Loose-bodied Kirtle

At chocolate revel last year i saw sever very well made, and worn, loose gowns. It is my understanding that these gowns started as surcotes in Spain. As Spanish influence grew in the 16th century their popularity spread. In England, they started as an informal dress you might wear at home or after court functions were done for the day. They also grew in popularity with those who were older and shying away from fashions which were growing more ridged and complicated. Another demographic this gowns were especially popular with were pregnant women. Some women would lace kirtles looser and adujest placards over their belly, others especially heading into the mid 1540's and later, might wear one of these dresses.

Queen Katharine Parr from the National Portrait Gallery, London, UK.

I have a loose gown that I use at camping events as a glorifieid coat to stay warm. Now I have been inspired to create a new one from scratch and the proper under gowns. I did a little research and decided to borrow my friend's pattern by Margo Anderson to work on my loose-bodied kirtle, aka loose kirtle. I cut out the detachable sleeves and front piece of the gown.

While I was home for a few months last fall I took the time to start embellishing the front piece and sleeves with couched gold thread, pearls, and yellow seed beads. Doesn't this fabric look amazing with the embelishment?

Yesterday I cut out the back and side panels of the gown. I used a simple cotton twill. I know that some people suggested that I use a cheep muslin, but I was concerned about the vast difference in weight between that and the upholstery fabric I have been working with. Then I progressed to spend the afternoon stitching the loose kirtle together. All of my construction sewing is complete, and my seems were finished with flat felled seams. Today I am hemming this by hand and if I have time I will make binding for my neck and arm.
The final step will be to make eyelets by hand. watch for the upcoming tutorial.

Comments

Beginner's Lucet Tutorial

I got a message recently asking for a tutorial on how to make a basic lucet cord since the only tutorial on my channel so far has been an advanced braid that features working 2 strands. This is the video for you if you are a newbie to using a lucet to make your own lacing for historical garments. Lucet has been used for ties, laces, and applied trim. Typically it is thought that the style might have originated with Norse cultures in the early medieval period. I encourage you to dive into the history of lucet and the different braids you can make with it if you are looking for a quick and compact way to make cord that you can put down and pick up as your time allows. The piece I made for this video took about 2 hours in real time and I did not speed up any of the clips I used to teach the technique, I simply trimmed down the footage. Have you ever used a lucet before? Tell me about your experiences in the comments and your preferred style of lucet fork. Do you like the large U s...

Making my Viking Apron Dress

This Week's vlog is the follow up to my Viking Age Tunic dress which I posted last week. When discussing the clothing of Birka and other Norse cultures, a woolen dress is an iconic look which is functional while tending a fire or many other activities. My apron dress is inspired by the finds out of Birka. The wool I used was a light weight suiting with a 2:2 twill weave. The long seams of this dress were finished with a machine for speed, and all of the seam finishings were hand sewn. I used a woolen finishing technique I learned about while flipping through Woven into the Earth by Else Ostergard. The technique involves using wool yarn and a couching stich of sorts to encase the raw edges of the wool. The end result is a low profile and durable seam around the neck and hem of my apron dress. I love that all of the hand sewn elements of this dress start to create a decorative finish on the outside of the dress and the only extra embellishment I added was a herringbone stitch over...

Discover Why Every Maker Needs This Book: Craeft Book Review

What does it mean to be a maker? What does it mean to be crafty? Where did the word craft come from in the English language? In Craeft, Alexander Langlands deep dives into these topics. Langlands is a Welsh archeologist that many reenactors might know from BBC programs like Tudor Monastery Farm, Tales from the Valley Green, or Victorian Farm. I read this book last year when I was taking some personal time to try and recharge and found it absolutely gets to the heart and soul of why I research and make things. The book also speaks to macro economics in a way that I had not really considered before as a maker of items and how a global disruption of trade can cut people off from goods, leaving them to be craefty like our ancestors to use local items and survive. Ya know, like we were all doing in 2020. This book was published in 2017. Langlands also dives into how our choices as makers can impact the environment around us and how it adapts and changes based on the car we give it a...

The Tudor Revolution

Search This Blog