Farthingale

February 16, 2007
(moved from myspace blog)

I have prewashed and lightened several yards of bright orange cotton twill (left). It's now a lovely saffron color (right).

I am using Juan Alcega's farthingale pattern "for a fat woman". And then I added a few inches to make a slightly wider hoop at the bottom. Again, I used Drea Leed's website for the pattern and directions.

I measured out the lengths according to the pattern directions on Drea's site. Cut the pieces and began stitching! I've decided that the rest of my Tudor garb is going to be done completely by hand. I know - it sounds crazy. But that's my goal.

I pieced the panels together using the backstitch. I had thought to use french seaming, but the twill is pretty thick so the seams are all flat-felled using a top stitch to keep them neat. Instead of leaving one of the seams on the side open several inches for the opening, I'm going to be placing an opening down the front center to line up with my corset. Project time = 5 hours



February 26, 2007

I've now added the channels for the hoops. I used the leftover twill to make long strips. I stitched all the strips together and rolled them up. I measured from my waist to the palm of my hand while hanging down. That is where the first hoop will go, making it easy for me to grab and maneuver the skirts when necessary. I then measured and marked where the hemline hoop would go, but didn't add a strip here. I'll use the self-hem method at the bottom. Then I measured the space between the two hoops and divided it so that I would have 6 hoops total, leaving a little more space between bottom hoops and the upper hoops closer to each other.

I've added another 15 hours stitching which brings total time to 20 hrs.

March 5, 2007

I'm officially insane. I've now spent 24 whole hours hand stitching this farthingale. And I'm not done yet. Left to go: waistband, hemline, and insertion of hoops. Which isn't a whole lot, really, but it will be time consuming to get the hoops the right sizes and then making the hemline exact. But once I'm done it'll be a beautiful sight! Here is a close up of the stitching on the channels (inside). I'm thinking about covering the channels with strips of yellow silk. But it won't happen for a while, because I'm sure I'll want to get moving onto the next piece.


May 11, 2007

I was finally able to put in some time on the farthingale. I wasn't sure how to go about this so I just decided to jump right in. The first thing I did was get the mannequin out and set her up so I could measure the hemline and finish that up nice and neat. Then I adjusted the waist and put in a drawstring for the time being...it'll be replaced by a series of knife pleats and an opening down the front with eyelets so it can be laced together with the corset. Then I took her outside and started measuring and cutting and assembling the hoops. Most everyone has been using a plastic tubing of some sort, but the ones I could find seemed way too soft. I really, really wanted to use willow bents, but they are so expensive to have shipped,and none of the craft stores had anything close. So the very kind man at Home Depot helped me find something that would work, (after I explained exactly what I needed it for!) I bought a 100 ft roll and some connectors and had just enough. And voila! A farthingale!

I need to do a little more tweaking to get the shape just right. The hoops tend to move about a bit while I'm adjusting another hoop, so I'm always going back to fix something. I also think the addition of a bum roll along the back underside will help with the shape. Once I get everything where I want it, I'll finish up that waist band and get to work on the eyelets. {sigh} I'm getting there... now at 29hrs.

May 31, 2007

So, I spent another 5 hours on the thing. All the hoops are now the correct size and shape, I think. The conical shape is a little wide at the bottom, but I don't want to have to make another one of these for awhile, so I'm good with it. I finished up the pleats and the waistband. The opening down the front is finished.

The last thing I need to do is add a closure at the top. Then, when the corset is finished I'll line the corset and farthingale up together and mark out where the lacing holes need to go down the front and on the sides and back of the farthingale.

I'm still debating that satin trimming I wanted to put over the hoops. I think it would be nice, but I haven't found historical evidence that lets me think it would be accurate. And I'm getting tired of working on these - I'm ready to move on! Total hours = 34

June 3, 2007

Another 20 min spent putting a hook and eye (in the correct spot) on the waistband and voila! Finished. I'm am sooooooo very glad it is finished. The only thing I might still do is those yellow satin welts to cover the hoops. But that may be a ways off yet, if ever! From the front it still looks a little out of whack. But from the side it has a very, very smooth line. I'm not worried about the front view, the amount of skirts going over this thing will take care of that! Total time spent on this project is 34hrs 20min.