Progress on the 1545 French Gown

Progress on the 1545 French Gown

The not-so-in-the-closet-geek comes out.  :-)   I like to sew.  But not normal things.  Not MUNDANE things.  I like sewing strange things like four-legged greyhound pajamas (for the last time, they have no FAT and thin HAIR!!!)  and garb.  No "get-up", as my sister refers to it, not costumes, but GARB.  Garb, for the uninitiated, is the fancy way for referring to one's "get-up." I think it might be the latin present-tense of the verb garber, which means "person with too much time on his/her hands."

I was invited to a Renassaince Faire this past May.  Like the proper geek that I am, I researched it before I went.  I learned that Faire is the recreation of a festival in a small  English community that was to celebrate the pending visit from Queen Elizabeth, sometime between 1560 - 1600 ish. I learned that Faire visitors sometime dress in the appropriate time period for the event.  And I found directions on sewing period garb.  I was HOOKED.

For my first Faire day, I made my chemise and my skirt, and borrowed a bodice, which is the hardest piece of peasant garb to make. For anyone who hasn't gone, dressing up for Faire makes all the difference in the world.  Mundanes are kind of invisible to those who choose to immerse themselves in this recreated old-English world.  Dressing up makes you one of THEM, those who are happy to embrace you in the geekdom and the fantasy.

I bought a commercial pattern from one of the "big three", and worked and worked and worked. I spent DAYS on making a bodice.  I was so proud when I was finished, and then I tried it on.  It looked wrong.  I mean WRONG.  It was fitted correctly, but I quickly realized the error of my ways - the pattern was drafted using modern techniques, and so while it was a nice looking vest, it wasn't period.  And so the real research began.

For Pyrate Faire in September, I made a fairly accurate faire-bodice (which is argued not to be authentic at all, but a renn-faire-ism.  It has metal GROMMETS, for pete's sake!!)  It had the right shape, the right lines, and it was perfectly fitted.  I also  made two matching skirts, so my whole outfit coordinated. Plum and black.  Very unperiod, but was great for Pyrate Faire, which is an anomaly in the space-time continnuum anyhow.

I had been dreaming, since the first Faire visit, of creating a Noble gown.  When I first started the research, it was far out of reach, technically and otherwise.   After making the pyrate bodice, and learning more of the period techniques, though, I began to feel like I could tackle something harder.  I came across a painting of (then) Princess Elizabeth, painted in 1545, and I KNEW I had to make that gown.


I researched, I ordered a book specializing in the sewing techniques and materials of the 16th century, and I looked at a million paintings.  I started with the underdress, the kirtle.  I drafted a pattern based on an effigy corset I made over the summer.  I ordered the main fabric in a gorgeous cranberry color, and a second, not intended to be seen under the overdress, in a buttery black taffeta.  The lining is a berry colored silk organza.  I made a pattern mock up in inexpensive muslin, held my breath, and started cutting the cranberry fabric.  A LOT of hours later, and much more handsewing than I ever would have intentionally committed to, the kirtle is 98% complete. The only things that remain to be done are the lacing eyelets (24 of which are to be done, all hand sewn) and the hemming.

I received today in the mail the fabric for the overgown, but sadly, the color is not quite right, and has to be returned. Worse, Joanns does not carry the color I need, and so I may have to wait to order more from a different supplier, one without the 50% off sale.  So, I'm on to making the matching french hood.  :-)

Let me tell you, working with buckram (what the hell IS buckram, you ask??? I'll tell you - it's fabric stiffened with paste.  And it's not easy to find.), milliner's wire, and thread is NO FUN.  But, it could be worse, and I really want the cool french hood, and so on I toile.  Here is the base, cut in buckram, edged with 21 guage milliner's wire, and ready to be covered in white silk fabric, which of course I don't have yet:

I have the cresent to prep, and cover with fabric, since I will be using remnants from the kirtle, so that should keep my busy for awhile.

And if you were curious to see what four-legged greyhound jammies look like, look no further:

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