| Elizabethan Costuming 2007 - 0n |
I'm quite pleased with this pair of bodies - they're cable-tie boned (doubled up in each channel, for a total of about 85 ties), the channels are hand stitched, and the overall look came out quite well. It's blue linen, and got its first workout at Jamestown's 2007 MTA. The cable ties stood up well all day, though doubling them was definitely needed - they don't provide enough support otherwise.
The ties were an interesting alternative to reed, and cheaper than Ridgilene. I wanted to give them a workout before recommending them to my students.
This is the pattern I use for my bodies classes, and I hope to market the pattern (with skirt tabs) at some point. |
Aaaaaand, here are the bodies with sleeves! I pointed the sleeves on with pretty, pretty bows, because I'm obnoxious that way. The lacings are linen tape with sewn tips, since the whole metal aglet thing is not on the cards right now.
I also added lacing points at the waist, and all my petticoats fit much better now. Who'd have thunk? |
How to decorate a Dutch Cloak with $8 worth of linen thread.
I had some peach-coloured linen thread, and a very plain Dutch cloak, so I braided the thread, used some of it to wrap wooden buttons, and voilá! a much nicer piece of clothing super-cheap. I think this only took me a couple of weeks or so, even with braiding the linen, making the buttons, and hand-applying the trim. I made the Dutch cloak years ago, but finished the trim in time to do a display for Atlantia's Arts and Sciences event in March of 2007.
I highly recommend making braided trim - whether you lace-braid it like I do, or use finger-loop braiding, your biggest investment is time, not money. Check out my article A Dozen Doublets for the Design Deficient for more ideas about trim layout. |
This is me at Jamestown in April of 2008. I'm smiling because I really dig my hat.
This is my brown square doublet and madder pink petticoat ensemble. The doublet is low in the front, high in the back, and made of linen, with black wool tape trim. The little looped shoulder and skirt tabs are one of my favourite styles, though they are slightly more time-consuming to make and apply.
I'm wearing a pair of bodies underneath, and a couple of petticoats under the pink petticoat. Working clothes are relatively informal (though one should always wear sleeves over one's shift), so the cuffs of the linen shift are turned up to protect the doublet sleeves from accidental dirt. I had removed my apron at this point, but an apron would be worn with this ensemble.
The petticoat is also linen, in a very fine weight, and in an appropriate pink (don't let anyone ever tell you they didn't wear bright colours back then). |
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