15th Century German Under Dress

I made this dress for Mercy Neumark, who is a Master Potter! She does a lot of 15th-16th c. German pottery, so this was so perfect for her! The original image is late 15th c. German, and it depicts a female potter at a wheel. This would also be medieval underwear, to go underneath gowns. We chose wool lined in muslin so she could easily wear it alone (gotta look like the awesome picture!), while it can also be a warm undergarment. I also made the lacing cords for the sides by finger loop braiding, and the eyelets are all hand stitched. All machine stitching on the garment is hidden inside the lining and hand finished.

A note: This is one variation of the elusive under dress that has started to surface rapidly since the unveiling of the Lengberg bra. I personally believe that this type of fitted upper bodice and attached skirt could be one possibility regarding the origin of a Lengberg bra type garment. This one is obviously a bit different, but I think it's the same type of idea.

Venetian Gown Progress

I've been working on a new Venetian gown! How did this come to be, you may ask? Well, a while back, I came upon this fabulous dupioni silk. It's hot pink shot with blue, so it appears different shades of purple-ish depending on the light and angle. I got a deal on the remainder from the bolt and set it aside, wondering what should I make it into. A wonderful fantasy gown for my collection, perhaps? A fabulous fanciful historical gown for myself? Finally, fanciful Venetian gown won! I don't have a portrait of anyone wearing this color, but it makes me really happy. I have seen mention of shot fabrics in period, and they did have pinks and blues. And, yes, various qualities of silk did exist, not only smooth silk. Smooth silk, however, would have been preferred, as it was (and is!) more costly and higher class ish.

Enough of my rambling. The gown is a basic bodice pattern with an open V in front. The ladder lacing goes through some lacing rings I stitched to the inside. I wear a corset underneath, but I still added boning to the bodice to maintain the shape. The skirt is cartridge pleated, which I did in the library one day! I reinforce my cartridge pleats, when the fabric is so thin, with a satin ribbon. I did some hand beading on the bodice, and the insert is silk lined in linen with an interlining, the same as the bodice itself. The insert will be pinned to my camicia when worn.

It's almost done! I actually just need to make a petticoat! I'm going to wear my old cutwork sleeves for now - or go sleeveless when it's warm.

Teal Kampfrau Dress

I don't believe I shared this dress on my blog yet. This is a 16th century German style, also seen amongst the Swiss. These ladies are now known as kampfrau or trossfrau, and they followed the Landsknecht soldiers.

This dress began as an underskirt for my other kampfrau dress, my first year in the SCA. I later made the bodice and turned it into a new dress. I mean, when you have such fun colors, it's hard to just hide them!
The hat, known as a wulsthaube, was a pretty recent project. It's made from a sort of padded roll structure sewn to a thick headband piece, and the veil is tied on top.

More photos here: http://www.faerie-queen.com/teal-german-kampfrau/

Sideless Surcote and Gothic Fitted Gown in Progress

I have several projects in progress right now. Since I have photos of these, I thought I'd share! These are both 14th/15th c. I have a couple of late 16th c. projects going too, but I need to photograph them before I can share!

The first one is a wool gothic fitted gown, lined in linen. I already had both fabrics at home, and I thought it would be nice for cold weather. It gets much colder in CA than where I grew up, so now I'm always bundling up in lots of layers that may or may not match, and this will really help!

The second one is a sideless surcote to accompany a late 15th century transition gown - also made, just not pictured. I used non-bias binding since I really only have evidence for non-bias and I wanted to try it out. I've worked with tons of bias binding in my life, and I was a bit worried about going around all these curves without bias, but it worked out really nicely! It's still pinned down on the backside in the photo, hence all those little pinned spots.

Realm of Venus Showcase

I'm really honored to be this month's featured costumer on Realm of Venus! For anyone who doesn't know, Realm of Venus is a really cool website dedicated to Italian Renaissance costume research. They do periodical showcases for costumers who have created lovely Italian Renaissance outfits, and I'm really excited to be a part of it!

You can see the showcase here:
http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/yourgarb/2013/DaisyV.htm

The gown I have featured is my 1490s Italian Renaissance dress made of red velvet and brocade, in the Venetian style. This is my favorite Italian Renaissance style! I included a few pictures below, but please check out the showcase (link above) for all of the photos and the information!