Beginner questions

[JMSATL]

Hi everyone!

I've been lurking in these forums for about a year now. I first got the bug for garbing last year, then realized sewing my own costume was the real prize. The main catch in that idea though, is that I don't know how to sew. Nevertheless, I've been practicing and am now prepared to sew my own skirts for the Georgia Renaissance Festival's opening weekend 4/14. My main question at the moment, however, is what kind of fabric do I use? I'm intending to make 2 skirts, wearing them layered, and attempting to look like a middle-class merchant from Ireland. Do I use solid color calico or broadcloth? Is there a better fabric to use that I am not aware of? I'd like to stay with solid colors so that I don't have to match grain, pattern, etc. Thanks all.

JMS

[gem]

Well met, J! As you know, this is a great place to learn (and become seriously addicted).

My favorite basic fairwear skirts are from the cotton or poly/cotton broadcloth from Hobby Lobby. Wool or linen would be more accurate, but also much more expensive. And four+ yards of poly/cotton is enough ironing for me, thank you!

Period accurate middle-class wear is somewhat different from the merchant-class Fairwear look, though; can you tell us a little more about which direction you're going?

I have an ensemble that's sort of midway between the two (I am in the pink/blue, beside the much more accurate Mythrin in her Flemish working-class dress):



For a more H/A look, I need more oomph in the skirts (I'm wearing a bumroll, but you can't tell), which should be from linen or wool; my chemise and partlet should be linen; and I should be wearing at least one more layer over the corset. But the hat, the shape of the corset, and the partlet contribute to the outfit looking slightly more period than, say, this.

For *really* accurate middle-class costuming, look here:
http://www.extremecostuming.com/gallery.html
http://freespace.virgin.net/f.lea/gallery.html
http://www.ninyamikhaila.com/c16th.htm

***
All that said, a skirt is a GREAT place to start! You can collect other pieces as you go--buying some, making others, and building your wardrobe. Many of us begin with fairwear and move more toward H/A as our skills develop. (And many of us love *both!*)

Have fun!

[isabelladangelo]

The Shinrone gown is the best example we have of what was worn in the 16th C in Ireland.   It's out of a brown (possibly originally a different color since the bog is known to dye everything brown) wool.   Wool and linen are the most common fabrics seen in the middle class no matter what area you are looking at.   fabric dot com often has wool at a good price and pretty reliable service.   Joanns has some pretty decent linens in good colors.   

I'd also look at some paintings, woodcuts, and illuminations before you start coming up with a plan.   The Irish were known for wearing Leines dyed with saffron.  The leine is basically a very baggy chemise with lots of gathers.   You can see examples of the leine - and Irish dress in general- in Lucas de Heere's drawings.

Hope that helps!

[JMSATL]

Honestly, in terms of H/A, it's not quite within my reach. I'm wearing my Victorian corset (it's reversible, purple/black brocade on one side, black canvas on the other) on the black side, with a white half-chemise under it. The corset itself is not H/A, but I really enjoy wearing it and as such am taking mild liberties. I'll also be wearing some silver jewelry. In all honesty, I'm pretty far from H/A. I'm okay with that for now, becoming more H/A is a process and a goal I'm moving towards.

I actually found the fabric at Hobby Lobby, Gem. I'm greatly relieved someone else can recommend the product, because I really preferred it over any of the cloth I found at Joann's. It's just a basic drawstring skirt, with rectangles of fabric. I'm really, really new at sewing and quite strapped for time so pleating and buttons and any sort of nice refinements are really going to be out of the question. I think I'll be lucky to get the top skirt hitched up properly. Now I've just got to find the cord/lacing for the drawstring, and I'll be set.

Thanks for the links. They'll definitely help the process in the future. Also, thanks for the feedback so soon. I'm excited!

[Dinobabe]

I used to hate pleating so I shortcutted (lol) by stitching a long stitch along the top edge of the skirt (before I apply the waistband) and then pulling the thread to gather it.  I laid out the waist band, evened out the gathers, pinned, stitched.  Viola!  Pleats!
Now, I actually enjoy pleating and getting a certain look.
Try this pattern.  It's my go to for an easy skirt.  WARNING:  It's made for people MUCH taller than me (5'4") so I always end up having to shorten the skirt length.
http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m4090-products-3107.php?page_id=493

[raevyncait]

all of my skirts have elastic waistbands, and I tend to cut the panels sort of triangular-ish. I measure my waist, add oh, about 12 inches or so and figure out how much I need around the waistband & divide that by however many panels I need. My hemlines are pretty close to the 4 or so yards of fabric I bought. I end up with minimal bulk at the waist and still have the fullness I want around the legs/hem

[operafantomet]

Basic skirts... Usually triangles were inserted to the sides of skirts, to give fullness. This gave less fabric in the waist, and more at the hem, and was much favoured in noble class tailoring. But it's also period appropriate to just take one giant piece of fabric and tuck it into place. It was done in the 15th and early 16th century, and also by working class women in the mid and late 16th century. I have two underskirts made this way. They're identical, except one has big box pleats in the waist, the other one has cartridge pleats.

The basic idea is to make a waistband of the fabric you're gonna use. The waistband is your width in the waist plus a bit more. Then take 4 yards of whatever fabric you see fit, and pleat or gather it to the waistband. Stitch or sew down.

Then a way of closing it. I prefer hooks and bars, but snap buttons or ties also works. The reason why I suggested to make the waistband a bit longer, is because you can make it adjustable depending on mood and style. One hook and three bars means you can alter the size quite a bit.

Then the hem. If you have a dummy, adjust it to your own length, and cut off eventual excessive fabric. Make sure the dummy wears it in the waist where you wear it! Fold in the fabric on the inside, twice, so no raw edge is seen. Preferably the skirt should be a tad longer in the back than in front. If you don't have a dummy, wear the skirt and have a friend either pin it up or mark it with chalk.

If you want to do yourself a big favour, add a strip of thick wool felt or similar to the inside of the hem. Cover it with a strip of fabric cut off from the main skirt. This makes it easier to walk in the skirt, as the hem is less likely to get tangled in between your knees/legs. At least it made a huge difference in my own skirts. I've written a bit about it here:

http://aneafiles.webs.com/renaissancegallery/doppia.html

[isabelladangelo]

Hi again!

There is no such thing as a reversible corset.  I know, many companies claim their corsets are reversible but, what ever side you choose to wear out is the side that needs to be worn out always.  The reason is the boning in the corset.  After a couple of hours (if even that long) the boning will conform to your shape.   For most women, this will be most dramatically seen just below the waist area of the corset.  By attempting to wear it both ways, you'll find one side uncomfortable compared to the other and wear down the boning.  

Given what you have and what you'd like to wear, it sounds like you are going for the "Disney Gypsy" look (in comparison to what the real Roma wore).  It's a far cry from Irish.  ;-)  

My first thoughts are to get a new bodice rather than wear the Victorian.  I know you said you aren't going for H/A but the bodice shape will shape your body differently and that will force you to buy all new skirts (or let them out, if you can) in the future.  Why waste the money?  Make a new bodice now (I've seen some lovely fantastical ones with lace and pearls on them) and get the learning experience from that.  Afterwards, you can try on your new bodice, get your new waist measurement, and make you skirts.  

Even if you are going for a fantasy look, calico is only good for 19th Century stuffs.  If you are sticking with the fantasy elements,  linen and wool are still good choices but also consider silk or a nice cotton sateen.  If you are looking specifically for the Wally World $2 a yard pile stuff, stick to the "homespun" cottons.  Almost all will be plaid but they almost always look "right".

For skirt patterns that don't involve buying a pattern, I wrote up a tutorial on how to make a circle skirt.   For a pleated skirt - which is VERY easy- get four or five yards of fabric.  Cut 3" off the width of the fabric so you have a 3" X 45" strip.  This will be your waistband.  Cut it down to your waist measurement +1".   (You can just wrap it around yourself and see where it overlaps and cut it so you still have an overlap. )  Pleat or gather the rest of the fabric to the measurement of the waistband.   Sew the fabric to the waistband and then fold the waistband so it encases the raw edges, sewing it down.  Sew up the one seam you'll have from the hem to within about 8" of the waistband.  Hem the skirt to your desired length.  Add a hook and eye where the waistband overlaps.   Wear the skirt.  

[Rennigirl]

As many people have said, cotton, linen and wool would be the big 3 fabrics to go for.  Watch for sales and coupons and you can get your fabric pretty cheap.  I tend to go for solid colors for skirts, but you can also use stripe fabric.  The calico with the little flowers on it would not be recommended as you would end up with more Litte House on the Prarie and less RenWare.

[DonaCatalina]

I have to say that I use as much cotton as I can get away with. And as my long time friends can tell you, I didn't know thing one about sewing until I started making garb. So we were all once beginners too.
Keep plugging and you'll learn what works for you.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Me in a  simple patterend skirt that is one piece. I take my waist size times 3. Plus 6" for a waist band.

From one slavaged edge to another, I decide how long from waist to ankle, then make the hem that I top stitch. I sew two gathering lines at  the other salvage end into the waistband. Skirt hook and eyes work great. There is one seam in the back. Takes me about 2 hours to make a skirt. Seam allowance is 5/8"

[JMSATL]

Wow! So many great responses. Been a busy week so far, sorry for the slow reply.

Dinobabe- I actually bought that exact pattern and will be using it for guidance. I'm larger than a size 20, though, so whenever I decide to use it I'll have to size it up dramatically. Additionally, I'll have to shrink the length, because I'm 5'2" so I feel your pain! Thanks for the pleating idea though!

Raevyn- I like the elastic idea, but I'm trying to be fairly simple for now because I don't have a lot of time to work on it nor money to fix mistakes. When you sew elastic, what size do you use? Do you cover it with fabric then sew it on, or what? I like your easy skirt suggestion though. Thanks!

Opera- I LOVE the felt idea! Would craft felt work, or do I need the continuous (or longer, at least) length to invoke the "hoop" effect? Sadly, I do not have a dummy, and I live alone, so much of the fitting and measuring is going to be done essentially solo.

I'll definitely be using as much cotton as I can, mostly because Georgia is hot and muggy and our weather is incredibly unpredictable. The calico I named is in solid colors, not patterns, and I'm simply calling it what it was marked at Hobby Lobby. However, I think the thicker, more tightly woven broadcloth will serve me better anyway. Thanks again for the great ideas and feedback.

[Kate XXXXXX]

Points to Ponder:

You need to buy/use a very different pattern size from your Ready To Wear clothing size.  Make sure you get a friend to help you get a good set of measurements.  Here's my getting measurements turorial: http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk/KatePages/Learning/Measuring/Taking-measurements.htm

When scaling up a pattern, you can't just add to the side seams.  You need to add the extra proportionally, and more to the center front and back than to the side seam.  Think about that: If you are 5'4" and a size 24, for example, you'll need your garments longer at the front and back than I do at 5'4" and a size 14.  (I used to be a size 24, so BTDT  )

Almost all patterns are made for a B cup.  If you are larger than that, you may also need to think about scaling the pattern up for your general size and then doing a Full Bust Adjustment.  There are a number of sites out there for doing this, if you give it a google.

If you want a more period shape, but don't want to go the full historical route, make yourself a boned bodice using the Elizabethan corset generator pattern. here: http://www.elizabethancostume.net/custompat/ and the alterations for turning it into a bodice, here: http://www.elizabethancostume.net/kirtlepat/index.html  Details of things like tabs at the waist, shoulder decorations and so forth can be added as you like.

You have had good advice about fabric.  All I can add to that is that wherever possible I would choose linen or wool unless making a ball type gown for really special occasions.  Working dress was usually wool or linen, and in the heat, a good linen is a great fabric to use, as well as being hard wearing.  Give it a good hot wash and tumble it dry before using, and it should never shrink again.  It comes in different weights, so use a light weight one for your shift and something more skirt or suit weight for bodice and skirt.  Same goes for cotton if you choose that.

The actual sewing:

I advise using a felled seam on any under garments you make, like your shift.  Open flat seams are fine where you have a selvege (the woven edge of the fabric). 

For elasticating the neck of the shift: You can EITHER fold the neck edge ove about 1/4" and press it, and then an inch and sew it down to make a casing, OR if you want a frill at the top and elbows, sew bias tape  on the inside and then thread the elastic through.  Rather than elastic, you can also use ribbon as a draw string.

Skirt.  The simplest skirt in the world!  Take two widths of 60" wide fabric cut to your finished length plus 2" for the skirt and an inch fir the top seam allowance.  Cut a 4" long piece and fold in in half down the length for a waistband.  Pop it round you.  Pin to fit and add seam allowances and a bit for overlapping...  Thumb-pleat the fabric to the waistband, after sewing the side seams.  Remember to leave about 8" at the top of the left seam for the opening! 

Here's what I did to make the first 'wench kit' I made:http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk/KatePages/Costuming/Kate%27s_Folly/mistress_kate.htm

I modified a princes seamed dress bodice for the bodice, and made the skirt opening up the back.  I have no idea where this outfit is now: I gave it away when I lost weight.

[isabelladangelo]

For hot weather, linen is best.   It's actually better than cotton.   I've worn many linen full length chemises with a linen gown over them on 90+ F days in the late August sun with 99.9% humidity (and not a cloud in the sky, of course!) and have been fine.  I know, most people start with cotton because it's a fabric you "know"; but Linen is something you'll be able to live with and use again as you progress in garbing.   

I'd personally stay away from elastic only because elastic does wear done over time.  Go with the pleating or gathering instead.   

Would you, by chance, be interested in some of the earlier styles?   A houppelande was worn in the 15th C and is rather simple to make without a pattern.   The big sleeves are fun to fold back and show of the fabric lining.   That, with a large belt, looks really neat on.  I think it was Butterick that had a pattern of one a couple of years ago...

[raevyncait]

RE: Elastic, I don't actually sew my elastic except to connect the 2 ends together. I fold over the top of my sewn together skirt, about an inch and a half or so, and sew it down all the way around except for about 2 inches, to create a channel, through which I then thread my inch-wide, non-roll elastic through, using a safety pin, gathering as I go along. (be sure to pin the back end to the opening, so you don't pull it all through by mistake) Once it's threaded all the way through, sew the ends together, and you can either close up that 2 inches that were left open for feeding the elastic, or leave it unsewn in case you need to draw the elastic tighter for some reason.

[gem]

I'm with Raevyn; all my peasant skirts have elastic waists. I just find them more comfortable and easier to deal with than drawstrings or fussing with closures. In fact, the blue skirt I posted earlier even has the waistband sewn on backwards (raw edges to the outside)! But you can't tell b/c you never see it under my bodice.

I make my basic skirts from a pattern similar to the McCall's pattern already mentioned, with gored panels and a waistband... but given that you're not entirely sure the pattern will fit you, I think you'll have an easier time with Lady K's method--basically just taking your yardage of fabric and sewing it into a tube. (Here's a picture of a skirt I made with that method.) And here is a great tutorial on exactly how to do it:

http://www.reddawn.net/costume/skirt.htm

As for fabric, I've already expressed my love for the cotton you're planning to use. Linen is absolutely my alltime favorite fabric to work with, but I do reserve it for my more historically accurate pieces because it's more expensive... and also b/c I just like the look of the cotton peasant skirts for Fairwear! I don't find the cotton (or even poly/cotton) skirts to be unbearably hot, even when it's in the 90s with 90% humidity (which is very common here at KCRF!).

[raevyncait]

Gem, Red Dawn's is the pattern I used for my first skirts, however I've discovered that to have the 4 or 5 yeards around the hem that I like for fullness, I end up with too much bulk at the waist.  I AM, however, going back to some of those and taking darts out of the waist to get rid of some of that bulk.

[JMSATL]

I would LOVE to use linen, and it is by no means out of the picture. I just can't find any that I like and have defaulted to cotton. (My JoAnns apparently doesn't have a very good selection. Very large, but very basic.) The Hobby Lobby where I found the cotton was moving, though, so maybe their linen was in boxes. Their move was supposed to be finished over the weekend, so I'm heading out there tonight to get the fabric along with elastic or whatever waist fastener I like/can find/decide to go with. I've really got to get started on the project so that if I fail horribly, I have time to go to plan B. Getting the length right is probably going to be the most difficult part. I'm not wearing hoops or a farthingale, so should it measure from waist to floor or shorter?

Darts are angles of fabric cut out to make it less bulky, right?

Gem, that outfit is incredibly beautiful in your last post. I adore the cream color! Did you make it all, including the chemise? I wasn't sure of the term for what I'm trying to do, but thank you for mentioning that it's a "tube" skirt. I had purchased a "three panel skirt" from Medieval Collectables last year for my costume then, and the fit is what I'm shooting for now, but I didn't know what to call it.

[isabelladangelo]

Try fabric dot com and Joanns dot com.  I rarely buy from the store anymore (unless I have coupons).   You can get linen at fabric dot com easily.  Sign up for their emails as they often announce sales and give out coupons.  Also, ebay ebay ebay.   In another thread, I posted my "under $20" Norse outfit.  It's completely linen.   I bought all the linen on ebay for $5 a piece.  Each piece I bought was anywhere from 3 to 5 yards.  Don't rely on your local stores.  The internet is great for buying as well.  :-)

[gem]

I buy all my linen from www.fabrics-store.com If you are thinking of using linen, you'll want to make sure you prep the fabric really well (hot wash/hot dry at least three times to pre-shrink the heck out of it, and to make it softer and less wrinkle-prone). You also want to pre-shrink your cotton, of course, but one cycle of wash/dry will be plenty.

If you're investing in linen, though, I would want to sort of "honor" the fabric and go ahead and either make a gored skirt (to reduce bulk at the waist like Raevyn mentions) or cartridge pleat it to a waistband (like my cream one). That sounds intimidating, but it's actually RIDICULOUSLY easy, although *very* time consuming. (Cartridge pleating is basically a way of making very even gathers.) Linen weighs considerably more than comparable cotton (ie, my midweight linen skirts are all heavier than my cotton broadcloth skirts, even tho' they use the same amount of fabric), so you'll definitely want to keep that in mind/deal with that.

Darts are folds of fabric that you sew down to shape a garment more closely to your body. (They're not period, but you will find them in tons of modern mundane clothing and even more mundane sewing.) Here's a good diagram (I actually don't know what this is a diagram of, but it has good images of darts!). You're looking at half a bodice pattern. Center front is to the right; the armhole (armscye) is on the left. See those triangles? Those are bust darts (like you'd find on a fitted blouse). You fold the wide ends of the triangle together and sew along the fold. It will remove fullness in that area and make the garment fit more closely.

Gores are triangles of fabric added (usually to a hem) to give something more fullness OR the triangular sections of a whole skirt. A "gored skirt" pattern would look similar to this: http://www.tudorlinks.com/treasury/freepatterns/w191214cdgoreskirtlayout.jpeg It gives you a lot of fullness at the hem (which you want) without all the fullness at the waist (which you don't).  This is a diagram of a chemise, but you can see the triangular gores that have been added at the hemline to make a straight garment wider at the bottom.

***

Gem, that outfit is incredibly beautiful in your last post. I adore the cream color! Did you make it all, including the chemise?

Thanks! I made the bodice and the skirt; I was lucky enough to find that beautiful chemise (which is a gorgeous textured rayon) at my fair! My whole family decided we needed garb from the movie "Much Ado About Nothing," so I made white-on-white ensembles for everyone! That was my first cartridge-pleated skirt. It's made from Fabrics-store.com's cotton-linen blend, which is more opaque than ivory cotton, but much lighter than 100% linen. It's 4 yards of fabric (no seams, just the whole 4 yards  ) cartridge-pleated to a waistband. For the waistband, I measured my waist + 2". It closes with hooks & eyes.