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!