Sewing -Noble Threads- Patterns and Progress with Medieval clothes circa50-1650 AD

{nods} I can and do make the human sized costumes but can't wear them any longer, as I overheat when wearing more than a cotton T-shirt and shorts (even in snowy weather), plus the dolls can wear things I would have no occasion to wear, and it takes far less fabric to make them.

Teddy

 

Even if I could still wear costume, I'd have no reason to do Victorian bustle era events and the mens clothes by that time are too boring to bother with anyway, so my resin girls get bustle gowns, and other Victorian dresses, and I don't quite ever get around to making sailor suits (more UFOs) and Norfolk suits for my resin boys.

At some point they'll get 15th, 16th, and 18th Century to...Possibly, if I ever get around to it. One of the boys has had his houpellande, shirt and braes for 15th Cnetury for fifteen years already, but still no hose and paltock to wear between those two layers. He's also has an 18th Century shirt and britches for the same length of time, but I've never finished sewing together his waistcoat and frock coat.

Teddy

 

Safavid you say

 

Oooooh! Landsknecht!

Teddy

 

Good plan!

I've planned for fake laced side-back openings in my girl's Italian bodice and a centre-back "seam" that is really the opeing and velcros edge to edge. Whether it will work, I have yet to find out.

Teddy

 

The chamisia looks fantastic. And who's gonna see that closure once she's dressed anyway? ;}
I'm looking forward to seeing the Persian garb tackled.
I'm excited to watch you create Rosslyn!

 

If it ever gets finished - I'm currently redoing the neckline (came out too high and narrow) and re-attaching the skirt front to the bodice to get the pleats more even.

I have an advantage there in that she's completly flat-chested so I don't have to worry about needing non-preiod-darts or accomodating non-squishy boobage in a flat fronted bodice.

Teddy

 

That's gonna be so cool! I will be eagerly anticipating your progress.

 

Same pattern as I've done a few times before, but I aspire to have all my dolls (of this size) dressed in Tudor outfits in every colour of the rainbow! Eventually I'll take a picture of them all together. In the meantime, here is Mercy, my Raccoondoll Laetitia, in a violet gown:

 

Sorry for the double post, but here's one more! Completely clashing eras unfortunately, so lets just pretend the knight here is dressing up for a tournament or something. His outfit was based on Antique Lilac's amazing patterns by the way, although I did alter a bit to make the parti-coloured knight outfit.

Raccoondoll girl and Iplehouse FID boy.

 

Nice!

The black and white gown is striking - the brocade pattern of the forepart and undersleeves is a very nice choice.

And I can really appreciate the particolouring on her companion as I have a fondness for doing that myself from my days as a late-14th-Century reenactor

Teddy

 

I love this kind of clothes. a soon as I get ready my sewing corner in new house I'm thinking to make new line of period outfits.

 

Thank you!!! I was very pleased to find that brocade fabric, it does give a quite dramatic effect!

 

And yet another one from me! This time on the SartoriaJ MSD corset bust body - finally an answer for those non squishy doll boobs! The body is just perfect for making those kind of historical costumes! I made this in some Christmas quilting fabric, as I didn't want to waste my good fabric when I was unsure if the pattern was just how I wanted it - but I think it turned out pretty well! (The bodice is a bit rumpled though despite interfacing, I think the pattern needs some slight tweaking.) Now I wish I'd got more of that fabric at Christmas, it came in red too, but it's all sold out now.

 

Lovely.

If you mean under the bust - how about adding a little pad inside to fill out the hollow so it can sit smoothly from waist to bust...?

Teddy

 

Hmm, I think that would work on most dolls - thank you! - but actually she's shaped without a hollow there - looks very weird naked, but it really is just a smooth line from the bust downwards. Having looked at it again this morning, I think perhaps I need to take a little bit out of the centre front, I think it's slightly too big - fine at the bust line, but angled downwards from there. I'll have to do yet another test piece and try it out! I thought it was right on the original test piece, but once you add the lining, the skirts, etc, sometimes it's not the case...

Now all I want to do is make her yet more dresses, but I promised my sister I'd alter a jacket for her, so I'd better do the boring human sewing first, I guess!

 

Well the problem is that it's Tudor. Tudor stomachers were very rigid and very flat, squishing the bewbs so they plumped up over the neckline. Dolls don't squish.

 

Well exactly - this doll is already that shape, no squishing needed. It’s specifically the corset bust body, designed to look good in a corset. Which is why I’m so excited about making historical clothes for her!

 

Cool! No wonder it's a good body for ore period styles. May years ago I got the Elfdoll "wonderbra" body for the elevated bustline for similar reasons (although tht did have a hollow under the bust) but I was still dressing my Soah in modern clothes too, and never got arou nd to swapping the head from body to body for the eriod/modern silhoettes, so I sold the body on... and now she's almost exclusively in period styles, I'm kicking myself.

Teddy

 

Oh that’s a shame! Yeah, this doll will be exclusively in period styles, I never seem to have as much fun making modern clothes, so the body shape is not a problem for me! Although I suppose she could wear either evening dress or some kind of gothic corset look if I did need her to be modern? But yeah, the Sartoriaj dolls come in SD size as well as MSD if you ever decided you wanted another doll in that style!

 

That's right, lead me to temptation, you fiend!!

{GRIN!}

Teddy

 

My evil plan!!!

 

Another go at this same pattern - I moved the front seams towards the centre front slightly and curved them in a bit, and it does seem to fit better! Still not perfect, but getting there. I think I made the bodice slightly long this time, hence the wrinkles on the sides. I'll make another one soon, hopefully third time's the charm?! Eventually, I plan to get two more dolls with this body type (one will be an upgrade body for an existing doll), so I totally need three dresses in this style, right?! Right!

 

It's looking nice.

Will you unpick the skirt from around the waist and reattach it to the shortened bodice to deal with the wrinkling, or leave it as is?

Teddy

 

I am far too lazy to redo it and will leave it as it is - if I'd realised the problem before sewing on the gold braid and jewels I might have done it, but I can't quite bear re-doing it all! I want to move on to a new colour and style instead! White and gold this time I think.

 

That shows you're more of a realist than I am.

I'd put it aside, fully intending to alter it, and never get around to it. Worse, I'd probably be half-way through the unpicking before I put it aside, so it wouldn't even be wearable in the meantime.

Teddy

 

Lol, I've been known to do that before!!! I might yet get around to it, as it's intended for a doll I don't actually have yet (well, I have the doll, just not her body upgrade) - if I get inspired once I have her, I might alter it. But also, I'm hoping the third dress will show if it really IS the problem, if it turns out perfectly, I'll know for sure what I have to fix!

 

And you'll be three dresses into creating a wardrobe of them for the period.

Teddy

 

Exactly!!! And then I have to work out a Tudor outfit for the gentlemen. Once my SartoriaJ boy arrives anyway - probably still a few months away, so plenty of time to think about it!