A new Tudor Kirtle

For my birthday last year I was lucky enough to receive a generous Spotlight gift voucher from my dad, and not long after that Spotlight had a sale that included 50% wool fabrics. As I was in need of new medieval garb (as my pre-baby stuff is all a bit snug) to attend more events now that my son is getting a bit older and easier to take along. I realised a lot of my garb so far has been brown, not intentionally, it was just what I had found at op shops that could work for the era, and I am really more of a bright colour person. The range of wool at Spotlight is a bit dismal, so the brightest I could find was this lovely red wool melton. Unfortunately is is a blend 50% wool and 50% polyester, but I think it passes ok. To go with it, I also bought some black cotton velvet and a few meters of off white linen for a new chemise (which I still haven't finished). I bought the remaining 2.8 meters of the red melton, with the intention of making a Tudor kirtle, but it does seem to have turned out more Flemish than English due to the guards on the skirt. Good thing I am not too picky about that.

To begin, I prewashed the fabric, in case of shrinkage and colour run. I didn't notice any shrinkage, but there was definitely colour run, in fact, if I were to buy this fabric again, I might even wash it several times before sewing.

After my last garb attempt didn't work out as I had planned, I decided, to hell with period accurate patterns, and just used a princess seam bodice pattern that I had previously used for my brown kirtle. I was too lazy to go find the pattern in my super messy sewing room, so I just traced the pattern directly off my brown kirtle, adding a little extra width for recent weight gain, and then seam allowances. I cut the skirt portion out along the full 2.8 meters, long enough for a hem as well as a fold of fabric underneath the pleats to give them more body, then cut the bodice pieces from the remaining piece, as well as a lining from calico.

The dress went together fairly easily, and I didn't really take any progress photos at this point. The faux cartridge pleats were acheieved through very large, regular gathering stitches

At this point I realised I had actually made it too large to be able to lace it tight enough to support my bust. As I did not want to undo all the hand stitching on the black velvet trim, I simply unpicked the skirt at the side seams, carefully took it in about 1.5 inches on each side, then redistributed the gathers/pleats of the skirt and sewed it back to the bodice in those sections.

I had intended to sew a matching chemise in linen for this dress,, but have not managed that yet, however it looks pretty good with one of my existing chemises anyway. The dress was finished in time to wear to an event last September called Spring War. I even hand sewed a faux french hood to go with it, after purchasing some lovely beads from a stall at the event.

All in all, I am pretty happy with the result, and have already worn it to other events since (although not recently with the Covid-19 restrictions, obviously).

Dixie

A 14th century cotehardie

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine asked if I would sew him a fitted cotehardie. Well actually he asks me to sew plenty of things for him, but this one I actually did. He had already bought Reconstructing History's men's cotehardie pattern about a month beforehand, and had the fabric (calico lining and off white herringbone weave cotton for the outer) so on an organised "making day" at his house, while others worked on archery related projects, I measured him up and got to work.

He fell almost spot on in the size chart for the 38 inch chest, but his waist measured for the size above, so I cut the calico lining out based on those sizes, although I needn't have worried about the waist, as we ended up taking the waistline in quite a bit to make the cotehardie well fitted through there. Once I pinned the pieces together and he him try it on, I took in about 1/2 an inch at the waistline at the back and both side seams. I also trimmed almost an inch off the shoulders, as they were sticking quite far off. Based on the measurement of his upper arm, I cut out the next size up for the sleeves, but found they were still a bit too small for him, so cut them out again, another size up, and adding extra width at the fore arm and wrist, and about 2 inches extra length.

Once I was happy with the fit of the lining, I then cut out the outer pieces, and only just had enough fabric, with very little wastage. The construction was very simple once the fit was sorted out, as we were only making the shorter version (so no gores to deal with) so it was just the shoulder and side seams of the bodice, then sewing around the outside of the lining and outer, then turning right side out, pressing, sewing the sleeves together, then to the bodice. Then all that was left to do was the hand worked eyelets and to hand sew the turning hole closed.

I got about half the eyelets done by the time I called it a night (I had been working on it at home that evening) but then finished them up in the car ride to Blacktown Medieval fayre the next day, and my friend then wore it while we were there, and we were both super happy with the look and fit of it. 

While overall the pattern was quite good, and included a couple of pages of research into the cotehardie at the beginning of the pattern, and I did like that it didn't have massive amounts of ease (except maybe in the waist) like some patterns, there were a couple of things that could have been better. On each pattern piece, the size is only marked on the line in one place, and all the lines are the same plain black line (no differing colours, weights or dashes/dots) which made it difficult for my friend to follow which line he was supposed to cut (yes, I'm mean and made him cut out the paper pattern) However, I did like how they explained how to fit the pattern, and think most of the instructions are quite good for beginners.

Dixie

Me-Made-May Week 3

May 15

For Uni on Monday I wore my new coral floral dress that I finished last week, paired with yellow cardigan (not made by me, but still handmade) and managed to take a quick selfie in a bathroom mirror, so you can at least see what the dress looks like. It has a halter strap, and boning in the bodice, and while the fit isn't perfect, it is good enough, and has enough in built support that I can get away with not having to wear a bra with it (which is good as I hate wearing strapless bras) I had developed a bit of a cold over the weekend, so I was feeling pretty awful, and decided after attending my lecture, that I just wasn't well enough to attend class after, so I had lunch with a friend, then headed home early instead.

After having a 2 hour nap when I got home, I decided I was feeling well enough to go to the SCA dance practice evening that is on Monday nights (despite protests from my husband not wanting me to go out in the cold night air) However, I changed into my navy pants and blue kitty pussy bow blouse (layered with my blue slip underneath) so that I wouldn't have bare legs or upper chest.

May 16

After workshop, I changed into the skirt from my blue suit, and pink kitty pussy bow blouse for the remainder of the day, although I did also wear my store bought hoody later in the evening.

May 17

I was still feeling pretty crook on Wednesday, but my husband wanted to go out for lunch and a bit of shopping. I didn't feel like wearing a dress that day, so I wore my polka dot jeans, pink stripe top (which I made some time ago, but have not blogged about) and denim jacket for a more casual look. Yes, I was rocking double denim.

From last May when I wore this
dress to Lifou

May 18 

Spent the day at home, mostly working on an assessment that was due Friday night. Wore my comfy yellow check with red gerberas dress, that I haven't blogged about making, but which I have worn previously during Me-Made-May last year

Photo from when I first made this
outfit

  

May 19

Again, spent the day working on and finishing my uni assessment. I got it done, maybe not to the level I would have liked, but my cold was making it very hard for me to concentrate, so I was just happy to get it done. Wore my navy swing pants and blue kitty blouse again.

Cutting out the Cotehardie

May 20 

Saturday was mostly spent at a friend's place, where we were having a "making day" for our archery group. I ended up making something completely unrelated to archery, as my friend had bought Reconstructing History's men's cotehardie pattern, and had some fabric, so I worked on that for the day while I had him there to fit it to. I did make some slight alterations to get the fit right, but I will probably write a separate review post about that pattern. Other things that got done on the day were; making bow strings (twisting strands of elastic and splicing them), Arrow making, wool luceting and metal plates for armour being cleaned of rust and painted to prevent more rust. Because I was worried about getting my clothes dirty, I wore an old stained off-white shirt that I made years ago, paired with a red gingham circle skirt, also made years ago (before I had an overlocker!)

That's a well-fitting cotehardie,
if I do say so myself!

May 21
On Sunday, myself and 2 others decided to go for an impromptu trip to Sydney to go to the Blacktown Medieval Fayre. I managed to finish off the hand worked eyelets on my friend's cotehardie during the drive, so he was able to wear it while we were there. I was pretty happy with the fit once it was done, and I think he loved it. I wore my brown and gold houppelande that I made the week before Rowany festival, and finally managed to get a photo of me wearing it.

I still have a few Uni assessments to work on, but I am also finding a bit of time for some sewing for myself. I have just started on making another jacket from Butterick 5824 (used previously to make my wedding jacket) using a floral fleece blanket I purchased from Best and Less last winter. I haven't cut out the lining yet, but I'm considering using some plain pink polar fleece from my stash, to keep it nice and snuggly. That should help me fill part of what is missing from my me-made wardrobe, although this year I am less concerned with replacing my store-bought items, if they are still in usable condition and fit me well.

Dixie

Me-Made-May Week 2

May 8

As the weather has now turned cooler, I was able to wear my navy swing pants and striped pussy bow blouse to University. I have finally got back in the habit of setting my hair in curls, so wearing this outfit, pearls and curls, I was beginning to feel more like myself again after a very busy few weeks. I even passed one of my workshop teachers on the way to the library, and she said she almost didn't recognise me (keeping in mind she only ever sees me in my workshop clothes and hairnet)

May 9 

After Workshop in the morning, I changed into my Dracula Dress for the remainder of the day. I started drafting a pattern for a Gambeson as part of my armour for combat Archery. It is essentially a padded jacket that you wear either under or over the required armour, to provide more coverage and padding.

May 10

Wednesdays tend to be lazy days for me, I spent most of the day in my pajamas, just throwing on my Dracula Dress again to head to the supermarket in the afternoon.

  

May 11

On Thursday I caught up with my mum, and an old friend I hadn't seen in years, at the Maitland greyhound races. I wore my Mummykins and me Madison dress and matching Denim jacket. We only put $1 bets on some of the dogs, but we did win a little bit back.

May 12

Didn't get up to too much on Friday, although I did dye a few pastel streaks in my hair. When I wasn't dying my hair, I was wearing my kitty print B6167.

May 13

Instead of seeing my mum and grandma on Sunday for mother's day, we decided to schedule our brunch for Saturday instead. I wore my yellow self drafted shirt and Elsie George resort skirt (that I made) I then headed to combat Archery practice (a bit late and a bit tipsy, oh well)

May 14

I had a pretty bad day on Sunday, so I just hid in my sewing room in my pajamas watching movies and working on my gambeson. By this point I had most of the pieces assembled and quilted, with just the sleeves left to quilt.

I'm loving that I can start wearing certain things again now that the weather is cooling down, but at the same time, I really need to get a start on some winter sewing that I have had sitting in my sewing room for a while, but couldn't motivate myself to do during summer. Unfortunately now I have Uni assessments to work on, and what sewing time I do have, I have been using for SCA (medieval) stuff.

Dixie

Rowany Festival

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I have been a very busy little bee!

This Easter Weekend just past, I attended Rowany Festival, which is the biggest SCA (Medieval re-enactment) event in Australia. There were around 1000-ish attendees, all dressed in medieval garb, some even with period accurate camp set ups. I unfortunately didn't take any photos, as I didn't want to lose or damage my camera, and turned my phone off for most of the event to conserve power. So here are a few photos from other members of my camp.

The Barony of Mordenvale's campsite
Photo by Alexous Ofuri

Watching court, you can see my big bum in the blue plaid,
with 2 other people from my camp
Photo by Nicole Flood

2 of the guys demonstrating some swordplay
Photo by Nicole Flood

Me and Nicole
Photo by Quinn Ortega-Edwards

One of the Artisans building a forge

One of the teams during morning war
Photo by Nicole Flood

I managed to quickly make a houppelande from a doona cover set I picked up second hand for $12 a few days before the event. Most of the cutting out of the pieces I did during some spare time at uni, and a majority of the construction happened during meeting time for the uni SCA group, with only the hem being done at home, and the neckline and belt hooks and eyes being hand stitched on the bus ride to festival.

On the line drying after being washed. There is also a belt in
the same gold flocked brocade.

Bell sleeves and a very full skirt

 With this additional dress, I had 3 complete outfits to wear, which only meant I would have to re-wear 2 of them. My first outfit of course was the one I made for Winterfest last year, the second was one I made for the SCA newcomers event earlier this year and haven't blogged about. It consists of a white chemise, this time made from essentially an over sized T-tunic with a gathered neckline, a bodice/pair of stays made from calico and a brown wool petticoat.

Also on the line drying, and in desperate need of a press.

This does lace fully closed, and the next one I'm working on I
am working on is a bit smaller and shorter in the back

I had a few other items I had started making for festival, but either didn't get finished in time, or I lost interest in them as they weren't turning out as I had hoped. I may or may not get them finished in the future, we'll see I guess.

Other than preparation for festival and the festival itself, I haven't been up to much else apart from University study. I have been trying to limit myself to not sewing anything if I have assessments that need to be done, otherwise I would never get them finished on time. I have started on another Butterick 6167 (yes, another!) in an adorable Cat print quilting cotton from Spotlight. After being away from my sewing machines so many days, I really needed a nice quick sew to feel some accomplishment. It's almost finished, with just the zip and hem to go.

I am already dreaming up plans for garb and camp set up for festival next year, so hopefully I get myself organised during the year and don't leave it til last minute (like I usually do)

Dixie