Wearables Medieval Delfs, The boys need clothes.

This summer, the Undershelf Delf ladies switched dresses after too long without any attention.


Over the years, I've made enough versions of the Adams Harris dress for everyone to choose one.


As the dressing proceeded, Lisette wasn't happy with the color choices...and the only guy with medieval garb is Talfryn...so this has become the unplanned summer sewing project: one lady dress & garb for 4 or 5 guys.

First I dug through the fabric stash, pulled out the stretch velvets, textured knits, suede cloth, burnout velvets, brocades, linings & whatever might be useful. Putting colors together & matching them to the dolls was great fun. Now if the sewing will be that simple!


Pulled out my trusty costume history books & enjoyed a day browsing for ideas.


The page is open to the image that caught my eye for Lisette. And here are the fabrics we settled on, navy/burgundy stretch velvet, burgundy burnout velvet, black satin & a bit of shimmer for her belt.

 

Lisette is a Maskcat doll vampire who is Y'Der's consort. She fits in nicely with my elven delfs.


First step, starting with the Adams Harris pattern for the underdress, then chalking in the skirt shape I want rather than using the skirt gussets it calls for.


This stretch lace isn't the perfect lining, as fingers stick sliding into the arms...but it stretches with the knits & does a nice job of finishing the neckline & sleeve hem without adding bulk to the dress. ;}


For the back closure I'm trying something different, using this trim with a ribbon for lacing up the back so that getting her into the dress is more manageable.


Don't think me speedy, its just taken me a couple weeks to get around to beginning this journal. ;}
Underdress completed!

 

The over tunic could have been quick...but its 2020 after all...
Using lots of pins, I sewed the neckline of the velvet & satin lining together & survived!!
Sewed up the side seams. But it was a chore getting her in it & the arm holes were super tight?!?!
Thats when I discovered I wasn't thinking as carefully as I thought when cutting out the fabric. :/
I used the Adams Harris pattern for a starting point (which is designed for all way stretch knits) & thought I'd allowed for the nonstretch variation of the satin & sheer velvet...

With the dress too tight & other distractions, I let Lisette be for a while. After thinking on it for a week, it finally dawned on me to add an underarm gusset & the same lacing trim down each side seam to add to the width of the dress. I managed to unpick the tunic side seams while she was still stuck in it & it was much easier getting it off her. Here's the widened side seam & underarm gusset.


Now its easier to put on her over tunic & I'm happy to say she's dressed!!


The main reason for starting this journal is to keep me going, so the guys get dressed & the fabrics get put away so the guest room can return to normal. XD
See ya in a couple days.

 

Maskcat is so sweet to work with & did Lisette's beautiful faceup. Good luck getting her Rurimas when it is the right time.

 

Well, having the Fantasy sewing challenge to help nudge me into productivity is beginning to work!!
Phinias is my next subject. He's a Delf Shiwoo, the only human in the family, Theadora Drajica's {Angel Elf Soo} significant other.

And now perhaps one of Talfryn's men at arms? A lost shephard? Hmm...
This is the fabric pile for Phin. natural looking fabrics in brown & tan with a bit of navy blue velvet & gilt trim being gifts from his lady.


I had a pair of close hose left over from a previous sewing adventure. But they'll need to be reused as something else as they are definitely not long enough!!


I drafted this pants pattern 8 or 9 years ago for Y'der. It should give me a good starting point for the infamous Delf figure. In this case I want something looser than tights but not too baggy. I have a remnant of wool knit from some ancient project (perhaps even from my grandmother's stash?!?!) and the texture is just right although it doesn't have much stretch to it.


Turned out the pants needed a bit of taking in on the seams this time. And it looks like I'll be needing to add a waistband since they seem a tad short waisted. Good thing that will be hidden by his shirt & tunic.


The suede strips from who knows where in my trim box are finally useful! I'm happy with how he's dressed so far. The boots are an attempt I made a couple years ago for a DT13 girl who was Joan of Arc for a bit.


This waffle knit has such a good loose weave look to it, that its just what I wanted for his shirt. In order to get his head through, I went ahead and gave him a front neck slit. Lining the neckline with some of the wool knit added just enough stability. I wish I'd made the sleeves looser at the top...man, sleeves are tricky! I was sure 6" would be a big enough armhole line but it looks like 7 or 8 would have been better. Good enough, as tomorrow he gets an over tunic & hooded shoulder cape.


Yeah!!!! I've gotten one of the guys dressed!!!

 

Thanks Mew-Lidia9!
Yep. When I discovered bjds in 2009, a friend had gorgeous Delfs I enjoyed visiting. Juri 2005 is my favorite & over time 4 very different Juri ladies found me. Once Harmony de la Coeur chose Talfryn as her consort, the elven court was established.

 

Thanks Teddy & chrstphrl!
Sharing the process with y'all is finally getting me going on it.

Last evening I cut out Phin's velvet over tunic & this morning I got back to sewing.
Lots of pins kept the stretch velvet & knit fabric lining together. Wish it didn't curl at the hems...


Maybe someday I'll add hooks & eyes to close the front but for now his belt is enough.

Drafting the pattern for his shoulder cape went pretty smoothly. I decided not to line the light weight pleather in order to keep it softer for draping. And also decided it needed a dart on each shoulder to keep it sitting closer to his shoulders.




Then Phin pointed out a pouch on his belt would be handy. And with the pleather it worked up fine.


Of course now that he's back with Thea, no one can tell how well dressed he is except me. ;}


Tomorrow I'll have to decide if its time to work on Y'Der or Dante's clothes next.

 

Thanks Lillyevergold.
The books? That's how my brain works. I need an external image or pattern to get me started & then I start changing it into what I'm imagining or the fabrics take over & affect how the design process goes. Clothing history has been a passion of mine since I first found that section in the library. And my personal library started growing as I took classes later in college. Now, Google makes the possibilities for sources even bigger. :O
In fact, today, I'm back looking through the books to nail down Dante's style. I'm beginning to suspect he's a mid thigh, fitted coat kind of guy...

 

Well, darn. Photobucket is out of action currently.
After doing some googling this morning, most posts seemed to be sharing the info from the books I have, were behind paywalls I can't afford to be adding currently or were using very modern illustrations to attempt to replicate medieval fashions...
The two tone tunic half way down this page peaked my imagination.
Fashion History of the High and Late Middle Ages—Medieval Clothing
Along with some of the images of courtly young men wearing rich fabrics, pointed tunic sleeves & wide necked tunics.
Kohler's "A History of Costume" is being the most useful book source this time.
I've settled on a design idea for Dante & will be back with photos when Photobucket returns.

That was quick!

Interesting how taking a photo shows up colors that don't read as you expected. The rusty red on the bottom right is the back side of the navy & red liquid velvet which I was hoping to use. But its getting set aside for this project. The dark red stretch velvet is only a narrow remnant so I won't be able to make too tight of hose for him as the stretch runs lengthwise of the fabric & I'll have to cut on the cross wise of the fabric to use up what I have.
Dante is a 2013 Fairyland Juri on the 60cm muscular body.
He & Aurea Grace de la Luna have been deeply attached since his arrival.


And here's the sketch pulling together the colors & fabrics I have & the ideas I absorbed.

Still have to think about how he gets in & out of the tunic...opening down the front would simplify things but wasn't the current fashion. Hmm...

 

Teddy, that's the image that jogged my imagination (Feeling lazy about making a close fitted cotehardie this time. ) so I was thinking looser, about a century earlier maybe? Those look closed up the front. Hmm...but maybe if I leave the shoulder's open with a hook...that might be an idea. Historical is a fluid thing in the elven realm. ;}

 

Hi Jany!!
Teddy, I've given myself yet ANOTHER ridiculously frustrating hand sewing chore...it's 2/3 done & I'll finish it up in the morning.

Dante is handsome enough to have worn a fitted cotehardie nicely. But he didn't get one. Instead, he's sporting close fitting closed velvet trousers & a velvet shirt from my sewing today.


I love the pattern of this burnout velvet. It was a shirt in a thrift store which I bought long ago & have been slowly cutting up for doll clothes.


That part of the sewing went smoothly. I would have liked puffier sleeves, but cutting them from one human sleeve only allowed this much puff. The fabric makes him look rather chesty & broad shouldered.

The next step was cutting out his bicolored tunic. Mirror image issues with cutting out the pieces gave my directionally challenged brain a work out. I had to cut one piece twice in order to get a red shoulder matching to a black shoulder at each seam & a red front matched to a black front (And the same for the back) plus the linings being the opposites. Seemed simple enough when I started...


I decided to go with the wider boatneck cut so his shirt will show a bit & hopefully his head will fit through.
Sewing the lining & outside together along the hemlines & slits up to the waist plus the neckline led to a mobius strip...d'oh!
I'd sewn the bottom hem & neck line on Phin's tunic & it had flipped just fine but apparently this time I took it a step too far.
After unpicking the stitches at the neckline the tunic flipped right side out just fine. I pinned the necklines & top stitched them together since I'm going to put trim over that edge.
The sleeves went together smoothly. Pressing the fabrics helped a lot in getting a flat finished look.
Now it's just a matter of tacking down the fur trim, plus the burgundy trim which I discovered in my stash today.
If only the fur didn't tangle with the thread as I sew. :/


sure hope this works...as I haven't been stopping to try the tunic on as I go....
Then he's pointing out that a pouch & shoes would be good to add to the list. ;}

 

Well, I went with alternating colors. Guess that will be the fantasy aspect . ;}
Thanks Teddy!

 

WHile avoiding that hand sewing, I'm tackling this.
/threads/sd-sized-pointed-shoe-pattern-8-5cm-foot.583880/
Good thing I bought that random box of thin leather scraps on ebay 8 or 10 years ago.

 

Dante was amused by my avoidance technique today.


The pattern I'd sketched off from the DOA thread linked above wasn't quite his size so I had to locate my proportion wheel ,which had gotten misplaced. Then a quick measurement of his foot gave me an idea how much to enlarge the pattern on my printer/copier.


But putting his foot over the sole pattern showed I still needed to enlarge it more. So I penciled in the added allowances & cut out a papertowel mockup to test the pattern. ANd it worked!


I cut out a heavy cardboard inner sole & taped the papertowel shoe to it to make sure the shoe would fit over his foot.


This was my final pattern for the 60cm fairyland boy.


Several years ago I had bought a box of thin leather remnants. And then also received more remnants from a leather crafter friend of a friend. SO I had plenty of thin black leather to choose from. Some time in the past I'd bought one package of leather sewing machine needles because sewing leather requires a different needle shape to catch the thread. Luckily I still had two needles left as there is one bit of sewing required for the back seam of the shoe & I was avoiding hand sewing. I only have elmers white craft glue here at the moment. So I ran a line of glue along the under side edge of the inner sole, started at the heel seam of the shoe upper, & carefully folded under the seam allowance to glue it in place. A bit of scotch tape helped keep the heel point in place as I worked & the glue was tacky enough to hold the leather the first time around!!! Once it was clearly staying put, I went ahead & glued the shoe sole over everything & put the slippers on Dante.



Mischief managed, & leather needle still on the sewing machine, I cut out & made Dante a belt & pouch while I was at it.

His buckle is a vintage piece from my box of handy bits & pieces.

Plenty accomplished without tackling the fur! XD

 

While continuing to avoid hand work, I tried on Dante's tunic.
Good thing the front & back are equal...as apparently I sewed on the sleeves with the openings pointing to the back...but wearing it backwards seems to work just fine?!?!? Geesh. I may still unpick the stitching & reset the sleeves correctly when I work on it tomorrow. They weren't hard to sew in & it can be corrected which will make me happy in the long term. ;}
My husband suggests perhaps the other arm of the tunic doesn't need fur. But I'm still planning to tackle it. Its a balance thing for me.
Maybe tomorrow.




This is sooo much Dante's kind of style, it makes me really happy.

 

Teddy, I got the tunic off of him & laid it out flat. Turns out it's fine, the front is in front. Just didn't want the neckline higher in front than in back.
I was really amazed how easily the shoes made up as I've been dreading the thought. Channelling my normal work production time into doll clothes & figuring I'd better get to it while I can as usually I'm sadly postponing doll sewing due to work. That's the only reason this project is getting anywhere. ;}
Well, it was getting anywhere until the thought of hand sewing the trim stalls me out... XD

 

XD too true Teddy. ;}
However I just made myself use the calm morning time to sew the fur trim.
And then Dante pointed out it is high summer & he's going to go sit with his lady in his shirt & trousers for now. He'll enjoy the tunic later in the fall. ;D

 

Dante is settled back in with the Undershelf Delfs.


It is beginning to look a bit more balanced down there.


Next up, Iliya Vladim Volkov. An elf el from long ago in the notorious beauty white. His is a mellowed creamy color.


After Dante's excesses, Iliya & I have agreed upon more of a noble horseman's look.


After flopping the fabrics down around Iliya a few ways, The current plan is grey hose, shimmering grey shirt, diamond pattern sleeveless tunic & black hood & shoulder cape. I may make a pair of black with silver streaked hose just in case...never hurts to have a spare pair as the short brown ones keep proving. ;}


So far he's rejected most of my trim ideas but perhaps the silver trim will go around the shoulder cape...time will tell.

 

Thanks for the warning Jany. I've been thinking it would be smart to put socks on him since they are black leather shoes.
I had a black suede vest turn my white blouse green one time when it got wet.
Most of their clothes I've been careful to make sure black fabrics won't actually be against the doll resin for similar reasons but did get in a hurry on his shoes. ;}
(Glad you like his clothes. ;D Ever since Empty_fullmoon did his faceup he's had this personality & keeps the Delf shelf lively.)

 

Thank you rosalynmouse!

 

Looks like Photobucket is going through more update hiccups. Hopefully the broken photos in the beginning posts will reappear soon.
Today Iliya received new hose & a shirt. I planned to make grey hose, but he talked me into the black with silver streaks instead.

When I was hunting for grey thread to sew his shirt, I came across a spool of silvery grey rayon thread. This led to deciding to use one of the decorative stitches on my ancient Singer sewing machine to decorate the neckline, shoulders & hem. Interesting to discover how each of the dolls once again adds their own unique style to my creativity. ;}


He's also thinking the over tunic needs one black front panel to balance out all the diamonds in the fabric...
The tunic is cut out. Once I sort out the best plan for finishing the neckline, armholes & split skirt hems without creating another mobius strip, I'll get it put together.

 

The appearing, disappearing photo thing is happening again. D'oh!!!
But some have returned...& others have disappeared...hope you get to see the ones you haven't seen...
Lets see if the current photos appear for more than a moment...

Making Iliya's tunic required some thinking time as I wanted to line & turn as many of the edges as possible. Arm holes, neck line & split hem. Finally in a moment of illumination, I remembered some advise from Teddy.
The idea was to sew the lining closed on the shoulder seams , leave the side seams open to turn the front tunic & back tunic as seperate units then once everything was turned & pressed, to whipstitch the shoulder edges to one another. And, to leave one shoulder unstitched ,instead of having a slit down the front for pulling it over his head, with bead buttons to close the shoulder when he's dressed.





The loop trim & black beads worked well for buttoning the shoulder & its a bit of a wiggle, but looks great once I got him in it!
I'm glad I decided to give him that one black panel, and the black & silver leggings.

He got a black suede cloth hood using the pattern I'd made for Phinias. I lined it with the same fabric as his leggings.
As I started on his belt, I got to rummaging through my boxes of useful things, looking for a buckle & instead came upon an old costume jewelry bracelet which turned into most of a fancy jeweled belt for him. Added a strip of leather to make it fit his waist, gave him another look over & decided he needed a sword of some sort.
I've gotten a few letter openers for swords for the dolls over time. But all were too fancy or too piratey for Iliya & the elven court. But there was a spare blade with no hilt in the box...with jewelry findings & wire from the box of possibilities, I started cobbling something together for a hand gaurd & hilt. I was too tired & inexperienced & lacking in tools or good glue but finally had parts & pieces loosely in place. As a last resort I slathered it in craft glue & wrapped the hilt with a strip of leather & set it aside for the night. To my surprise this morning the hilt was solid & looks just fine at his waist!


Hooray! He's dressed!!


Next project, when I get inspired, will be Y'der who has been wearing this black & purple suit for quite a long time...


His fabric pile

 

Yes, my friend. Always one more thing...
I did go back & sew some chain to the belt this morning so the sword has some where to hang without slicing his waist or belt. But he's standing with the ladies now so research & planning his scabbard will wait a bit while I get the other fellows dressed.
Thanks for keeping me thinking Teddy. Soooooo many details to keep in mind! ;}

 

Oh, Angelesk, I hope they don't make you sad!!! I am amazed myself that all these Delfs found me. When I discovered bjds in 2009 I'd never heard of Cerberus Project. And as I began to see some I loved the aesthetic of their sculpts. Then by 2012, dolls from 2005 were going out of style with many collectors & I was lucky enough to get each of these dolls from friends or the marketplace here. I still can't believe I have a 2005 Juri, let alone 4 of them!?!?!
The curse of having more than one is that I don't redress them very often any more. Getting them all into similar garb this summer is making me really happy but almost too much sewing. XD
Which Delfs do you have?

 

In fact that letter opener has quite a sharp point & a scabbard would be wise. I'll just have to go research what it is they look like. Can't imagine what the google info collectors think of my random search topics. XD
You had me puzzled for a moment mentioning green, but I see it is my poor color editing job on the fabrics. They are nice & rich which seems right for the Vampire in the realm. I'm still mulling over what to do but think I'll start by making him the dark grey velvet leggings. Sounds like I'd better plan on doing more research today to figure out what to do after that!

Research info!
"Medieval Sword Scabbard How to Project" Medieval Sword Scabbard How to Project

The how to on hanging it from his belt is exactly what I needed.

 

Teddy, I think I fixed the setting on Photobucket ystrdy. I'll double check.
The site upgrades have definitely given me some headaches. Today, on my phone, all the photos are back in this journal?!?! Hope that's true for other folks. I was using the thumbnail photo links to reduce band width usage as that was my problem with the previous subscription. I'm using full size photos less but hoped that was good enough. Definitely meant to keep the photo album access public though.

Don't worry, I won't go to too much trouble. ;} Mostly I needed a hint what it all should look like. I'm thinking I can slip the sword out of his belt with out moving him for now, build the rig & have it ready to hang on his belt the next time the doll group gets moved about.

 

Well, this isn't how I expected to spend today...which is pretty much what I've been saying every day since March! ;}

Teddy was correct. Even a short sword should have a sheath. Especially since that letter opener blade has quite a sharp tip!
Ye Old Gaffer had just the info I needed in the link I shared above.
After reading through the how to info, I skipped the part about making a wooden inner frame. ;D
However, when I made a leather sheath in a hurry several years ago, I basically made a leather cover for a sword which is too floppy & doesn't have a proper way to hang on a belt. This time I wanted to make the scabbard more sturdy & functional.
Using some light weight cardboard from a notebook cover that I had saved for repurposing, I traced around the sword blade, added some allowance space & cut out two pieces for the front & back. Because I love the decorative etching on the top of the blade I decided to cut away part of the top front to allow the decoration to show. Next step was to use some of the black leather to carefully cover that top front section, gluing the leather around the cut edges of the opening. Good thing my little bottle of Elmer's craft glue is at the perfect gluing age, as it is all I have in the house for this sort of thing right now!
Once the glue was set, I taped the two pieces of cardboard together with masking tape. Put the sword in its cardboard sheath,( to make sure it would fit ) & left it in for the rest of the process. Set this on the piece of the leather & cut out the approximate shape I'd need for pulling the leather together in the back. Carefully cut across the front below the opening while leaving myself enough leather to cover the back. (I'm sure there are simpler ways to proceed but they didn't occur to me as I dashed along today. XD
And here are the first photos I remembered to take.
The front with the opening trimmed with leather

The taped cardboard frame ready to wrap in leather.


It isn't nicely stitched up the back as the Gaffer's is...but I did get the leather edges to meet, and the glue seems to hold it nicely to the cardboard.
I added a top edge strap to keep the front of the sheath from popping apart, and to hold one of the sheath strap rings. Added a strap around just below the opening to give a more finished look to the sheath. And then added the last strap mid way down to hold the second sheath strap ring.


The glue & materials gods were being most kind to me today. Everything cleaned up nicely. I added a few stitches as needed to the straps to secure them better. I came across a tin leaf in my box while hunting for jump rings for the straps. Yes, in fact, a metal stop at the tip is a good idea. Or at least the appearance of one...


Two more straps, two more jump rings & by Jove, its a sword in a sheath that will hang from a belt!!!


Because Iliya is currently deep in the Undershelf Hall, here's Y'der modelling the finished look.


Happily my directional challenge issues didn't get the better of me this time. So its even on the correct side, as long as they are right handed swordsmen. ;}
Thanks for encouraging me Teddy.

 

Ideas for Y'der's garb...
The Cotehardie & Houppelande Homepage
The site is still under construction, apparently each page link only links to the homepage.
Click on "Sewing" or "Patterns" in the menu along the right of the screen for some useful information.
Houppelandes of the Early 15th Century | The Compleatly Dressed Anachronist
I like the Gentleman about half way down the page, "Detail from the Queen's Book".
The Royal Grave Clothing of 14th Century Bohemia
The Brazen Burgundian - Home
Joconde - catalogue - dictionnaires
While he doesn't need a quilted coat for armour, there are good construction drawings here...
http://cottesimple.com/wp/wp-conten...rpoint-article-Tasha-D-Kelly-reduced-size.pdf

Oooh...folio 17...« Registre d'armes » ou armorial d'Auvergne, dédié par le hérault Guillaume REVEL au roi Charles VII.

Conjectural late 14th/15th century men’s cotehardie pattern
Well, now...just had a blog remind me that I own a book which would have been handy for all of these projects! "The Medieval Tailor's Assistant" by Sarah Thursfield. I'll be busy reading for a bit. >///<

 

Having fallen in love with Folio 17 from the Registre de Armes (link in post above), I reconsidered my fabric choices.
Set aside the purple sued cloth I had in Y'der's pile. And pulled out a lovely thin plum wool I've been saving for a Victorian winter gown for Charity. There will probably be plenty for both, and her dress has been waiting for years so the immediate project wins. ;D Hunted through my trim box for proper ostentation for a wealthy vampire of the court. And the new materials list is this:

(Perhaps the colors will read better this time Teddy. As a vampire, we set aside the silver brocade & went with gold accents. ;} )

After browsing through the Medieval tailor book, I have found useful patterns for Y'der's houppeland & see that technically he should get a doublet as well. But for now I will be happy to simply get his leggings, shirt & gown made! Along with shoes, purse & belt...


Now to actually get him dressed!

 

Thanks so much Teddy! It is a bit rough, in a theater prop sort of way, but I'm really happy with the results. And I can pull the sword out & slide it back in which is even better! I'm so glad you always challenge me to try just a little more on these projects & I'm always in awe of your handwork as well.
Don't tell Sarah, but I admit I was a bit impatient after discovering her book so late in my project... so I started at the back & flipped along till I found just what I needed for this project! And then flipped through the rest of the book & discovered what I should have been doing all along on the others. >///< The book must have arrived when I was busy in the past & since it was medieval info & I mostly need tudor info for work it was set aside. Now it gets added to the reading pile. Along with a couple of mysteries, a history of the Beauforts, & a bit of Pratchett. ;}

 

Can't imagine much rock beating laundry happening amongst this court. Always magically neat & up for every adventure. ;D
So glad we agree.

 

PSA:
While Teddy & I may tease about resinoids doing their own laundry, most sensible doll owners would remind me that a white shirt under dark clothing is a really good idea.
And they'd be correct as keeping fabrics from staining the dolls can be a huge worry.
While I have used black shirts now on two of the dolls, I have been careful to watch for any signs of color release. With some fabrics I will notice that the color rubs off on my hands & that is always a big warning sign for me to proceed with caution, use another fabric if possible or at least make sure that fabric will not be near the dolls. In fact I avoid using the black liquid velvet fabric for this very reason. And was careful when considering black suede cloth for any of the outfits.
Happily, while changing Y'der, I did not notice any signs of staining even though he has been wearing a pair of black pants I may 7 or 8 yrs ago along with a black cotton shirt from one of the online stores. Hopefully the black velvet shirts won't be a problem for Y'der & Dante.

And now back to my intermittent costuming report!
Making Y'der a shirt & leggings.
Having learned with Phin's shirt, I took the time to cut & sew in larger gussets at the underarm. It is an interesting bit of fabric manipulation to get the arm seams & side seams sewn to the 4 edges of the gusset diamond while also getting the rest of the arm seams & side seams to match up to one another.




Along with the underarm gussets,I wanted to get the gathered collar & cuff look of the gentleman's style in Folio 17 which meant the shirt was more persnickety than the others. It still started with rectangles, redrawn as parallelograms to reduce bulk at the chest & upper arms. Gathering the neckline & the sleeves certainly gives the shirt a more modern style which is just fine for this ageless vampire.


Because the close fitting standing collar meant gathering the neckline in to fit, I had to make a deeper front slit opening in order to fit his generously sized Delf head through. :/ Good thing his gown or Houppelande will cover most of that opening!