So, it’s hot. The wave of hot has made me reconsider my previous project plans a bit. I still want to do the loose kirtle and gown in addition to a one piece gown, but I think the one piece gown will come first. I’m currently mid-smock, which was going to be used for the comfort ensemble. I’ll finish it today–it’s so pretty! I wish I’d decided on this timeline earlier, so that I could have done some embroidery on the cuffs and collar, but I need to practice a lot more before I stitch something people can see.
My new first project is going to land somewhere between an early 16th century Florentine gown and an English fitted kirtle. It’ll have a high waist, but I probably won’t slope the shoulder straps so drastically. I’m willing to try side-lacing, but I don’t know how that works with the attached skirt, so I need to do some quick research. It’ll have a maternity hemline which I can raise for next season–I’ll trace the comfort ensemble hemline so that I don’t screw that up. I’m going to use the ten yards of mulberry linen that I was going to use for my Tudor Kirtle, making it a reasonable layer under an overgown later. I’m probably going to make the trim from broadcloth remnants, I just need to see what’s in the stash. If I do this right, I may only need to make the loose gown, maximizing any crafting time that I might have before I have no energy left.
I’m washing, re-washing, and over washing the linen.
Updates to come! Thanks for reading!
UPDATE: The smock is complete, and I love it! Oh, wait – I love most of it. I stitched the sleeves on backwards. Whatever…it’s done. The linen is still being washed and dried and washed and dried. There are still a lot of hard bits in it, but it’s getting less itchy. I am back to flip-flopping on which ensemble to make–I would need to go shopping for the comfort ensemble, but I’m not convinced that the linen I have is ideal for the stand alone kirtle that I want to make. Argh! I hate everything.
Green Linen Shirt 