Right, I'm off! I've decided to make my costume 'through the layers'; beginning with the first layer, the shift, or smock as it is sometimes called - essentially it is my underwear.
It is made from white linen, and it is a very simple garment to construct. Fancy frilled necklines and cuffs can be made, but I think for my first one at least I will make a basic smock with a square neck and straight hemmed sleeves. This style is more suited to the early 1500s, whereas frills came into fashion in the later half of the century - a nod to the Elizabethan penchant for ruffs. I'm not sure yet which year will be chosen for Kentwell 2014, which is another reason for me to start with a basic one. I need two anyway so can always make the other more fancy if my meagre sewing skills allow!
I purchased 2m of linen as suggested by the costume notes, but then got completely confused as the Tudor Costume page directed me to make a large rectangle that was twice the length of my shoulder to below my knee - about 220cm on me! After much to-ing and fro-ing, neither my mum nor I could work out how the new notes get away with only 2m, as they neither say to cut a very large rectangle to fold in half as per the TC page, nor do they suggest sewing two rectangles together with a hem at the shoulder (and I have never seen this). I concluded I would use the 2m for my petticoat bodice, and purchase 2.5m to try again.
With much glee I carefully measured and cut all of my pieces, save for the side gores which I'll figure out later. I even pinned my underarm gores for hemming. I was poised and ready, looking forward to a night in front of the tv quietly stitching away, mayhap a glass of wine in hand to calm the nerves that always accompany my sewing!
Then disaster struck. Woe is me! I had forgotten to WASH my linen!! It is renowned for shrinking, sometimes rather drastically. Time stopped for a second and I'm sure I felt the floor spin a little. No, not an earthquake, and I hadn't even bought the wine yet. Trying not to think too hard about what I was going to do if all my hard work cutting meant I had random scraps of linen, unusable save for multiple coifs, I bundled up all of my fabric and immediately shoved it in the wash - on a 'delicate' setting, as if that is somehow going to stop it shrinking.
I'm typing this now accompanied by the sound of water swishing about. Far too violently if you ask me. I can almost feel the threads huddling together in protest. Ugh.
Stay tuned for the outcome...
UPDATE: Phew. One and a half hours later, and thanks to the sun and breeze of an early summer evening, I have my washed and dried linens in my hot little hand. A quick perusal concludes that they have, in fact, escaped unscathed. I have lost a couple of mm in fraying (according to google I was supposed to put them in a pillowcase??) but no apparent shrinkage! Yahoo!
So now it is back to merrily pinning and hemming for the evening. Bring it on, I say!
It is made from white linen, and it is a very simple garment to construct. Fancy frilled necklines and cuffs can be made, but I think for my first one at least I will make a basic smock with a square neck and straight hemmed sleeves. This style is more suited to the early 1500s, whereas frills came into fashion in the later half of the century - a nod to the Elizabethan penchant for ruffs. I'm not sure yet which year will be chosen for Kentwell 2014, which is another reason for me to start with a basic one. I need two anyway so can always make the other more fancy if my meagre sewing skills allow!
I purchased 2m of linen as suggested by the costume notes, but then got completely confused as the Tudor Costume page directed me to make a large rectangle that was twice the length of my shoulder to below my knee - about 220cm on me! After much to-ing and fro-ing, neither my mum nor I could work out how the new notes get away with only 2m, as they neither say to cut a very large rectangle to fold in half as per the TC page, nor do they suggest sewing two rectangles together with a hem at the shoulder (and I have never seen this). I concluded I would use the 2m for my petticoat bodice, and purchase 2.5m to try again.
With much glee I carefully measured and cut all of my pieces, save for the side gores which I'll figure out later. I even pinned my underarm gores for hemming. I was poised and ready, looking forward to a night in front of the tv quietly stitching away, mayhap a glass of wine in hand to calm the nerves that always accompany my sewing!
Then disaster struck. Woe is me! I had forgotten to WASH my linen!! It is renowned for shrinking, sometimes rather drastically. Time stopped for a second and I'm sure I felt the floor spin a little. No, not an earthquake, and I hadn't even bought the wine yet. Trying not to think too hard about what I was going to do if all my hard work cutting meant I had random scraps of linen, unusable save for multiple coifs, I bundled up all of my fabric and immediately shoved it in the wash - on a 'delicate' setting, as if that is somehow going to stop it shrinking.
I'm typing this now accompanied by the sound of water swishing about. Far too violently if you ask me. I can almost feel the threads huddling together in protest. Ugh.
Stay tuned for the outcome...
UPDATE: Phew. One and a half hours later, and thanks to the sun and breeze of an early summer evening, I have my washed and dried linens in my hot little hand. A quick perusal concludes that they have, in fact, escaped unscathed. I have lost a couple of mm in fraying (according to google I was supposed to put them in a pillowcase??) but no apparent shrinkage! Yahoo!
So now it is back to merrily pinning and hemming for the evening. Bring it on, I say!
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