Linen Questions ...

[GryffinSong]

I'm starting to make my garb for my first festival as a vendor, and have a few questions about fabric. So far, I have a few pieces of medium weight linen, and am considering purchasing some lighter weight stuff for hot days. Is the 3.5 oz. handkerchief linen too light? Is it see-through? I'm an artist/vendor, not a cast member, so I don't think complete historical accuracy is quite as important. I look TERRIBLE in white, so am thinking of a colored chemise (soft blue, perhaps) with a sideless surcoat or apron over it. I'm also looking at cotehardies and partlets. I do not want to wear a corset of any type. Having anything tight on me really makes me suffer in the heat, so I want loose and light clothing.

So far I've been looking at 100% linen. Are the blends as comfortable? If so, is cotton or rayon the better blend?

For what its worth, I love the soft, natural look of linen on me. If blends get too smooth looking I probably wouldn't care for them as much.

My first festival is in an Elizabethan setting, though my understanding is that vendors are not held to the same standard of accuracy as cast members, and my artwork is fantasy-oriented.

Thanks,
Karen.

[Kate XXXXXX]

GFo for pure linen if you can.  Cream or unbleached rather than white is best anyway.  And for the gown, why not go for the Mock Kirtle look?  I designed these to look OK but be worn over modern undies:

 

The sleeves have buttons up the openings and are detatchable: they just hook on.  You could make a simpler version of the shirt without the lace.

[gem]

Fabrics-store.com's 3.5 oz linen is perfect for a chemise. But I think it's probably too light for an outer garment. Their 5.3 oz linen is ideal for that. You can see a couple of the dresses I've made from it here and here. My hankyweight chemise is here--and you can see that it is pretty sheer (obviously it'll be a little more sheer in white, but I think the colors are still pretty airy for outerwear).

I also like their cotton-linen blend. It's a little bit lighter in weight than the 5.3 oz, but still comparable in terms of how sturdy it feels as you're wearing it. I find that it wrinkles less and is the *teensiest* bit less soft than the 100% linen. I've used it for shirts for Milord and his dad, and for skirts for myself: Krista natural, and black.

They do free swatches, if you want to feel the fabric before you buy it. I'm just about to order some 3.5 oz "dried herb" for a new fantasy chemise.

Have fun!

[GryffinSong]

Awesome info! Fabrics-store.com is where I'm looking, and I happen to have the Dutch blue 3.5 oz. linen and the Meadow 4.2 oz. linen/cotton blend it my cart right now, waiting on a final decision on colors and yardage requirements. Looks like I'm on the right track for at least one outfit. I'd like to have at least two complete ensembles to start with, in case my outfit gets damaged or stained on the first day, so that I don't have to do laundry or repairs before second day.

More ideas on styles are more than welcome. I'm a little overweight and have had a bilateral mastectomy, and am self conscious about being so much smaller on top than bottom. I'm trying to figure out ways to mask that without wearing falsies (which I stubbornly refuse to do). Some folks had some good ideas in another thread from the fall. An English overcoat was mentioned, which I really like for days that aren't too hot. If I made a sideless surcoat, would the lighter weight linen/cotton be good for that do you think? Or would I have to go a little heavier? I have a gorgeous piece of linen that I bought a few years ago for the Adrian Empire (similar to the SCA) and never used. I don't know what weight it is, but its incredibly soft. I love the feel of it, and have dithered what to do with it. I love it so much, and haven't seen its like since, that I'm hesitant to cut into it until I'm really certain I'll love it. It has a VERY soft drape and the blackish stripes are about an inch apart. Suggestions for the best use of it are more than welcome. I'm told that I might have enough to make two things, but I'll have to measure it again. I know its wide, probably 60" or so.



Thanks!!!

[gem]

Wow, that is super pretty! Now, what it's telling ME it wants to be  is a Florentine turban:



For your sideless surcoat, I'd go with the lighter weight linen for the undergown and the heavier linen for the surcoat--but this is a garment I have never made, and I'm sorta wondering if too much of the undergown might be on display (I might personally be uncomfortable having that much of my waist/hip visible in such lightweight fabric, and might consider doing the undergown in a slightly heavier weight.) YMMV! But if it's the heat factor you're worried about, both the cotton/linen and the medium weight linen are VERY heat-friendly fabrics. The two dresses I posted are my hot weather go-to costumes, and our fair season regularly has days in the 90s, with 90% humidity.

Really, just order the swatches--ask for samples of the colors you're interested in in the various weights, and compare them! They send them pretty quickly.

(Also, two other styles that are similar to the surcoat ensemble you might consider are a Viking apron dress and a fantasy Eowyn-type ensemble. 'Cause you'll be there all season and you need more garb!  )

And now I'm wondering what I might have to offer you in trade for some of your striped linen.    LOL

[GryffinSong]

Oooh, love the viking and the eowyn outfits. And a turban? Yes, this linen would be perfect for that! I was wondering, too, if my underpants might show through the sides of a sideless surcoat. I know I've tried one on at an SCA member's house and I might have decided it wasn't a good look for me, but I really can't remember. She loaned me a mid-eastern outfit for an event and I loved it, but I don't think I've seen that kind of look at a ren faire. And here I am in her garb ...

[gem]

I love that!! You look fabulous, and can I say how much I love your hair?!

I know things vary from fair to fair, but at KCRF, it's really anything goes as far as the merchants are concerned--and you would totally fit right in in that ensemble!

[GryffinSong]

Thanks gem!!! Unfortunately, this outfit was borrowed. But I found it very comfortable and flexible. There was another layer that I wasn't wearing in this photo. It consisted of wide pants, and at least three or four layers, with the striped outer coat on the outside. Wonderfully flexible. She made the inner layers out of gauze, but I'd prefer linen. Perhaps I'll ask to borrow it again and trace them out to make patterns.

And thanks about my hair.

[isabelladangelo]

http://isabelladangelo.webs.com/turkishcoat.htm

Patterns and an explanation of the Turkish style as worn in Italy during the 16th Century.

:-)

Sheer linen was very much worn for chemises.   Heavier stuff was for coats/bodices/dresses/ect.   

[GryffinSong]

Oooh, I like the Turkish styles. I can see that I'm going to need a special closet to fit all my future garb!!! 

[gem]

Or a room...

[GryffinSong]

LOL!!! 

[DonaCatalina]

LOL!!! 

you laugh---I have two rooms mostly full of garb and accessories.
One thing about linen. Be sure your seams are well battened down. I can't think of the technical term. Because even hand washing can make linen come unraveled at the seams.

[PollyPoPo]

Do french-seams help with the fraying of linen?  In years past I bought linen skirts with lace lining the top edge of the hem, but not the side seams.

[GryffinSong]

LOL!!! 

you laugh---I have two rooms mostly full of garb and accessories.
One thing about linen. Be sure your seams are well battened down. I can't think of the technical term. Because even hand washing can make linen come unraveled at the seams.

I laugh again! LOL. But I'm also VERY jealous!!!

I know what you mean. French seams are probably what you're thinking of. Sew the seam wrong sides together, then turn right sides together and sew again, so that the raw edges are completely contained. On tents they top sew them twice and flat, called, I think, double flat-felled seams. Though on garb one wouldn't want the double top stitching, its pretty much guaranteed to never come out (That's what they do on blue jeans). On pillow cases I leave the seam sticking into the pillow case (French seam). But very similar techniques and both very good for wayward fabric. Thank you for mentioning that because I wouldn't have thought of it on my own. I have a pair of gypsy pants that I bought for cheap and the seams in the rear came out right away because not only didn't she contain her seams, but she snipped the corners, making it basically an accident waiting to happen!!! Unfortunately, even if I felt like fixing them, they're a contemporary tie-die, so not at all period.