Eggplant Veste

Giovanni Battista Moroni, Portrait of a Lady

Lavinia Fontana, Laura Gonzaga in Green

 Since the Artemisian Costuming Challenge, I have been plotting a silk veste, whose beautiful silk taffeta has languished in my stash these last several years. It is a strange berry silk, shot with brown that comes across as mauveish/purple/eggplant depending on the light.  It hates to be photographed as well, so the colors in these photos may look strange.

A veste is a fitted overgown, sometimes with simple shoulder treatments (barragoni), sometimes with lavish ones.  Sometimes they had sleeves, sometimes not.  Sometimes it was worn over a sottana (under-gown), sometimes over a doublet and skirt or forepart.  It's a relatively simple way to add a layer of warmth and completely change the look of a gown.

I started with a fitted doublet-ish shaped bodice.  I say "ish" because it is not a standard doublet shape.  The front angles out, and will never close up toward the neck, across my chest, as it is designed to be worn open and show the under layers below.  Some vestes could have been closed to the neck - I chose not to.  I added thread-wrapped buttons down the front.

I then drafted a collar, made of two layers of canvas and one layer of wool felt, and pad stitched it to give it some form and direction.  I ended up having to do this twice due to poor measuring - the first collar was too short to fit in the neckline.  This was then covered in silk and hand-stitched into place.

I cartridge pleated the silk skirt and attached it to the bodice by hand.  Last, but not least, I hand sewed, stitched, and gathered puffed shoulder treatments, enhanced with a thread-covered button.

I wore the silk veste over my butter yellow damask sottana and spiral/chevronesque silk sleeves from the Artemisian Costuming Challenge.  After this first voyage, I find I need to stiffen the hem a bit, or grade the split in the front, so you can get a peak of the yellow gown beneath.

Below pictures all taken by my amazing husband, JJM (also often referred to as Sven). 

Noelle/Serafina, this picture is for you!  Goats!

Special thanks goes to my awesome husband who took the portraits for me!

Surprise! I sewed a thing!

It's been literally ages since I've accomplished much by way of sewing.  I have, however, been very busy doing embroidery.  Unfortunately it's not exciting to post pictures of yet a few more inches of the same boring blackwork pattern.  I promise I'll share images when the overall project is done though!

So this weekend I hosted an undy-making day, which ended up being a party of one for the most part.  Hah!  C'est la vie.  The good news is I have a shiny new pair of drawers.  This is a "warm" pair, being made of some soft cotton twill.  Not the most period appropriate choice, but these will never be seen by anyone but me.  I have found this fabric choice to be wonderful for cold-weather events.  To further laugh in the face of historical accuracy, they have an elastic waistband, and have some super cute vintage heart lace to adorn my kneecaps.  No apologies from me on this - my drawers = my business.  Well, perhaps partly your business now that I've gone and put a picture of them on the internet...

The Kirk

A few months ago, Sven asked me to make him a Norse tunic inspired by Captain Kirk's gold uniform.  While not necessarily period, I'm making certain concessions because this is what my husband wants, it's fun and silly, and hopefully a few people will "get it," and it will make them smile.  In searching the wonderful web for images, I found two distinctly different uniforms.

The difference here is the gold bands around the wrists (congratulations, Captain Obvious).  Sven picked out a braided gold trim, and asked that we go with two bands instead of trying to do three as the top version has.  I'm glad for many reasons, not the least of which is that middle band appears to be broken/woven into the fabric or something.  Hooray for the easy way out!

The tunic is coming along nicely.  I am felling my seams by machine instead of by hand in order to finish this in time for him to wear to an event on July 28th (which I also have to finish a scroll by, on top of some other artistic endeavors with deadlines).  I am hand sewing and felling the underarm gussets, however.  This is because every time I try to do those by machine I bugger them up.

I also hand finished the neck facing.  Here's some poorly photographed evidence.  More photos will come after it's all finished.

Have you ever used modern things as inspiration for your historical dress?  If so, I'd love to hear about it!

ACC Wrap-up Post

I have neglected to write my wrap-up post regarding the Artemisian Costuming Challenge, so let's get that done, shall we?  Links will take you to tagged blog posts for more information on my process and documentation.

Layer #1 (Skin) - Linen Camicia, hand sewn and embroidered in silk. 

 

Layer #1 Budget - $0 spent.  All materials came from my stash, including silk floss and beeswax for embroidery.

Layer #2 (main gown) - Damask sottana and silk sleeves.

Layer #2 Budget - This is where I splurged. 
$25.20 on beads for the sleeves.
$23.98 on silk fabric
$8.99 on satin ribbons to attach sleeves
All other materials are from my stash.

Layer #3 (Accessory) - Partlet

Layer #3 Budget - $0 spent.  All materials from stash.

I had a lot of grandiose plans for a beaded/couched partlet, but due to time constraints, I made a simple Florentine partlet.  It is cut out of one piece of fabric, and ties under the arms to hold it in place.  It's designed based on a combination of these two portraits, both by Bronzino, wherein the first clearly has no shoulder seams, and the second has an added collar.  I will still be doing a more fancy partlet, but at a later date with no time restrictions.

Layer #4 (Warmth) - Fur-lined muff with gold-worked trim, hand sewn

Layer #4 Budget - $12.00 for thrift store fur coat to reinvent.  All other materials from stash.

I had intended mantelinne or Dutch Cloak for my warmth layer, but burned out, so I'm calling this my final layer.  It's for warmth, right?  My late start in the challenge due to scribal activities put me behind schedule, and I simply couldn't sacrifice my sanity over the holidays to rush making another layer.

Total budget -  $70.17

My overall experience was a good one.  I finally used some of my stash materials, and have a pretty new gown for the court season.  I do intend to add pieces to this for versatility, including a silk veste, beaded partlet, netted caul, and long pearl necklaces.  I have already secured most of the materials needed for these, so you can look forward to seeing them in the future.

Thank you, Maestra Bianca for spearheading this challenge and inspiring so many people.

Eggplant-ish Silk

I purchased some eggplant silk taffeta from Bangkok Thai Silks (and was pleasantly surprised to have it in record speed). I was less than pleased with the color.

On their website, the color was exactly what I wanted, and though I am aware that monitors make colors vary, I was sure it would be great.

I pulled it out of the packaging to find something closer to a maroon/mauve than the eggplant/aubergine that I wanted. Slightly annoyed, I took it to my special art lamps to see it under better lights. Still slighty annoyed, I took pictures, and discovered that this squirrely fabric hates to be photographed, and I'm not surprised it's not true to the web photo.

Mind you, my camera phone automatically adjusts lighting, but here it is against yellow fabric, looking almost grape(!!):

And here we are with no background colors, which is sort of a light reddish eggplant:

In reality it is pretty close to the medium/dark shades in the second photo. Now that I'm over my initial color shock, I'm not sure how bummed I truly am. It is still a lovely color, even though it's not what I expected, and the silk quality is very nice - good and thick, with a beautiful sheen and stiffness.

So now I'm to decide whether to go ahead and make a zimarre or veste to go with the ACC sottana (but not as part of the ACC) as planned, or to stash it for now.

Baron's War

Baron's War was pretty awesome. I spent a chunk of the day working as exchequer, but escaped for a bit to visit Serafina at her vigil and sample some of the amazing food she had there. I wore the chocolate kirtle and newly completed sleeves - pictoral evidence!

From Baron's War 2011

My beautiful coral bead jewelery was made by the lovely and talented Aine, whose jewelery and zibillino are gaining world-renown. You can even buy one at her Sable Greyhound site!

From Baron's War 2011

Yes, it was incredibly bright outside. You can click through and see more pictures from the event. I do not have pictures of Serafina's laurel ceremony as I was part of it. Sadness. :( But you can take my word that it was lovely - so many people shared so many beautiful truths about her. She also looked amazing (as usual).

Chocolate Kirtle - Sleeves

Guess who now has two completed fully reversible black/chocolate sleeves?

My green silk ribbons arrived in a timely manner, but I was stalled on the project while I painted. I'm pleased to now declare them done. I still have to add lacing rings in the chocolate kirtle itself, but this shouldn't take much time. If I manage that in time, pictures at Baron's War will ensue.

Silk Ribbons, or Why Crystal Fails at Math

Remember the green silk ribbons I bought to use as sleeve ties?

I'm eight inches short. I miscalculated how long to cut them, and now have to order more. Learn to count, noob. :(

I can't finish the linen sleeves (or rather, one of them), until I get more ribbon. Because I'm making these to be fully reversible, I sewed the ribbons down inside the sleeve when they were right-sides together, rather than tacking them on afterward. I took some steps to ensure that they won't pull out from strain (I hope).

The good news is that I got the scroll from Bethany and can spend my time painting until the ribbon arrives in the mail.

To Dutch, or not to Dutch...

My original ACC outer layer plan was to make a Dutch Cloak. Now... I may be waffling on that idea. I may lean toward a shoulder cape instead. Forgive the image quality below - I took photos of a book with my phone as my scanner is not hooked up at the moment.

Dutch Cloak (cappotto):

Versus Shoulder Cape (mantelline):

The Dutch Cloak typically had sleeves, and covered the hips, so is slightly longer than a shoulder cape. They are both circular, and are both found in Eleonora di Toledo's Guardaroba in Moda a Firenze.

My fabrics are a plum brocade with gold dragonfly details, a lovely textured gold brocade for trimming and possibly sleeves (undetermined), and gold satin to line it. As this will be designed for warmth, I anticipate interlining this with something yet undetermined. I also have a vintage blonde mink collar which I might be able to integrate somehow, but perhaps not as the necklines are all quite square, and it is a round collar.

At the moment I'm leaning toward the mantelline, because I'm liking the lines of the slightly shorter cloak better. But I'm not quite convinced. Opinions?

Artemisian Costuming Challenge

For the Artemisian Costuming Challenge, I will be doing a Florentine gown as popularized by Eleanora di Toledo, particularly in this image painted posthumously by Bronzino.

The kirtle, called a sottana in Moda a Firenze, will be made of butter yellow damask from my stash. The overcoat may or may not be a part of this challenge, depending on how cost prohibitive the fabric is and/or finding a patron. This gown has been in planning stages for about a year, and I do not want to compromise my vision due to the dollar limit on the challenge. I hope to obtain eggplant silk for the overdress. If this doesn't happen, the overdress will not go towards the challenge, but I will eventually be making it anyway (possibly within the challenge time-frame, possibly not).

The kirtle will be self-stiffened: no bodies will be worn with it, as was believed to be the case for Eleonora, according to Moda a Firenze.

I will be making a new camacia in white linen with embroidered details as my skin layer, and there will be a high-necked partlet as an accessory. My warmth layer will not be the overdress, but a Dutch Cloak, which Eleanora had several of in her wardrobe accounts. This is a circular short cloak, often with sleeves, or sleeve slits. Another post later will provide additional details on this piece of the challenge.

Sleeves

Wednesday and Thursday evenings were spent hiding in my basement, as the temperature is a few degrees cooler than upstairs. The window air conditioner unit is a lifesaver, but the air doesn't circulate particularly well, and I don't do well in the heat. The benefit of becoming a basement hermit is that my studio is in the basement.

I drafted a fitted curved sleeve pattern, largely based on the fitted sleeves in various commercial patterns such as Margo Anderson and Reconstructing History. This was an adventure in frustration as I have very bulky (fat batwings!) upper arms, but my arm length is ridiculously short. Remind me to install a mirror in my studio as well.

I figured I'd pin down the curved sleeve documentation a little later, as it's so accepted... and I've been a bit frustrated in trying to do so. I'll have to pull out my Janet Arnold library later to verify things... but all I've found so far is the use of curved sleeves in Alcega's men's doublet pattern. So yeah, the men did it... did the women really do it too? Probably, but I'd like proof. Regardless, I have my pattern, curved and all, and have cut out one layer in black linen. The other layer will be chocolate linen, and these will be reversible, with sewn-in green silk ribbons for tying them on. These ribbons are actually more olive/less minty than the picture shows.

I got my silk ribbons from Wm. Booth Draper, and I can't say how much I love this shop. Last year I bought their bone bodkin, embroidery waxer, and rosewood needlecase, and I *heart* them.

Quest Recap

Quest for the Holy Lands started out rocky due to some issues with my office of the exchequer property (which has yet to be solved, but I'm confident that it will be soon) which left me without a table for Troll, Shade to sit under, and chairs to sit in. After some creativity and borrowing, we had Troll set up and running, and I had a bunch of volunteers to help me, which made my life so much wonderful, I can hardly express it. I am so deeply grateful for all those who helped me out all weekend.

I wore my new chocolate kirtle on Saturday! Of course, I waited until I'd been sitting/slouching in it all day before taking a picture so it's all rumpled and the nice smooth bodice...isn't. Le sigh. Ah well, I did get numerous compliments on it, and that pleases me.

Saturday evening it began raining, and by the time I left site (day tripped), my dress and petticoat had soaked up about 8 inches of water. The next morning as we were headed back to site, I got the phone call that site had received snow, and that both my troll shade and my personal shade were tragic victims of the wet snow's destructive power. Yay? I'm told they went down before most people even knew it was snowing.

After some cleanup, and a deep sigh of relief that Sven chose to come home with me rather than sleep in the pop-up as he wanted, we headed home, as the event was basically called quits due to inclement weather.

We still have T-shirts for sale though. I highly recommend them!

Elizabethan / Jacobean Jacket

For many years I've been lusting after Elizabethan Jackets. I feel in love when I saw a fine lady wearing one at Known World Academy of Rapier/Known World Costuming when these two fine events were held together in Outlands, approximately 2003. Yes, I really am this slow to pursuing projects.

Mistress Isobel of Extreme Costuming fame renewed my love for this style with her amazing Maidstone Jacket. When the Plimoth Jacket was finally finished, I was head over heals. I'm not so insane as to think I might finish embroidering a jacket like either of these fine examples though... at least not in the next several years.

Other examples are this, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ca 1616

and this, from the Art Institute of Chicago

There are examples of some with lower necklines, some with collars, and some without. I think I'd opt for the style above, from the Art Institute of Chicago. I was gifted some interesting fabric from my grandmother, and it screamed "Elizabethan/Jacobean Jacket" to me the second I laid hands on it, and it has been a long-term plan to do this, after finishing a base gown to wear it over. Well, put your hands together folks, as I finished my chocolate kirtle which will also act as petticoat bodies under the long-awaited jacket.

In reality while the browns in these fabrics don't match exactly, they are a much closer match than the image indicates. The pattern is woven, and the fabric has a fascinating texture. I believe it is cotton. I do anticipate making a black skirt to go with this as well, in the future, possibly made of silk taffeta.

Drawers

On a whim, I decided I needed a new pair of drawers for this weekend's event. So last night I whipped up a pair - no measuring (bad Jaquelinne!!), just eyeballing it. This was not a good move, and I'm lucky they actually fit. They are not nearly as roomy as my other pair, but I can get them on and they aren't too tight. I added some sweet lace on the hems, and flat-felled all seams by machine. I would have done this by hand... but they're drawers, and I want to wear them tomorrow.

They're made from a random cotton twill fabric I had in my stash - heavier than I would have chosen from the store, but I think they'll be nice for the chilly rainy mountain weather we're expecting.

Not bad for a two hour project.

Petticoat Waistbands

This post is for you, lovely Lady Jane!

In a prior post about using elastic on Sven's pants, we discussed using elastic on petticoat and forepart waistbands, as they are hidden beneath over-skirts. As my foreparts tend to be quite heavy with beading and such, this is the method I use for making a painless waistband.

This is an example of a cotton broadcloth petticoat with attached forepart, with a flat front and gathered back. This was important, as it must have the circumference to fit over a farthingale and bumroll, but still be flat in the front so that the forepart lays smoothly. I backed my fashion brocade with cotton canvas so that it would be stiff enough not to sag from beading, as well as to hide farthingale hoop lines. I then beaded it and attached it to the petticoat. I hid the raw seams under strips of grosgrain ribbon, rather than adding bulk beneath the forepart by folding it under. This technique is straight out of Margo Anderson's patterns; I cannot take credit.

The waistband is where I deviate from Margo's instructions. She recommends sandwiching the skirt between two strips of grosgrain ribbon. I have done this in the past, and my seams were too sloppy for this to be satisfactory for me. With practice, perhaps it would work. I chose to take a wide strip of grosgrain about two inches longer than my waist measurement, and fold it in half. I pressed the ribbon to create a crisp line, and then sandwiched the petticoat within the ribbon and sewed it close to the edge. This way, I only had to sew one line rather than two. I finished the petticoat with skirt hooks using the excess ribbon length as an overlap. This is helpful in the event of weight fluctuation as additional hook "eyes" can be added easily.

Chocolate Kirtle

I was very tempted to make the Ultramarine blue kirtle first, but alas I needed to get started before the fabric was done being pre-shrunk. So in the end, the decision was dictated by my washing machine.

Friday night I cut two layers of cotton canvas interlining for the bodice, drafted and sewed boning channels, cut and filed boning, and watched the conclusion of Downton Abbey and all of Wuthering Heights. My boning is simple cable ties for this gown, as I didn't feel like dealing with spring steel for this project.

Saturday, after many trials and tribulations involving a marathon blocking my exit from the city, I finally arrived at Serafina's house to keep her company and keep us both focused on our projects. She was a machine zipping through curtains like mad while I worked on completing my bodice, including hand-worked eyelets... why is it that the first few eyelets of every project are complete crap? Oh well, they are serviceable. I am disappointed in myself that I didn't quite count right and I have an extra hole in my bodice for spiral lacing. Oops. Yes, I did extra eyelets for no reason. *facepalm*

Yesterday I cut out my skirts, graded the front of the waistline to account for the dip, pleated and attached said skirts to my spanky new bodice. These pictures are complete crap as I don't have a dress form to speak of (in the works though!), and are taken in my poorly lit bedroom. I am pleased with how the pleating ended up in the back. I don't love the front. I used three panels, with only one in the front so I could use the existing seams for the side lacing. There isn't enough pleating in the front, in my opinion, but I don't hate it enough to re-do it.

The Kitty was far too interested in my lacing cords for her own good. Next up, hemming the skirts.

Shopping Haul

Yesterday felt like my Birthday, with all my packages that arrived in the mail. I just had to share!

My gorgeous Tailor's Ham is courtesy of Fait Avec on Etsy. Isn't he the cutest thing ever?

I also received this glorious ultramarine blue and evergreen linen for future camping garb - eight yards of each. The hard part will be deciding exactly what to do with each... More kirtles, maybe? Venetians? Campi gowns? What do you think?