Blue-brown Renaissance Costume - Finished

So I had skirts and corset, let's make the outfit complete.

This pattern for chemise is great, a looot better than the one with diagonal seams from armpit to neckline. The body can be like 80 cm wide (twice).

I sewed it all together...

... and made a tunnel around the neck. I inserted thick cord.

I gathered the neckline. I fitted it on myself and sewed over the cord at the corners so that the distances would not change. I pulled the fabric a bit to form nice little gathering and steamed it (no pressing).

The sleeve should be gathered too, so I sewed on a strip of fabric at the wrong side. I was cheating a bit - I used elastic for more comfort.

A bit of steam for the sleeve. So the chemise is done.

I made a pocket for my belongings. I drew the shape, made one sack from the leather-like fabric and one from the linen lining. I sewed the seam allowances of both together.

I wrapped the upper fabric over the lining and sewed on.

A few holes, a real-leather cap and a pocket is done.

I also made breeches with lace hem.

The back of the chemise is high, that's why the chemise never falls of my shoulders despite the wide and deep neckline at the front. I even made the belt and the sack for money :)

This is my new renaissance dress in colours of water and ground.

Blue-brown Renaissance Costume - Corset

So I made the pattern, now let's make the real thing.

I drew the pattern at the upper of two layers of fabric and marked each outline to its symmetrical piece - each line was drawn really thick, I put them wrong sides in and thuded with a fist. Method for the lazy :)

I remembered that once I was making a prototype from lightweight fabric and then the real sturdy corset with three layers was too narrow, so I sewed 2 mm from the drawn line.

I also had to put a bit more to the front center. I found out that the seam allowances must go to the center. The bones would lay one on another at the lowest point of the front panel if I didn't widen the pattern. A tunnel for each bone.

I sewed and serged the seams where I was sure I won't be adding in case the corset is narrow. I fitted it and found out it was just okay. So in the end I added 2 mm to each seam plus half a cm to the center front.

I sewed the boning tunnels on to the corset body. I ironed fusible web where the grommets would be and sewed a tunnel there too. I serged the lower edge and closed the tunnels with few more stitches where the boning would end.

The steel boning must not be sharp cause it could cut the stitches. My grinding machine did the job (oh, I love it!).

Maybe once I'll want the buy these special endings for boning, but at the moment, I don't see the point.

I cut the upper edge. I inserted the boning until I reached the stitches and drew a line at the upper edge. Then I took out each bone and made a line 8 mm lower than the first one. There I will cut and grind again

I punched the holes for lacing. They are just behind the boning, so that the fabric would not tend to wrinkle. I inserted grommets.

The upper and lower edge is neatly finished with a bias tape.

Leather Bottles

We've been making some leather bottles for our viking affairs.

We started with making paper templates. The shape was then drawn to the cow leather with a ballpoint (chalks and pencils don't do the job).

Then the outline was glued (both pieces) from the stitch line to the edge.

We pressed the glued pieces under wooden planks until it the glue dried.Then we grinded the edge so that the two layers looked like one.

I drew and cut out a groove for the stitches.

Then I punched the holes for the stitches. I did it from one side, from the other side and I made a groove at the back.

The leather bottle was sewn and dived to hot water until it became elastic. 

Then the stopper of the right size was picked and the lower side was narrowed.

We stuffed the bottle very hard with grain and put the stopper in.

As the glue is water soluble, we put office clips at the seams to reseal the glue. The bottle dried overnight.

We poured the grain out. We put in some screws and nuts and shaked until the last grain went out.

When the bottle was dry, we poured it in hot wax (it must not boil, so it is warmed upon hot water). It takes about five minutes from both sides. There must come no more air bubbles from the seams.

The bottle must be very very dry before this step! We 'boiled' one bottle - it was not perfectly dry and it got wrinkles.

Punching the holes.

Our bottleeees!
Mine are the right light two and my husband made the left light tree (one of them is the boiled one).

Blue-brown Renaissance Costume - Corset Pattern

Yeah, I made a new corset pattern and I am proud of it :-) I made out my own way and it quite worked.

So to the measuring: measure the waist, hips (at the lowest point of the corset), bust (really tightly - for me it was normal bust measurement - 3cm) and the measurement just above the bust (also tightly), where the corset would end.

Then add some more: measure (from waist) where the lowest point of the corset would be - both at the side and at the center. Waist to armpit. How much the front piece would be higher than the rest.

Some of these measurements are just about design, so e.g. for my corset I used 5 cm higher front piece, the lower edge is lower than waist: 10 cm at the sides and 15 cm at the center.

 And you can measure where the side seam would be, so the width of the back.

Start with this construction, using the measurements for back, armpit, lowest edge, hips and front piece hightening.

This will be half the corset with back middle at the left and front middle at the right, so don't forget to divide every width measurement by two!

Here's how to draw the pattern in eight easy steps :)

Measure the front piece from the right edge - the back and front pieces toghether must give you the bust measurement.

As the corset will form the figure, I substracted 1.5 cm from each side edge and drew vertical lines there.

In the middle between them I splitted the lower edge and drew nice hip lines from the waist to this point. You really should imagine women's hips there to get the shape right.

Measure the side lowest point and drew the lower edge. Decide where the 'tucks' will be.

(In fact the left tuck on the front pieces was straight like the other one, but this should work as well. It is always easier to fit and sew straight tucks.)

When you distract the waist measurement from the bust measurement, you get a width that you will divide to the tucks. I used slightly more of this for the front piece, and the least for the tucks closer to the center.

Draw about a middle between the bust and waist line at the front piece. Add the same widths for the tuck as at the waist line.

Join the tucks with lower and upper edge.

Prolong the auxiliary front center tuck line above the bust line. For the other front piece tuck, make a parallel line.

Substract the above bust measurement from the bust measurement and you'll got the width of the tucks at the upper edge. At the three front pieces, I only changed left and right piece. Draw the edge.

 Join all the tucks.

Draw the final shape. At each sharp corner, draw a nice spline.

And here's the reality after the whole afternoon of fitting :-)

(If you ever used my pattern, please leave a photo of the corset in the comments :-*)

Blue-brown Renaissance Costume - Skirts

Two full circle skirts, one from waist to the ground, the other one shorter with uneven edge.

I cut out twice half of a circle, the inner one with 30 cm diameter.

And a bias tape for rubber band tunnel.

I sewed the sides of the skirt and tape (leaving opening for rubber band), and I serged one edge of the bias tape.

I pinned the tape to the waist of the skirt, right sides together, the serged edge out. I marked quarters on the tape and the waist, and I started with pinning these four points together.

I ironed the seam allowance to its proper position and I also ironed the upper edge.

Then sewed through the waist seam at the right side of the skirt.

I inserted the rubber band and hemmed the lower edge.

Here they are!

P.S.: At the end the color seemed too khaki to me, I made a better (pronounce longer) one that really is brown :)