To Farthingale or not to Farthingale?

As I mentioned previously, I'm working my way through the creation of a complete Mid-16th century Elizabethan outfit. The end goal is an as-accurate-as-possible "Flanders" gown ensemble. I am particularly inspired by Lucas de Heere's drawing of "Three Gentlewomen and a Countrywoman" from the streets of London. (Shown upper left.)

Janet Arnold in Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd classifies the Flanders gown under the grouping of "loose gowns"- i.e. gowns wore over a kirtle. These can be loose from the shoulders, fitted at the front and side seems and loose in the back, or fitted around the torso to the waist. One of the defining features of the Flanders gown seems to be the high neckline, and the short, poofed sleeves. de Heere's Gentlewomen are wearing gowns which fall into this category.

I've already completed the shift and paire of bodys, and now the question is "Farthingale? Or no farthingale?" A spanish farthingale is a cone-shaped skirt with stiffened "hoops", designed to hold the weight of skirts and provide the correct "fashinonable" silhouette. Some of period portraits, like the paintings of Lady Anne Penruddocke and Margaret Audley, Duchess of Norfolk, clearly show a Flanders-like gown with the wide, cone-shaped skirt created by the spanish farthingale. But the skirts in de Heere's drawing are much narrower, as are several of the gentlewomen's skirts in Hoefnagel's "Fete at Bermondsey".

I suppose one can rationalize that the women would wear their best when sitting for a formal portrait, and that would include the full spanish farthingale, to enable the lush skirts to be seen to full advantage. But when going about their daily business, on the streets of London or at a village fair, the full farthingale would be somewhat excessive, and they would instead use petticoats to enhance their skirts' fullness.

Hmmm....

Paire of Bodys

The paire of bodys is mostly finished. I used 1/4" flat oval reed for the narrow channels, and 5/8" flat oval reed for the one wider channel. I've been told that two pieces of the reed inserted flat sie-to-flat side mimic the elasticity of baleen, which was used in the original.

The edges are bound with 3/4" and 1/4" linen twill tape. The eyelets were worked with a bone awl, and then whipstitched with rose-colored silk sewing thread, doubled.

I need to make longer, narrower shoulder straps. The originals are triangular, but I need less width at the base, and more length.

I also returned to the shift, which behaved this time. I knife pleated the ruffle between two collar pieces: although we have extant men's shirts which have gathered collars, I felt that the knife pleating gave it a thickness that is representative of the artwork of the time. I may go back and add an interlining of buckram or another stiffener, as the weight of the ruffle causes the collar to collapse on itself. However, the overgown I will be making to wear with this shift has a high collar, so that may support the weight of the ruffle without need for interfacing.

I also added smaller wrist ruffles. The wrists close with hook and eye, and the collar closes with two linen fingerloop-braided ties.

Foundations

So, in order to have the proper Elizabethan shape, one needs the proper Elizabethan undergarments. And the most important is the "paire of bodys". This is a garment worn on the torso that shapes the midsection, and would today be called a "corset". The pattern I am using is based off of the "Effigy" bodys of ELizabeth I. This bodys was examined by Janet Arnold in 1995. It is comprised of layers of fustian fabric with baleen stiffening, bound with thin leather. Each of the three pieces was finished individually before being whipstitched together.

My bodys is made of two layers of medium weight rose-coloured linen. I chose 100% linen because it was immediately available, as well as being a common 16th century undergarment fabric. I hand-sewed the boning channels with waxed linen thread (Bockens 40.2) and used a running stitch. The boning channels were set approximately 1 centimeter apart, to accomodate 2 back-to-back pieces of 1/4 inch reed. Although machine stitching would have certainly been faster, I wanted to maintain more control over my boning channels. I still need to insert the reed, bind each piece with 3/4 inch linen tape, and then whipstitch together, and complete the eyelets.

It's slow going, but not nearly as tedious as I thought it would be. I was averaging about 4-5 minutes a row of stitches, although there are somewhere near 100 rows. I am debating on whether to attach the binding first along the tabbed bottom edge, and then inserting the reed, because the fabric will be much more malleable if it is loose.

A "Ruff" Spot

Well...the shift is being difficult. The neckline is too wide, the collar is too tall, and the ruff won't co-operate. So, I think I'm going to rip the whole thing off, gather the shift neckline a bit, and start over.

But! I did discover that an 8:1 ruff to collar ration gives me the fullness I want. Which is a Good Thing.

So the shift has been put aside for the present, since it's being bad.

The current Project

My usual "M.O." for a project is to get all inspired, create an impossible deadline for myself, work myself into a frenzy of activity, breakdown the night before the project is "due" and leave it somewhat unfinished, but wearable. This has left me with a wardrobe of "good enough" clothing, but very little "great".

About a month or so ago, Reconstructing History (www,reconstructinghistory.com) released their "Flanders Gown" pattern. I fell in love with this pattern. It was Elizabethan, which has long been my secret first love, it was middle class, and it would be flattering. I am very short, and this garment is one continuous color from neck to ankle, and not extremely wide at the bottom, so I felt it would make me look taller and slimmer.

I started to go into "Amy Mode" and begin working in my usual "hurried" fashion. And then my friend Kass said "Why not take it slow, work from the inside out, and do it 'Right'?" I was struck by this. I had never really considered that I was doing it "Wrong" before, but by rushing through a project without really considering the work itself I was doing both myself and the history a disservice. I never embark on an embroidery project without doing the research and taking the time to learn about it, so why should my clothing be any different? I couldn't believe this hadn't occured to me before.

So, I began by reading Janet Arnold. This amazing woman is "the" expert on Elizabethan clothing, having spent the greater part of her life studying it. I have Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd, Patterns of Fashion 1560-1620, and the latest, Patterns of Fashion 4, which is all about the linen "undergarments" and accessories. I had "read" them many times before. And by "read", I mean looked at all the pretty, pretty pictures!! But this time, I decided to really read them.

So that's where I am, having finished PoF, I am now working my way through QEWU. I have begun working on a shift- I had the body of the shift sewn before Pennsic, but I'm working on adding the ruffs at the neck and wrists, and tinkering with fullness ratios. Kass suggested I begin from the inside out, and it just makes sense. I won't really be wearing historical "clothing" if it fits me like a costume. It's only by wearing the appropriate undergarments that the outergarments will fit correctly.

So stay tuned!

Project the First

I decided to make my first "official" post a project that I had already completed. This is the German Brick Stitch pouch that won our Baronial A&S championship. I am cutting and pasting my documentation, because it's already finished. For future projects, I will document the learning process as it occurs. Here it is:

Objective: To use German brick stitch to create a small pouch.

Background: Brick stitch is a counted thread stitch found in central Germany in the late 14th and early 15th centuries.

Materials:
32-count linen evenweave canvas
Wool embroidery thread from Renaissance Dyeing, (these are dyed using period Renaissance techniques and colors). I used colors 2001 (blue regue), 1617 (bayuex green), 1309 (rose madder , 1417 (gold), and 0900 (ivory). I used it as a single-ply, because this provided effective coverage of the canvas.

Why this?
I was attracted to the simplicity of the brick stitch, yet the simple stitch produced elaborate patterns. I also wanted an opportunity to use the wool embroidery thread, as I usually work with silk. I chose to make a small pouch because it was a practical use of the embroidery, as well as period use of the embroidery, as there is an example in the Victoria and Albert’s Museum.

Method:
I used a pattern from Master Richard Wymarc’s website “A Stitch Out of Time”. I chose this pattern because I the colors of the original, as well as the simple diamond shapes, and I also liked the intermitten “lion figure”. When I completed an appropriate sized piece, I folded it in half, and used a running stitch across the bottom and up one side, to create a pouch. I then inserted a linen lining, and whipstitched them together at the top, using white silk embroidery thread. My finished pouch ended up measuring 3.5 by 4.0 inches, slightly larger than the pouch in the V&A museum, which measured approx. 3 x 3 inches. I created a 5-bow fingerloop braid out of the red and yellow wool to create a hang strap for the bag.

What I Learned:
I enjoyed working with the wool thread, although it was not as sturdy as the silk. I also noticed some slight fading of color as my work progressed,

Sources:

A Stitch Out of Time Website: http://www.wymarc.com

Victoria and Albert Museum Website: http://vam.ac.uk

Renaissance Dyeing: http://www.renaissancedyeing.com

Welcome!

Hail and well met! You have found my project blog! In the SCA I am Lady Amy Webbe and I reside in the glorious Kingdom of the East! I am an apprentice to Baroness Mistress Kis Marie, known as Mika, and am fortunate to have many skilled friends who inspire me daily.

My interests are primarily fiber arts, specifically embroidery and historical clothing. This journal will showcase some of my completed projects, as well following works in progress.

Constructive criticism is always welcome!