYI At about the same time I want to have an 11th C Slavic kit done too. It just dawned on me there is no reason I couldn't use my Pilgrim outfit for an SCA event. And there's no reason the Slavic kit couldn't be postponed.