The Kirtle

August 12, 2007

I pulled out my copy of The Tudor Tailor and decided it wouldn't hurt to try out the kirtle bodice pattern. I spent the afternoon scaling up the pattern and making a toile. I even partially boned it and put in handbound eyelets to make sure the fitting would be as accurate as possible.



I followed the directions exactly, except for moving the lacing to the sides rather than the back. There is no way I can successfully lace myself into a back lacing corset. I'm not that flexible!

I tried it on and fiddled with it. I notice the shoulder straps aren't quite long enough for me. I also don't like the neckline. The directions have you stitching a cord along the neckline and then pull the ends to bring the edge closer to the body. While this works to create the correct silhouette, I'm not sure about the historical accurateness of this method.

I lucked out, because except for the straps it fits great. I will have to add about an inch to the back waistline, but that's it.

I'm not certain I'll be using this pattern yet. I'll have to do some research.

Project total = 6 hours

August 16, 2007

I finally decided to try another bodice pattern for the kirtle.

I used the drafting directions found at Ravendreams. It took about an hour to measure myself. I took my measurements while wearing my corset. That way, I can have added support in the kirtle bodice if I decide not to wear the corset. And if I do wear the corset, then the bodice of the kirtle will fit closely. It all works out!

After drafting the pattern I cut out a toile, carefully marking the seam allowances. Somehow, I ended up with an overlap of 2 inches in the front! How in the world?

That's as far as I got. Project hours = 11.5 hrs


August 22, 2007

Back to work. I set up the dummy, corset still on, and put the toile back on her. I pinned up the shoulders where they needed to curve a bit more and pinned the front closed nice and tight.

I drew in the lines of the corset onto the toile, making sure my lines were just outside the actual lines of the corset. I'm debating adding anymore leeway. I decide not to. And I may regret it. :P

Now I grab my overworked seam ripper and take to the side seam. I want the front to lie nice and smooth so I'll be lacing this up the side. Once it's off the dummy I cut out around the lines I drew in, making a new pattern of the bodice. Then I trimmed off the shoulders where they needed to curve and unpicked the rest of the seams. I used the pieces of the toile to make another toile out of the orange twill to double check myself. You know, just in case. It looked okay so I decided to move on.

I now have a front and a back piece of the toile. These I took out to the table and traced onto another piece of paper. I very, very carefully refigured the seam allowances and the added allowance for the lacing edges.
I cut out my new bodice pattern. Total project time so far = 12.75 hrs


Here's where it gets fun. I now get to cut into all those wonderful fabrics I spent hours ironing! I have to admit I'm a little nervous.

First things first, I cut out some canvas for the interlining. I cut the full pattern, without seam allowance, for the front bodice. For the back I cut only the body part - no straps. I did this thinking I might get a better fit. We'll see.

Then I cut out the lining. I'm using black 100% linen. I know I'm not supposed to use black, but black is what I've got. For some reason, when I unpinned the patterns from the fabrics, I placed the back piece in front of me and the front piece behind me. In the corner of my mind I was wondering about this while laying out the top fabric. I really should have layed them out the other way, so it would make sense when trying to remember which piece was which, right? Silly me, eh?

Anyway, I managed to remember which was which and placed the top fabrics with the linings.

At this point, my back was really starting to ache from bending over the table. When I have a craft room again, my table is going to be raised up so I don't have to bend like that! During my break, I run around trying to find my other box of pins.

Successful in the hunt, I come back and begin putting this bad boy, ahem, girl, together. I laid out the top fabric and placed the canvas on it, centering it all around. Remember, the canvas has no seam allowance. This is so I can fold the seam allowance of the top fabric over the canvas without a lot of bulk. I work my way around, clipping the curves as needed and pin everything down on both the front and the back.

Now I get to hand baste these together. I used a white thread so I'd be easy to see later when I pull it out. I also stayed well away from the edge so the stitches wouldn't get caught later.

After basting, I took them back to the table. Oh my back!

I laid out the front and placed the lining on it, smoothing it out. I flipped it over so the lining was on the table and I could make sure the top fabric/canvas layer was centered all around. Then I clipped where I needed to clip, flipped it back over and pinned all the edges. I did this for both pieces.

Now I get to sew again. I'm doing all this work by hand, so the hours are really stacking up!

I very carefully, using a blind stitch, attach the lining to the top fabric/canvas layer. At some point during all this stitching, I recall that I forgot to put one of my leather thimbles on my finger. I'm really going to regret that! :D

Both pieces are finished, and basting stitches are removed.

Now I'm ready to put this all together. I started with the side seam. I placed the two edges right sides together and whipped the finished edges together. When I pulled it open they were butted up to each other very nicely. Luckily, I checked my progress before I got all the way up the seam. I noted that the two sides were not the same length. So I undid the lining from the larger piece, trimmed it back and redid all the finishing work. Then completed the side seam.

I had to redo the strap ends as well. It seems I didn't think to make sure the two edges matched up! I've made a mental note not to do that again.

At this point I've spent 6 hours on the bodice. I'm calling it a night.

Total project time = 18.75 hours


August 23, 2007

So my fingers are really hurting today. But I'm determined to get this bodice done!

At this point I'm thinking I'm ready to begin the eyelets. Unfortunately, when I place the two edges together, one side is longer than the other. So I have to unpick, trim down, and refinish that edge. I make a mental note to fix that blasted pattern before I forget!

That took another hour and a half. It probably shouldn't have taken that long, but for some reason I've become a little specific about how my stitches look. Maybe it's because of the amount of time I'm putting into this project. I just want it to be RIGHT!

So now I'm ready to begin the eyelets. Now I know a lot of costumers hate putting in eyelets. But I actually find it quite relaxing. I've perfected my system so there's no stress. Unless I break the thread or something. :P

Despite several interruptions, 5 hours later all my eyelets are done. I grabbed my lacing cord, whipped stitches around one end, (the other stays tied to the bodice), put my stuff away and ran to the trailer to try it on my dummy.

Voila! Bodice is done. Now, remember how I said I might regret not giving a little more allowance around the corset when I drew those lines in on the toile? Yeah. I goofed. The shoulder straps ended up being too thin to cover the corset straps, and the back is cut way too low for some reason. I can't think how I did that? :[

I'm not worried about though. I plan to wear this without the corset anyway. Though now that I think about it, I probably should have put another layer of canvas in there for a little more support. But, on the other hand, the bodice of the gown will have some extra support, plus a stomacher over that to create a nice smooth torso.

I think it's all going to work out nicely. Total project time = 25.25 hrs

PS I'll add the pictures soon!

January 25, 2008

Well, it's a new year. I'm finally getting some more work done on this dress. Today I took the day to actually lay out my fabrics and cut the panels for the skirts.

I started with my lining fabric. (and it's a good thing, too!) I measured out my front panel, making it the same size as the 2 back panels would be, so I'd have extra fullness at the hemline. But, when I rolled out the rest of the linen for the 2back pieces, I ran short. Grrr. So, I did what any thrifty Elizabethan woman would do. I made my front panel one of the back panels, cut another back panel, flipped the leftover fabric and cut a new front panel, this one a little less generous, but still enough to make a decent skirt.

Next, I cut out my top fabric and then I cut a piece of canvas to line the front panel with. Except the canvas ran short too so I had to do some piecing to make the angles work. No biggie.

Next step was to sew up all the seams. I left one side seam undone about 10 inches as this is where the opening is on the bodice.

Everything was hand-stitched using a back stitch. And then I called it a day.

Project total = 31 hrs 35 min

January 26, 2008

I wasn't planning on working on the dress today, but I had some time so I figured, why not?

The first step was putting the layers all together. Those skirts are heavy! By themselves the linen and the lightweight wool don't feel very heavy. But after putting them together, wow! Because the two layers are quite thin I decided to use some wadding for the pleats.

So I used some natual, needle punched quilt batting. I cut strips about 6" wide and 45" long. I placed 2 pieces of the wadding end to end and stitched them together without any kind of seam allowance so there wouldn't be any lumps there. Then I placed this long strip between the layers of linen and wool and basted it all together.

Now the fun begins! I yanked all that fabric around the dress form, over the hoop and petticoat, to see what kind of shape I was in. And that's when I realized my mistake. I put the opening on the wrong side. Grrr... and here I thought this was going to happen without a hitch...

So, out comes the seam ripper. I undid the finished edges of the opening and stitched them closed. Not a problem. The problem came when I had to rip open the other side and put in an opening. Because this is hand-stitched, I can't just stitch over like I would on a sewing machine. So I had to go all the way down the seam to where I'd last tied off. On one seam that was only a couple inches past the 10" opening. But on the other it was a good 16" extra. Bummer. But I did it. And used up all my black thread in the process. Luckily, while cleaning up a little later I discovered another spool...

Anyway....once the new seams were done and I finished up the new openings I put it back on the dress form to see about those pleats.

I'm not happy.

The front panel just doesn't look good. I don't know what the deal is. I play with it again tomorrow...maybe...

Project total = 33 hrs 35 min

January 30, 2008

I was totally phyched to get going and I pinned the bodice to the skirt and was just about to start whipping those babies together when something caught my eye:

I DIDN'T FINISH THE UPPER EDGES OF THE SKIRT!!!!

D'oh! I'm such a dweeb. So it only took a few minutes to unpin them. I measured the raw edge to see how much binding I needed, cut a few strips off a scrap of wool, stitched them together and started pinning again.

I stitched through once on the front, turned the binding, pinned again, and commenced stitching.

This, of course, took a little longer, but I finished it!

Project total: 35 hrs 40 min

February 6, 2008

Now the fun can finally begin! (And it's my birthday!)

I repinned the bodice to the skirt. I pushed all the cartridge pleats toward the center, carefully pushing the center together and marking it with a pin. Once I had it all pinned together, I flipped it right side out to take a peek. Looks pretty good here doesn't it?

I took a quick break to eat some cake (jello cake -yum!) and then washed my hands and got back to the dress.

I pulled out my heavy upholstery thread and got started. I was a little bummed I couldn't find any dark grey thread. Is there really no one out there with grey upholstry? Anyway, I decided on a medium slate blue. It actually does blend with the grey quite well. But not invisible.

When you do cartridge pleating the stitches stay in the material - you don't take them out. Here's what I'm not happy about. The pattern I used as a basis for my skirt came from The Tudor Tailor book. I dutifully scaled it up to my size. I marked all the measurements down and I cut the back panels exactly as I should. And you know what? The cartridge pleats don't go all the way across the back! I pushed them together to hide the stitching, so there aren't enough pleats to go from side seam to side seam. If I'd loosened them, the stitches would be seen. Grrrr....

Regardless, I'm not changing it. It's done. But I've made a mental note to cut the back panels of the overgown much more generously to make sure I have the coverage I need.

Here it is from the side. Check out that BUM!!!

Project total = 36 hrs 45 min

March 3, 2008

I have now spent quite a bit of time working on the hem. I put the kirtle on the mannequin over the petticoat and hoops and pinned up the hem just a tad longer than the petticoat. Then I did a quick runny stitch very close to the bottom edge. This process took about 2 hours.

Later I tried it on to make sure the hemline was okay on me. A little low in one spot but not enough to cause any problems as the forepart will cover this. So I got to work finishing it up.

I trimmed back all the excess fabric and left in the running stitch. I cut several strips of matching wool from some scraps and french seamed them together. Then I pinned the binding to the outside of the skirt, thinking I'd wrap it around the hemline and finish it up on the inside. I stitched for 4 hours - a backstitch, no less- and then got ready to turn it....

GRRR....the stupid binding was too skinny! And I measured 3 times to make sure! Apparently I didn't take into account that the hem was thick due to turning it under and stitching it in place. So, I took out the seam ripper and removed the binding. But I didn't have enough scraps to cut more so I had to figure this out.

I trimmed the hemline again, this time right up to the running stitch, which I still left in place. Then I pinned the binding to the INSIDE of the skirt. This time I only stitched a little bit and then checked to make sure I could turn it and have enough fabric to finish. This time it worked.

I was so fed up with it I didn't bother to backstitch this time. So I did the first line of stitching with a small running stitch with a few backstitches here and there. Then I turned it and finished up with a hem stitch. Another 4 hours later and voila! Hemline complete.

This brings us to a project total of 46hrs and 45 min. whew! And it's not done yet!

March 8, 2008

Today I decided to try on the kirtle with the corset underneath, just to make sure I'm on track here. I'm a little miffed.

I thought for sure I'd be able to side lace this thing with me in it! NOOOOOOO...not happening! So unless I want to remake the bodice, I'm going to have to buy a 4yd length of cord and prelace this super loosely and get into it that way.

And the shoulder straps are too big. Too big! I even noticed (for the first time) that the right shoulder on my corset is too big as well. What happened here? I don't know what I'm going to do about the corset. I really don't want to take apart that shoulder.

As for the kirtle, I sat down and took apart the shoulder seams. I undid the lining and folded back the extra bit by 1/2". Then I put it all back together and tried it on again. I needed another 1/4" or so to make it nice and snug. So I took it apart and again and went ahead and took apart the other shoulder as well, since it was loose as well. I readjusted the length of the strap, restitched everything and whipped the shoulder straps together. This time when I tried it on the straps were nice and snug.

All of this took about 4 hours. I was originally putting this on to measure how much I wanted the black velvet trim to come out over the kirtle bodice edge, since I knew I was probably going to be showing too much chemise. And I was right. The chemise showed about an inch above the bodice line. So I figure, when I get around to putting the velvet on I'll have to nudge it up 1/2" over the bodice line.

Project total now comes to 52hrs 45min. And still not done.

March 13, 2008

Nothing beats a day spent sewing. I spent most of the day today working on the kirtle bodice.

First things first, I had to extend the top line of the bodice with some extra canvas. When I tried everything on last time, I noticed that I needed some coverage in both front and back. So I cut some strips of canvas and pinned them in place along the edges of the bodice. Then I did a quick running stitch to hold it in place.

Here is the back. You can see I needed to add a considerable amount in order to bring the neckline up to cover the corset.

Here is the front with the velvet pinned in place.

And the finished trim. It's not perfect. But I'm not doing it again. In an effort to conserve fabric I cut it in strips and pieced it together, rather than cutting it as one piece. I need that leftover velvet for the gable hood!




Add another 5 hours to the roster, bringing the total to 57hrs 45min.