Rain and Renaissance Regalia

So, I've heard that the weather here in Galesburg has made national news-- especially the flooding at Carl Sandburg College.  We were pretty lucky at our house-- no major damage-- but since the sewing room is under an inch or so of water, it may be a while before I can actually get to crafting again.  In the meantime, I thought I'd share with you more details about my Elizabethan independent study...

The original plate next to the finished outfit.

This all started in fall term this year, when I took the costume design course offered by my school.  I'm a computer science major (now planning to double major with self-designed Renaissance/Medieval studies), so I thought this would probably just be an "easy" course, taken to balance out the more demanding CS and freshman preceptorial.

I was very wrong-- the course was just as demanding as the other two, but I loved just about every minute of it, especially the costume history project.  After doing that presentation on Elizabethan dress, spending 50+ hours designing for 8 characters from The Tempest for the final, and building an Elizabethan corset during lab hours (when I probably should have just been doing a seam sample notebook like most of the class)...

Front and back views of the corset on Lizzie, my dressform.

...I found myself with a job in the costume shop, and the opportunity to pursue independent research on my favorite era of fashion history.  How could I resist?

Margo (my teacher/boss) and I discussed a few possible plans of action, and eventually settled on the course as it turned out:

The History and Construction of Elizabethan English Costume: 

This course will extend the Costume History project in THTR 224, studying in greater detail the clothing worn in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.  Methods of construction and popular materials of the time will also be examined.  Extensive research will be done, and projects will include written material and the construction of several garments.
This course is intended to be used as part of a self-designed Renaissance/Medieval Studies minor.

So, I began to dig a little deeper into my research from the first presentation-- specifically The Tudor Tailor, the works of Janet Arnold, and the lovely Elizabethan Costuming Page.  I got a little buried in it for a while, but after much waffling about the pros and cons of high-necked vs. low-necked smocks, the Alcega farthingale vs. modern patterns, and, of course, color and fabric choices, pieces started getting finished.  Here they are, from the skin out:

• The smock.

I finally decided on a low-necked smock, after what seemed like weeks of deliberation.  It's made of white tissue linen, with white grosgrain ribbon ruffs decorated with machine-embroidered blackwork.  I know that the ribbon isn't really period, but it was suggested by several tutorials by virtue of being cheap, readily available, and sturdy enough to not need starching.  I couldn't argue with any of those, so I just went ahead with it.  It looks period enough from a few feet.


I think I made up for it with the buttons, anyway.  These are handmade, thread-wrapped buttons worked over a wooden bead core.  Everyone that sees them is just tickled-- including me.  I think they're almost my favorite part of the whole outfit.  I'm not sure why-- they're just so fun, though!  The button loops are also handmade-- buttonhole stitch worked over thread bars, as described in The Tudor Tailor and other sources.  Some of these will probably be showing up in the shop.

• The corset.

This is the same corset from lab fall term, with the exception of the added straps.  It's also linen (as is most of the outfit), with reed boning and a hardwood busk.  It's handbound in cream grosgrain, and spiral laces at the center back through handsewn eyelets.  There are more eyelets with ribbon ties at the waist for the farthingale , and at the front top edge for the straps.


The corset and smock were both made from the generators at the Elizabethan Costuming page, which I highly recommend.  Great for those of us who aren't quite ready to draft patterns from scratch!

• The farthingale.

This is a 5-hoop Spanish farthingale, from Simplicity 2621.  It's made from a heavier linen, with twill tape hoop casings and hoops made of rigid plastic plumbing tubing.  The tubing worked surprisingly well, after a few false starts.  I had a little trouble with keeping it in a nice circle (as you can sort of see on the bottom hoop on the right side), but this isn't too noticeable under the weight of the skirts.  Like the grosgrain ruffs, the tubing is cheap and easy to find (I got mine at Menards for about $5-$10), so it won out over more period materials.

Following advice from another costumer (I can't remember who, now), I removed the second hoop from the top for ease of sitting.  Unfortunately, it doesn't help with walking-- at about 38" bottom diameter, this thing is wider than most of the doorways and hallways in my house.

• The bumroll.

This one isn't too exciting.  It's the bumroll from the same pattern, made of the same linen.  It fastens with hooks and eyes to the farthingale-- an idea from (I think) the same person as the hoop-removal.  It allows the roll to be worn in the same place each time, without shifting during wear.

I've heard that a lot of amateur costumers wear their rolls too high.  I'm not sure if I'm doing that here, since I placed it a little lower than I felt like it could have gone, but I think like it looks okay in the finished outfit, so it probably doesn't matter too much this time.  I will want to figure that out eventually, though.

• The partlet.

This is made from Margo Anderson's free pattern.  I'd love to buy her full collection someday, but I just can't afford it right now.  Maybe after college.  But just think of all the fun, historically accurate things I could make if I had it!

This is the same tissue linen and grosgrain as the smock, with twill tape ties and more of my favorite buttons.  The ruff ends should probably meet in the front, but the ribbon shrank when I was embroidering it and ended up too short.  I actually like it this way, though, because I feel like having ruff there under your chin in front would probably be pretty uncomfortable.  It's something to remember for next time, though.

• The petticoat and forepart.

Now we start getting to the (more) exciting part.  This is the underskirt from Simplicity 3782, made in cotton and linen with a grosgrain waistband.  It laces at the center back through handsewn eyelets (not spiral this time) and was hand-hemmed.  All of its seams (and those of the other garments, though I've forgotten to mention it so far) are either French or flat-fell-- no raw edges anywhere in this outfit.


And now...

• The gown and sleeves.

This is mostly Dress A from 3782, but I ended up changing a lot about it.  Like, almost every step of the directions.  But anyway...

This is (I think) what was called a French gown-- tight-fitting bodice with a low, square neck, large sleeve rolls, and sleeves tapering to the wrist.  It's also made of linen, and has a canvas interlining.  There are a few pieces of the reed boning at the center back opening, but it's unboned other than that.  It spiral laces at the back through more handsewn eyelets (which I was pretty tired of at the end of this), and like the underskirt was hand-hemmed.  All of the trim is handsewn on, including about 200 glass pearls.

I made several major changes from the way the pattern instructed that the gown be made.  First, the sleeves are removable.  What I basically ended up doing was using these pattern pieces (with some of the fullness taken out of the sleeve head and all of the flared cuff removed), but following the directions from the men's Simplicity 4059.  It turned out really nicely, and I love the puffs of smock that show through.  The openings are caught with more pearls.  I may end up making similar sleeves for the shop.

Secondly, I constructed my bodice very differently.  I didn't like that most of the seams in the pattern version are simply serged and visible inside the garment, even though it is lined.  So, I did what I'm told is called "bagging," making a separate lining and sewing it right-sides-together with the outer layer, then turning it so that all edges are enclosed.  That's the way I've made my previous bodices, and how I make the doll bodices, so I was more comfortable doing that anyway.

Then, in a last minute move, I decided that I didn't like the way they did the skirt either.  So, I left the knife pleats on the front panels but cartridge pleated the rest of the skirt.  The pleats were padded with felt, which also served the dual purpose of finishing the top of the skirt.  I've always loved the look of cartridge pleats, so I was very happy to get a chance to learn the technique.

I'm still not entirely convinced that the fabric I chose looks period enough.  From a distance, it looks okay, but up close it gets dangerously close to what I've heard called "blatantly non-period"-- this description is from either Margo Anderon's site or the Costuming Page, I'm not sure now.  I chose it based on fiber first, though, and pattern second.  I think that the natural, accurate-ish linen/rayon blend that will (hopefully) let me wear this in the heat of summer is more important in this case, since the pattern looks alright from more than a few feet.  That is definitely something I'd like to do differently in another outfit, though-- pick "better", more period materials for the gown.  I did the best I could on a college student's budget with this one, I think.

• Hair/Headwear

These were actually my mom's contributions-- she made them as a gift for me to wear when I gave my presentation of the project.  Both the caul and the hat come from tutorials on Sempstress' blog, and are made from leftover fabric from the other pieces.

My hair comes courtesy of the instructions on this page, lots of hairspray, and a night sleeping on pin curls.  I just happened to have a convenient pearl button earring to dangle in the part in front, as well as the blue earrings that match the forepart and sleeves almost exactly.

I think these really made the outfit when I finally got everything put on. (I did look a little silly at Applebee's afterward, though. Maybe no one noticed.)  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of myself all the way dressed up.  The school photographer took some though, so I'll post a few of those eventually.

Some stats:

• The outfit cost about $500 (but I didn't have to buy any textbooks).
• There were about 250 hand-attached pearls in the outfit.
• There were about 20 yards of material in it, and about 10 yards of trim.
• It weighs about 20 pounds.
• I didn't keep track, but it took probably 150-200 hours.
• I got an A+!