A Flanders Gown: Completing the Kirtle Interlining

11. January 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Sewing · Tags: , ,

Sunday morning I sat down to work on kirtle bodice.  Many thanks to all of you for weighing on whether to bone them or make a separate pair of bodies.  In the end though I did decide to bone the kirtle bodice.  Not only will this give me extra time to work on the project but it will also mean that I have a second boned kirtle that I could wear with a partlet and smock in the summer time.

First Things First

The first thing I did was determine the which size I needed based on the directions and the measurements on the back of pattern.  With high quality patterns like the Reconstructing History patterns I don’t like to cut the patterns out.  With modern tissue patterns I don’t care but I like to keep my nice patterns whole and in good condition should I need to remake it in a new size later.   So I trace out the correct size pattern on new paper and make all my corrections and changes to that.  When I’m done that traced pattern will be placed into the pattern sleave so that if I don’t change sizes I have it for next time. :)   My grandmother would be so proud.  Even her tissue patterns were in pristine condition. :)

Making up the Interlining

I’m going to be honest.  I did all my fitting and altering with the interlining rather than making a mockup.  Now this is fine if you are ok with the fact that this may very well mean that you will have to redo everything.  In fact I had to complettely redo my back pieces because the straps were too short.  I needed another 4.5 inches and piecing on the bias is made of fail.  But redoing that back pieces to lengthen the straps was all I needed to fix.  Everything else fit wonderfully.  I decided to use the Dorthea bodies boning pattern to give a more rounded bust rather than fully boning the front as I usually do and everything is boned with reed boning that I also happened to pick up from Reconstructing History last year. :)   There are pictures of my completted (and in progress) interlining up in my gallery.

Sadly there are no pictures yet of me trying the interling on but I did have my wonderful husband hold it closed so I could make sure it did fit correctly and place the straps where I wanted them.  For an interlining it looked great but I am am kinda happy it will all be covered up by the lining and the fashion fabric. :)   All in all it took me 4 hours to finish the interling.  The next step is finishing the bodice.  For those of you who are interested I will be using the fabric below for the kirtle.  I plan to use the navy blue linen for the fashion fabric and it will be fully lined in the red linen.

Red and blue linen for the kirtle.

Red and blue linen for the kirtle.

A Flander’s Gown: The First Conumdrum

06. January 2010 · 2 comments · Categories: Sewing · Tags: ,

So today I find myself stuck in my first flanders gown conundrum.  I want to have the gown done for Ymir which is Valentines weekend and about 5 and half weeks away.  That doesn’t leave a lot of time but it’s still very doable.  Last night I was looking at the pattern and thinking about how I wanted to go about starting on the project and now I find myself torn as to whether I want to make a whole new pair of effigy bodies or bone the kirtle bodice.  I definitly want (and need!) a new pair of bodies but making them as part of this project will add on more time.  My intention is to make the new pair of effigy bodies entirely by hand now that I have spent a year with the proof of concept bodies and know what I want to change about the pattern.  I don’t know that I can make the gown and fully hand sew a new pair of effigy bodies in the 5 and a half weeks between now and Ymir.  So I’m thinking about boning the kirtle bodice and making it into a pair of petticoat bodies similar to my pink ones but with the closure in the back.  I wasn’t orginally planning on boning the kirtle bodice but I don’t want to rush myself and doing so would still give me the new supportive garment that I want in less time.  Plus I could start my handsewn bodies after the project is done and now I’d a new pair of petticoat bodies as well.  The downside is that I wouldn’t get to start my new bodies until after the gown is done.

So I’m torn but I need to make my mind up soon so I can get started.  What do you guys think?  Should I throw caution to the wind and make the effigy bodies too?  Or should I be more conservative and bone the kirtle bodice?

A Flanders Gown

03. January 2010 · 2 comments · Categories: Sewing · Tags: ,

After several days of trying to decided which sewing project I wanted to start off my new year with I have finally decided to start with the flanders gown I have been planning.  As I have said in earlier posts, I will be using reconstructing history’s pattern.  My plan is to blog this project in detail so as to discuss fitting, fabrics, and design choices.  I will also be making a new pair of bodies and a pair of bais cut hosen with this project so I will be writing about those as well.  I hope you all will enjoy reading about this project as much as I know I will enjoy working on it!

November Jacket Update and Future Project Plans

30. November 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Embroidery, PerCoFiMo, Sewing · Tags: , , , , ,

I’m officially back from one of the most lovely holidays I have had in a very long time.  We spent our Thanksgiving up at the family farm in Como, NC.  Don’t worry, I don’t really expect anyone else to know where that is as it’s about as rural North Eastern North Carolina as you can get. :)   Despite our lack of internet access (I know. I don’t know how I survived either ;) ) we had an incredibly lovely time.  I got to spend time with my family, bake and cook with my husband, sleep in, read, embroider, nap, and talk family genealogy with my cousin Janet.  She’s done a TON of work with her side of the family and it really inspired me to get back to work on my own.  I don’t remember the last time I came home feeling so relaxed and happy after a family visit. 

Since I was late with my October jacket update I wanted to make sure that this month I was on time. 

Although I made good headway on my sleeve I did not get it finished.  I was a little bummed because I had really wanted to have it finished but in the end I think my biggest problem was setting a schedule that was too aggressive.  I think perhaps I need to take some of my own advice and break it down a bit further and set some smaller goals.  It does look really gorgeous though.  I found my self just staring at it several times over the weekend thinking how lovely it will look when it’s done.  I’ll be posting pictures tonight so stay tuned! 

My PerCoFiMo this past month met with mixed success.  I finished my black wool hood which I was very happy about but I found that I wasn’t really pulled to work on any of the other projects.  I did a bit of mending but mostly when I had time to work on a project I wanted to work on the jacket so that’s what I did.  Sometimes the muse is stronger than others and you need to take advantage of it when it is. :)  

As for future projects, I discovered this month that I am in desperate need of new rapier armor.  What I have doesn’t really fit well.  My pants are too big and I’m not really happy with my current fighting doublet pattern.  I’m not swimming in it like I was in the old one but I’m not really happy with the waist line and I like the neck line either.  Plus the button holes are too big for the buttons and they keep popping out.  So I’m decommissioning it into a practice doublet and starting anew.  I’ll be placing a fabric order shortly after Christmas.  I also picked up some patterns from Reconstructing History at Holiday Faire.  I picked up their Flanders Gown pattern, their Pourpoint pattern, and their 14th Century Jupon pattern.  And in addition to projects for me Coty has some things he’d like too.  So I’m looking forward to a lot of sewing this winter.  Looks like I need to sit down, make a list, and set some priorities!  So what about y’all?  Do you have any projects you are planning this winter?

New Projects: Training Manuals and a Flanders Gown

06. October 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Fighting, Sewing · Tags: , , , , , , , ,

When I was baroness I had several projects I really wanted to pursue but I put on the back burner due to time constraints. Among there projects were training manuals for Silver and Swetnam’s systems of defense. Now I am ready to pick those projects back up. While I was finishing my recent article on Swetnam I spent some time thinking about how I wanted to make these manuals available. In the end I’ve decided to publish them in installments here on my blog. Starting probably next week but definitely by the week of the 19th I will be making them a weekly feature. I haven’t yet decided which day I will be publishing them but currently I’m leaning towards midweek. My current plan is to start with Silver and then do Swetnam. When they are finished I’ll be compiling them and making them available in pdf format on my website.

I’ve also be diligently embroidering my jacket to the point where I feel pretty good about taking on another sewing project. I’ve been enamored with Flanders gowns since doing the research for my loose gown in 2006. I have some lovely wool flannel that would be perfect for the project and I’ve decided to make it fully fur lined since I have wanted a fur lined gown since probably 2005. I know I live in North Carolina and am not likely to get to wear it very often but I don’t care. It’s going to gorgeous and it will ensure beautiful weather for Ymir in February. I have wanted to try my hand a working with fur for quite some time and I already have several coats for the project.

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