Italian Style Green Gown for a Young Woman

I have been occupied for the last few weeks with a project for a friend. 

Lochac's big SCA event 'Rowany Festival' is coming up, and a young friend wanted to learn how to make an Italian style dress and make a new one in time for Festival. It was a great opportunity to pass on skills, but (as so often happens) there wasn't enough time to get much done during our designated time together. I have been working on the outfit when my health allows, and I can finally see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

The dress is made from a hard wearing and washable cotton drill and lined in drill and calico. The light boning is removable as the wearer is still adjusting to boned garments. There is a pleat at the hem to allow for growth. Three seams are machine sewn, with all other sewing, including seam felling, being done by hand. The dress has commercially made trim applied. The pattern is based on an existing 16thC style dress that is comfortable for the wearer.

Some excellent images of 16th century working class dress can be found here:

Italy: Working Class Dress (1575-1600) - Sophie Stitches (weebly.com)

including this detail from the Nativity of Mary by Pietro Ronzelli which is in the style of the recipient's wardrobe-

A split stitch design for a shirt, in the German style

I recently had a chance to make a collar panel for a friend's shirt as part of a collaborative project.

I used this pattern from 'Book of Embroidery: 1534', by Johan Schartzenberger, Woodcutter of Augsburg as my inspiration.

Time was short on this one, so I made some adjustments to make working the piece a bit faster.

The original woodcut is a bit wonky in places, as so many of the period embroidery designs are. I am always torn whether to alter the design to make it more symmetrical, or leave it as is. I altered some of the wonky bits, but left the majority of the design as it was published.

The base fabric is linen (donated by THL Sorcha - thank you). The embroidery is worked in split stitch with a bit of double running stitch. I traced the design onto the linen using a Frixion heat-removable marker and a light board.

 

 

 

Overall, and given the time restrictions, I am fairly happy with how this piece turned out. Now it has been passed onto the next person for making up.

Many thanks to THL Sorcha for donating the linen.

Mouse Pouch

In my SCA Kingdom, admission to the Mouse Guard is given by the Crown in recognition of the contribution to our Kingdom by children between the ages of four and thirteen years old. Recipients are traditionally presented with a red pouch known as a 'mouse pouch'.

I found this unfinished mouse pouch in my Unfinished Object (UFO) pile, just lacking eyelets and ties. So I finished it off, and presented it to His Majesty to be presented to a new member of the Guard sometime in the future.

I'm pleased to have another UFO completed, and relatively happy with how the pouch turned out (although I would thread the ties differently next time).