Confronting One's Enemies
Obviously, I love costuming. But I really hate one very important part of it--making shirts/chemises/camicas/shifts. So....boring! And yet, as simple as they may be in concept, I almost always screw it up somehow.
I've been avoiding that shirt for some time now (~4 months, but who's counting?). Let me tell you, Trogdors do not appreciate that kind of neglect. Seriously. They might come burn your cottage if you're not careful. Or they might decide to spontaneously stain a shirt that has been sitting undisturbed in a sewing room for 4 months. Don't ask, I have no idea. I do hope those spots come out.
To punish the Trogdors for soiling their shirt, I've decided that this one will be his middle class shirt, which is why I'm moving it from the thunderhosen diary. Besides the mysterious stain, I'm rather unhappy with the weight of the linen I chose for it (its heavier/coarser--5.3 oz, I think). I'd like to make hubby a finer one for his higher class thunderhosen outfit. I know what you're thinking--"if you hate shirts so much why are you deciding to make another?" Well, the answer is that I'm that crazy. And that picky, apparently.
This weekend, I really wanted to sew, but I'm at a stand-still on the slops (waiting for the couching cord to arrive), and I couldn't start the doublet since I didn't have the shirt to fit it over. I had no choice but the shirt, which is why I worked on it. :)
I added bigger underarm gussets to make up for the poor fit the first time round. I over-compensated, cuz hubby now has ridiculously huge gussets. I'm halfway thinking I should take them out and try some moderate ones, but I'm halfway thinking I don't care enough...
Knowing that this is now going to be a middle class shirt, I didn't didn't feel so bad slapping a modest neck ruff right on there instead of having it a seperate piece like the higher classes might do. I used the 5:1 ruff instructions on the eliazabethan costuming site, like I did for my flemish partlet. I used a 94 inch length of linen selvage (hubby has a big neck), and fancied it up a bit (aka "disguised the selvage edge") with a black blanket stitch. The ruff gathering and blanket stitching took me ages--so, while I did spend much time sewing this weekend, I don't have much to show for it yet. I confess, though, that when I finished, i did NOT want to attach this ruff to his shirt. I wanted to steal it and attach it to something for ME!
shirtcollar
The finished neck band and ruff are attached to the shirt, but the shirt is as yet unfinished (still need to whip the inside collar in, add buttons and loops, and I've got a few ideas for additional embellishments on the rest of the shirt. I'm also going to extend the motif on the neckband so that it comes closer to the edge. Apparently ruffs add diameter to the required neckband (duh), and I hadn't compensated for that when I blackworked it the first time.
I've been avoiding that shirt for some time now (~4 months, but who's counting?). Let me tell you, Trogdors do not appreciate that kind of neglect. Seriously. They might come burn your cottage if you're not careful. Or they might decide to spontaneously stain a shirt that has been sitting undisturbed in a sewing room for 4 months. Don't ask, I have no idea. I do hope those spots come out.
To punish the Trogdors for soiling their shirt, I've decided that this one will be his middle class shirt, which is why I'm moving it from the thunderhosen diary. Besides the mysterious stain, I'm rather unhappy with the weight of the linen I chose for it (its heavier/coarser--5.3 oz, I think). I'd like to make hubby a finer one for his higher class thunderhosen outfit. I know what you're thinking--"if you hate shirts so much why are you deciding to make another?" Well, the answer is that I'm that crazy. And that picky, apparently.
This weekend, I really wanted to sew, but I'm at a stand-still on the slops (waiting for the couching cord to arrive), and I couldn't start the doublet since I didn't have the shirt to fit it over. I had no choice but the shirt, which is why I worked on it. :)
I added bigger underarm gussets to make up for the poor fit the first time round. I over-compensated, cuz hubby now has ridiculously huge gussets. I'm halfway thinking I should take them out and try some moderate ones, but I'm halfway thinking I don't care enough...
Knowing that this is now going to be a middle class shirt, I didn't didn't feel so bad slapping a modest neck ruff right on there instead of having it a seperate piece like the higher classes might do. I used the 5:1 ruff instructions on the eliazabethan costuming site, like I did for my flemish partlet. I used a 94 inch length of linen selvage (hubby has a big neck), and fancied it up a bit (aka "disguised the selvage edge") with a black blanket stitch. The ruff gathering and blanket stitching took me ages--so, while I did spend much time sewing this weekend, I don't have much to show for it yet. I confess, though, that when I finished, i did NOT want to attach this ruff to his shirt. I wanted to steal it and attach it to something for ME!
shirtcollar
The finished neck band and ruff are attached to the shirt, but the shirt is as yet unfinished (still need to whip the inside collar in, add buttons and loops, and I've got a few ideas for additional embellishments on the rest of the shirt. I'm also going to extend the motif on the neckband so that it comes closer to the edge. Apparently ruffs add diameter to the required neckband (duh), and I hadn't compensated for that when I blackworked it the first time.
posted by Julebug | 11:19 AM
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