For this 1490s Venetian underdress, I choose a lightweight-- almost tropical weight-- teal wool from Pendleton's. This wool was purchased as two 3-yard remnants. I found a lovely jacquard trim on Etsy to compliment it. The trim came in the same pattern in two...
To get from feral tape double, to a useable pattern, we need to civilize it. I start by cutting it apart at the seams lines, and further removal of excess at armholes and below the waistline. Once I have the pieces in question laid out, I take a good look at them and...
Venetian bodices, within the entirety of the 16th century, are at the very least moderately supportive, to highly supportive and figure-shaping. The proper fit, small enough to compress and mold the body where it should and large enough for comfort, is critical. In...
The detail above is taken from the Vittore Carpaccio painting The Departure of Ceyx. While the painting is assumed to be dated 1502-1507, the styles of dresses worn by the women within this painting are clearly of the 1490s decade. A complete outfit at this...
The pattern for the overdress is the same as the underdress but the front is not cut on a fold and instead has a deep U-shape at the center. I started with 2 layers of cotton duck for both bodice fronts, the bodice back, and both straps. I then machine-quilted these...
The upper sleeves started with two layers of cotton duck with boning channels for heavy plastic cable tie boning. The two layers of cotton duck were flatlined to the quilting cotton lining. The fashion fabric-- a navy cotton velveteen-- was then wrapped around the...
After completing two mock-ups to perfect the fit, I began on my actual dress. I started with 2 layers of cotton duck stitched together with boning channels for plastic boning--heavy-duty cable ties. The straps were just two layers of duck quilted together.Once these...
This Mock Up v2 of my 1490's Gamurra pattern was directly modified from the v1 Mock-Up that I had previously made out of the pale blue linen with embroidered flowers. To start with, I laid my pattern peices out from the v1 Mock Up and went over where I needed to take...
This was Zanetta's first mock-up from a pattern Vittoria di Carduci helped her make. It was 2 layers of duck with the boning channels, another layer of duck on top, cotton lining, and then a fashion fabric of greenish-blue linen with embroidered flowers in pink. She...
This was the first attempt at multiple things for Zanetta. First, it was the first attempt at a rectangular constructed camica pattern based solely on my measurements. Second, it was her first completely hand sewn garment using multiple techniques she had never...