Feb 27, 2016

YWU 2016 - My entry

My husband teaches historic dance and needed a new outfit that was light and able to be packed down flat into a suitcase for our upcoming historic dance and costume tour to Germany in May.

Inspiration:
My inspiration picture was this portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh by William Segar and this one of Raleigh and his son.


Fabric inspiration:
I found a piece of silk blend fabric for the trunkhose and doublet from a secondhand store in Cooma and a sari online for the jerkin and trunkhose panes. These fabrics were nice and light, and silk always impresses me with its ability to flatten really easily. The sari matched the older Sir Walter Raleigh's outfit perfectly! I found a matching trim at Heritage Trading on Ebay.




 




I started out using the Tudor Tailor pattern but ended up adapting the trunkhose so they were more comfortable to wear. The pattern itself was a challenge, as it was on an enormous sheet of paper and did not come with seam allowances marked. As I did not have a tool to mark the lines I had to use a piece of chalk and ruler and work my way around all the pieces - including all the panes!

I learnt an enormous amount about the layers in this particular outfit that I had not known when I had made Elizabethan costumes in the past. Previously I had made a doublet with detachable sleeves and had not been aware that normally the sleeves are sewn in to the doublet body and that the sleeveless jerkin was worn over the top. Pinterest saved the day as I was able to view so many more historic portraits than before when I had questions.


I also learnt that people will notice hand sewn buttonholes - John couldn't believe how many comments he received when he wore the outfit a few weeks ago!

My costume blog is at http://aylwen.blogspot.com.au/ and I have been storing many of my production photos on my Facebook sewing page.

























1 comment:

Beky said...

Amazing work. You are very patient and talented. Fabric was perfect. Good luck.

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