The Seatoun 1916 skirt

 Did I have the time to thrown in a random project last month? No. Could I stop myself when Leimomi Oakes of TheDreamstress and Scroop Patterns asked for pattern testers for a mid-1910s skirt? Also no. I already have the Scroop Patterns corset, petticoat and blouse for the time period and this would be perfect to get a whole outfit finished. The fashion 1915-1917 with the crinoline revival and swishy skirts is probably my absolute favorite historical era, after all it's no coincidence that I modelled my wedding gown after it. 

Leimomi said that it took her around 4,5 hours to make the skirt, so I figured it would a fairly straightforward project, and it was. It would have been even easier if I had chosen another fabric. I used a very dark navy herringbone twill in cotton, and it was so dark that all the seams simply disappeared. I couldn't see them, which led to me chosing a simpler finish on the long seams and missing some when installing the placket. I really like Scroop Patterns because of the instructions though, they are so so easy to follow and I know that even if something feels daunting I could just take a breath and follow the instructions step by step and I will end up with a nice end result.

The changes I made to this pattern was that shortened the skirt with 6 cm at the hem and I used slightly larger seam allowances on the waist belt. I made a size 42 and my belt ended up 92 cm instead of the 91,5 if I had made the pattern with the indicated seam allowances. 

Another thing that I changed was that I raised the pockets. Mostly to make them reachable for my arms, but it also had the bonus of covering my wonky sewing at the bottom of the placket. In order to mark the new placement for the pockets I simply cut out the pocket placement marking from the pattern and placed it on the skirt until I was happy with where it was, then I marked it on the skirt and sewed the pocket on.

I am wearing the skirt with a Wearing Historys combinations, the Rilla corset, the Ettie Petticoat, my own pattern of a corset cover and the Selina blouse. This combination of clothes really illustrates the changes my body has gone through the last few years. The Rilla from 2017 is size 44 and it is slightly too large now, I had to fully close it in the back and I could have cinched it some more if I could have. The Ettie is made in size 48 or 50, and in order for it to stay up I made a hole in the casing for the elastic and then shortened the elastic quite a lot. This large Ettie was maybe a bit too large to get all the fabric properly under the skirt, it felt a bit bulky, especially since it is starched. The Selina is a size 46 and it definitely feels too big now. The hat is a summer straw hat from H&M that I've simply added a giant bow and some feathers to.

The pattern is now launched at Scroop Patterns and it also comes with a modernised version, the Tara skirt and pinafore. I was so happy with the Seatoun that I have already bought fabric so that I can make the Tara versions to use as everyday wear.

A 1520s master miner/burgher couple

 Since I first started to make 16th century clothing I have wanted to make clothes that could have been worn by the master miners in Falun. Master miners were part owners of the mine and owned their own smelting furnaces where they produced copper, they then sold it. There was a wide variety of economical rank and they can be compared to landed gentry, with some being very rich and some just scraping buy. Over all they can be compared in wealth to the burghers of the towns around the Baltic sea.

My impression of a master miner's daughter back in 2018

When David entered my life I started out with making him a coat, but then we have concentrated more on the landsknecht style, not the least because he really wanted a landsknecht outfit and I mostly do events with the landsknecht group Stockholmsfänikan. 

Anyway this weekend Stockholmsfänikan and Proknekt had a party, and even if it was landsknecht themed, we decided to go as master miners, also because it's October and David didn't want to wear shorts and I felt that I for once could wear my longsleeved green gown without dying from the heat. Also for once I was not cooking so I could wear my blackwork cap and a white apron without risk of putting stains or scorch marks from the fire on them.

I have made a new best apron, that is white and with both whitework and blackwork and I wore my blackwork cap and black furline partlet. For David I had made a new pair of long hose, and instead of his usual blingy hat he got to borrow my red and more simple hat. A good reason to have accessories that you can mix up, and his headsize is the same as mine when I'm wearing a wulsthaube so that works out really well. He is also wearing the hairnet that I am wearing in the top photo from 2018, once again accessories are so good for changing up your costume.

The hose are mainly machine sewed from a quite small piece of wool. I used the pattern for the landknecht shorts but simply lengthened it. I am glad that my husband is fairly short, and still the hose legs just reaches his ankles. I will see if I can piece together the scraps that are left to make them go down a bit over the foot, even if there isn't enough fabric to make them footed hose. I have alsoe piecred the fabric up under the bum and the codpiece and flag that its attached to to make it work. They are held up by being connected to a sleevless doublet, I might add sleeves to it in the future but it is quite comfy to have just the west under the coat. It's up to him to fix a pair of proper shoes though, that isn't something I can make for him.