One and Done

The beauty of having a mockup from a previous project is being able to re purpose it for later ventures. I took the gamurra bodice pieces from my first outfit and altered it so it closes on the sides instead of the front. I then pinned on some lacing strips, and tried it on after some contorting and scratches.

I am pleased to say that the fit is successful, and the support is excellent. I did a couple of test jumps, but everything stayed in place.

My Italian Debut, part 3

I was working on my outfit at a leisurely pace until one day I realized "Crap, I only have a month left!" Nose, meet grindstone. Multiple layers were squared away, and what hand sewn portions I could easily transport, I did.

The overgown is where I departed from by stash dipping. I did not have enough fabric to make a pretty gown, so I bought some online from Fashion Fabrics Club. It's cotton damask in white and light blue, and it took me ages to decide what side to use. I eventually chose blue with white motifs in the hope it would be slightly less stain catching, and it looked prettier with the red. When I started sewing, I noticed a bit of stretch in the material, but I've mostly ignored it.

Drafting the bodice was easy. I traced the pattern pieces of the kirtle on paper, added seam allowance around the sides, and altered the front so it had a pretty V, and the back so it had four pieces like in The Tudor Tailor. I used some of the old kirtle skirt lining for both mockup and lining for the bodice.

I ran construction seams through the sewing machine and flat felled the entire thing by hand. I had some homemade piping leftover from a previous project, and there was enough for the neckline and armscythes. I justify my dubious use of piping in that it is pretty and Gozzoli's 1491 Birth of Mary features a woman with similar edging on her gown.

My Italian Debut, part 2

There's not much to say about the camica. I followed Jen Thompson's instructions and machine sewed the whole thing.The only place where one would see the machine stitching is at the neckline, and I doubted many people would complain about this modern touch. it is made from voile and is very sheer, so I'm not putting up any pictures of me wearing it and nothing on top.

I have chronic bed head, and the caps I've seen in contemporary portraits are small. There are far too many chances for my hair to break free and make a mess. Fortunately, there is Botticelli's Portrait of a Plainly Dressed Lady.  A documentable extra cloth to keep my hair in check, yay!

The cap was less exciting. It is an oblong semicircle, hand hemmed and stitched into a three dimensional shape. The edges are very wonky, and I folded pinned it down on the sides to look tidier on the day I wore it. As I am making a much prettier coif, the first one will be taken apart and used for more exciting projects.

My Italian Debut, part 1

I am a fan of a particular video game series, and a good chunk of its middle portion takes place during the early Italian Renaissance. I've no desire to cosplay as any of the major or minor characters, but when I made this outfit, I occasionally pictured myself as a part of the background.

Anyway, with my new Zanobia persona, I needed an appropriate outfit, and the SCAdian clothes I previously made were Irish. This needed to be rectified. As it so happened, I had a linen kirtle I started to make but never completed (the embroidery didn't excite me as much as I hoped, which killed my interest,)
and enough voile in my stash to make a camica.

To motivate myself to finish the whole thing, I gave myself a deadline to have it completed by New York ComicCon 2012.

This kirtle was initially meant to be worn for hot weather, and was linen lined in cotton broadcloth.The most important thing was to do surgery on the kirtle. I took it apart, which was tedious as it meant removing the embroidery around the neckline. Once the bodice was in pieces, I used the former lining as a toile and took in (and took in and took in,) the excess material so I could have something snug enough to give my bosom proper support. I took at least an inch off of the side of every piece.

The new lining for the bodice came from a golden remnant of linen. For the front, I quilted two layers together for extra support. I then trimmed down the edges of the outer fabric, folded them over the lining, and hemmed all sides of each piece, except for the tops of the shoulders. That came later.

After the hemming, I whipstitched the sides of the bodice together, added lacing rings, and tried it on so I could pin the straps for optimal fit.

I removed the lining from the skirt, stitched the former split skirt into a tube, hemmed all the raw edges, and cartridge pleated. As my patience has limits, the hemming was done by machine, using the blind stitch. the construction seams were also machined. The cartridge pleating and attachment were done by hand.

For a final touch, I added a double row of some shiny cord that's been lying around for years.