Saturday, October 9, 2010

Constructing The Kirtle - Step 1: The Mock Up

Having procrastinated too long already, I decided this morning that I needed to do something creative and start work on my 14th century things. I am starting out very simply with a linen smock, wool hose, and a kirtle. I am not yet sure what kind of overkirtle or cote (the terms are quite confusing to me still!) I will make yet. But first things first.

Having looked at quite a few different sites and read about different methods of making this basic, supporting under-dress I took bits and pieces of advice from different places and put them together to make my initial mock up. I'll share some of these great resources as I go along.

I started with a big rectangle of fabric from a sheet and cut a hole in the middle for my head. Then, keeping the center front on straight of grain, I began pulling and pinning and cutting til I had something that looked like it was starting to work. I then took the basic rought shape of those pieces (front and back) and smoothed out the lines and averaged them up. That was used to make a second mock up which fit pretty well, but still needed a bit of fine tuning. The 3rd and last mock up is pictured here.

My question to you ladies is; what do you think? I am not exactly sure what level of fitness I am going for. I know the bosom has to be supported but how tight does this dress need to be? Right now, it is fairly tight but does not feel confining. I am so used to wearing corsets, though, that tightness does not really bother me. It is very tight just below the bust line and for a few inches down the torso. Then just above the hips it begins to flare out. The pattern stops at hip length since from there I will just make it a rectangular shape to the floor and add gores as needed to get fullness in the hem.

There are some wrinkles under the bust and some at the waist from time to time. I have heard from other costumers that this is normal. I really don't see how I could get a supportive garment totally wrinkle free without the use of boning or cording of some kind, so are the wrinkles here okay? After all, the only thing holding me up and in is fabric! :P

How about the neckline? Is it too low? Too high? (I don't want to go any lower!) too shallow, too wide? Too scooped?

Aghh!! I'm so excited to finally be starting this dress but am so nervous I'll make a dreadful mistake which will render it unwearable.

I hope to have some progress posts in the next week or so. My next step is dyeing some wool to make this dress in. The current colour of the wool is very nearly a flesh color and I think I want something a little darker, for the sake of modesty. We'll see how the wool ones comes out, and then I will make a linen one. I got my fabric samples from Fabric-store.com and found exactly the color I wanted. :) It's a lovely pale blue-green-grey called "Meadow".

Any and all input and constructive criticism on the fit will be extremely welcomed!

Love,

Sarah

10 comments:

  1. Looks good to me, but isn't it a bit tight at the shoulders, by the neck opening? The wrinkles at the waist really are perfectly all right for this period.

    The use of linen in kirtles are debated - most research shows that it wasn't done (bit difficult to know for sure, since it was so long ago), but some people use it anyway, to avoid the heat of wool. Here in Europe, the well-reputed medieval living history groups avoid it in pretty much anything but underwear, aprons, and veils. At the same time, they are ready to change that, should new evidence be presented :)

    Oh, and make sure you'll be able to wear your shift under it.

    How fun to see how it turns out! Hope I didn't come out as being a know-it-all - I've been working very much the past couple of days with only a few hours of sleep in between, and my head isn't working properly :)

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  2. Sarah, thank you for your helpful input. I did also notice the shoulder looks tight in the pictures. I don't remember it being tight when I wore it, but will try on the mock up again to make sure. I can let it out if I need to, but then, some of the bust support comes from the shoulder seam so if I let it out too much I fear I will droop. :P Thanks for noticing that!

    Hmm. . .that is good to know about linen, since I have not ordered it yet. I will stick with the wool one for now, I suppose and continue to read more about it.

    And no, you do not come across as a know it all at all! I appreciate your advice more than you can know. Hope you get some more sleep soon! : )

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  3. We must've been on the same wavelength today as I did some work on my medieval costume. I used the instructions you shared at the Medieval Tailor website to cut and sew a sleeveless surcote. I will leave criticism of your mock-up to those who have more knowledge than I, but it looks good from where I'm sitting! :-P

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  4. I made a series of these dresses when I first started sewing and the fit that you have a achieved looks pretty similar to what I did - though I don't know if that means very much! Wrinkling is definitely a fact of life with these types of garments. I always (and still do!) struggled with the sleeves so if you discover any tricks that you'd like to share...

    Just from a preservation point of view, cellulosic fibres like linen degrade so much more quickly than protein fibres. It stands to reason then that the physical evidence for clothing from this period, which as far as I know is pretty much exclusively fragmentary, is skewed towards the protein fibres that do survive.

    On the other hand, linen seems to be more represented among reenactors. Perhaps because we are no longer used to "ichy" fabrics like wool? It's certainly an interesting dilemma...

    Also I totally had a moment the other day where I saw this tapestry that I think is the source for a re-drawing in The Medieval Tailor's Assistant. I don't have to book with me right now so I can't look up the page reference but the image was of an under-dress with a ruffle at the hem. I had always been skeptical of that sketch because it was a secondary source and because it seemed like such an anomoly but I saw it in a 15th century tapestry! I was so excited to be proven wrong!

    you can see the tapestry on the left in this image. You really can't see her but the woman in the red dress with the blue underdress in the upper right corner does have a ruffle at the hem of the blue. It's quite clear in person.

    P.S. Sorry for monopolizing your comments, I just had to share!

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  5. I had a lovely written response and advice, but alas, it disappeared, so now the short version:

    1. We LOVED the SCA, but we advise all families who are joining to be sure that the chapter you're with is family friendly, just as you would with any other era. We didn't think of this and we were scandalized when our children asked us why Ms Jane was coming out of Mr John's tent instead of her own in the morning. :) We did find another chapter that was family oriented and had a lovely time with them.

    2. I recently picked up a bold of 60" linen for under $7/yard,less than half of the reg price, at Hobby Lobby on the home fabrics clearance rack.

    Wishing you a sharp needle and happy adventures!

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  6. Laura, how exciting about the surcote! How did it come out? Were the instructions good and easy to follow? Did you run into any snags? I am thinking of using the same instructions to make a sideless surcote for this dress. I'd love to hear what you thought about making yours!

    Renna, that is good to know I'm getting a similar shape as you did. I don't know anyone around here who has made dresses like these (well, I know some ladies from the SCA group have mentioned making this style of dress, but I haven't really gotten to know them yet) so I'm really treading new ground. Thanks to help from you all and from other costuming sites I think I can do it! Hopefully! I am currently working on getting the smock done, and then will make a mock up of the sleeve to baste in to the bodice mock up and we'll see how that is.

    And that is awesome about the ruffled kirtle! I too wasn't too sure about it when I saw the drawing in the MTA, but knowing its out there is good. :) Now I wonder if the ruffle was on a kirtle with a waist seam or without? In the book it seems to indicate a waist seam.

    Womangirlchild, thanks for your advice. I never thought of checking out Hobby Lobby! I'll definitely have to do that.

    I too appreciate the advice about finding a family friendly group. I have heard other things about the SCA which has been one reason I didn't join the organization when I was younger. Wet shift contests, etc. But all this we have heard from people who left the SVA to do Civil War. And those sorts of things are done in similar ways in the Civil War reenacting community. Human nature is human nature no matter what era you do. It's nice when you can be with others who have similar values as you do, but that is a matter of chance it seems. ;) I don't really care as long as they keep it quiet and private, but I don't know if I can hack indiscreet improper behaviour. :) So far, this group seems very family friendly and there are other little children as well, but I know we'll get a better idea of what it all is about when we actually camp at an event (probably not til next summer or so) I *really* like all the people I have met so far. It's nice to feel like the weird one out! ;P

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  7. Laura, how exciting about the surcote! How did it come out? Were the instructions good and easy to follow? Did you run into any snags? I am thinking of using the same instructions to make a sideless surcote for this dress. I'd love to hear what you thought about making yours!

    Renna, that is good to know I'm getting a similar shape as you did. I don't know anyone around here who has made dresses like these (well, I know some ladies from the SCA group have mentioned making this style of dress, but I haven't really gotten to know them yet) so I'm really treading new ground. Thanks to help from you all and from other costuming sites I think I can do it! Hopefully! I am currently working on getting the smock done, and then will make a mock up of the sleeve to baste in to the bodice mock up and we'll see how that is.

    And that is awesome about the ruffled kirtle! I too wasn't too sure about it when I saw the drawing in the MTA, but knowing its out there is good. :) Now I wonder if the ruffle was on a kirtle with a waist seam or without? In the book it seems to indicate a waist seam.

    Womangirlchild, thanks for your advice. I never thought of checking out Hobby Lobby! I'll definitely have to do that.

    I too appreciate the advice about finding a family friendly group. I have heard other things about the SCA which has been one reason I didn't join the organization when I was younger. Wet shift contests, etc. But all this we have heard from people who left the SVA to do Civil War. And those sorts of things are done in similar ways in the Civil War reenacting community. Human nature is human nature no matter what era you do. It's nice when you can be with others who have similar values as you do, but that is a matter of chance it seems. ;) I don't really care as long as they keep it quiet and private, but I don't know if I can hack indiscreet improper behaviour. :) So far, this group seems very family friendly and there are other little children as well, but I know we'll get a better idea of what it all is about when we actually camp at an event (probably not til next summer or so) I *really* like all the people I have met so far. It's nice to feel like the weird one out! ;P

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  8. Well my above comment posted twice, and there were some typos. To correct the two most obvious ones:

    I meant the "SCA" not "SVA" but as V is located next to C on the keyboard, I must beg pardon for trying to type hastily.

    And I meant it's nice to NOT feel like the weird one out! :)

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  9. Sarah, I think the surcote came out very well. I had no problems, although Douglas' help was invaluable when it came to figuring out the size and placement of my pattern pieces based on my measurements. I'm a bit of a dunce in the math department. :) I just used two gores at each hip (no front gore). The fit is great and I think it will be perfect for nursing. I'm sure you will have no problems!

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  10. Did you fit your mock up on a dress form or yourself?

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Thank you for your lovely thoughts!