Starting a new kirtle

For my big 1520s court gown I will need a new underkirtle. I also want a nice summer dress. I like my teal 1490's gown, but I wanted something of a more accurate wool, and a bit longer skirt. With a good base kirtle it's also possible to use it for several centuries, by switching the jackets/robes on top. I am planning to wear it for my 17th century project as well.

Earlier this year I bought a remnant of a gorgeous, soft wool tabby (kläde) from one of the Swedish webshops specializing in historical textiles. Even if it was a remnant and on sale it was still the so far most expensive fabric that I have bought for my historical costumes. Since it was a remnant I am not sure if it will be enough fabric to make sleeves. My plan is to make sleeveless kirtle, that I will be able to wear as an underkirtle, but then depending on how much fabric I have left I will make a pair of loose sleeves that I can tie or pin on. If I have enough fabric I will make long sleeves, otherwise some kind of short or divided sleeve.

I started with cutting out the linen lining for the bodice. I don't really have a proper base pattern, but I use four pieces, two fronts and two backs. It is closed in the back, but I want a backseam since it gives me a better fit when I can use a backseam to work with and not just two side seams. When I had roughly pinned the lining into a general fit I used it as a pattern for the tabby. I put the lining on top of the outer fabric and treat them as a single fabric, rather than first finishing the lining and then mounting the outer fabric on top of it.

Tacking the lining pieces together to get a general fit

Sewing the pieces together with large seam allowances

I then sewed the back and side seams and shoulder seams and felled them. Now with four layers in each seam the seam allowance gets bulky so it was really necessary to grade the seam allowances. That means that I cut them down in different lengthy so that they are layered together, and not four layers of the same size on top of each other.

Then I realized that I had a big ugly crease on both the back pieces, close to the side seams. I had seen the crease but hoped that it would go away when I tigthened the bodice properly. It didn't go away, and after some irritation I decided to rip up the side seams and redo them.

This time I was a lot more careful and I pinned the layers to each others so that they wouldn't move while I was working on them. A proper seamstress would make big tacking stitches, but I settled for just pinning them together. The creases were probably due to two things. One that they outer fabric and lining had moved and weren't aligned, and that I had sewed the side seam together exactly where I had pinned it together, making for a sharp curve just under my armpit. I ripped up the seam, aligned the fabrics, and then I smoothed out the sharp curve into a much gentler curve from the armpit to the waist.

The new side seam

The arm scyes got a bit bigger in the process, but I don't think that is going to be a problem since I'm not going have set in sleeves for this kirtle.

Here is the front of the bodice. I have marked out where I want to make lacing holes. As of now it's a bit too long, but that is also deliberate. I have a tendency to make my historical gowns too shortwaisted, now I have added some extra lengths and I won't trim it until I have added the skirt. AFter all it's easier to take away and then to add more fabric.

The back

It would be fun if I could finish the kirtle next week, since there is a medieval market just an hour or so away from here, but I need to make 13 lacing holes and the skirt for it to be finished enough, and I'm not going to rush to finish this. The kirtle is my HSM challenge for September though so I will keep on working on it.

Due to the colour of the wool I'm going to call this my mustard kirtle in the tags.