How to Sew a Medieval Supportive Kirtle
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ส.ค. 2024
- This is the first in a 3-part series in which I make a historically-inspired Maleficent costume. Stay tuned for the next two parts!
The second video: • Making Maleficent's Hi...
Using historical construction techniques, in this video, I walk through the process of both drafting and making a 15th-century, bust-supportive kirtle. I hand-sewed this Medieval kirtle using directions pulled from the Medieval Tailor's Assistant, a hugely useful book with historically-accurate (or adequate, if you will) techniques for everything from braies to headdresses.
This is my first foray into the world of Medieval. Follow me as I go through the drafting processes, and hand-stitch my very first garment! I'm so pleased with the way this thing came out. Hopefully, by watching this video, you can learn from my mistakes and create a kirtle that is supportive, versatile and FANCY.
In addition, like some kirtles from the 15th century, I made it convertible--meaning that the sleeves are pin-in, so I can take them off for those hot summer days, giving this a much larger scope of wear. In addition, with the sleeves being convertible, I can make more sleeves in contrasting colors to freshen up my look, saving on money and construction while having a great, versatile dress fit for many occasions.
Support this channel by buying me a coffee 🧡☕ : ko-fi.com/fantasticalfollies
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
04:29 Building the Medieval block
06:26 Drafting the kirtle
08:32 Drafting the sleeve ~*scary math time*~
12:07 Making the mock-up
14:12 Cutting out
18:32 Marking stitch lines the lazy way
18:54 Hand sewing silliness and prepping the lining
22:26 Kirtle final fitting
24:12 Gratuitous hand stitching
25:40 Side seam explanation
27:36 Finishing and making pretty
28:28 Adding the eyelets
29:06 Assembling the sleeves
32:17 The hem
35:21 The Reveal
37:23 Takeaways
42:13 Bloopers
Resources:
The Curved-Front Kirtle Tutorial from La Cotte Simple: cottesimple.com/tutorials/curv...
Medieval Tailor's Assistant: www.amazon.com/Medieval-Tailo...
Fingerloop braid tutorial:
I used Morgan Donner's tutorial here: • Easy Fingerloop Braid ...
As well as Daisy Viktoria's, which explains the challenges of doing longer braids like mine : • Medieval FINGER LOOP B...
Photo References:
1. Rogier van der Weyden, 1430-35
(Vos, p. 24)
Detail from The Descent from the Cross
2. Rogier van der Weydan, c. 1450
(Web Gallery of Art)
Braque Family Triptych (detail)
I found both these photos here, and there are a great many others for your researching pleasure: www.uvm.edu/~hag/sca/15th/
Supplies:
Medium weight linen and thread from Mood: www.moodfabrics.com/grasmere-...
Medium weight herringbone ticking linen from Burnley and Trowbridge: burnleyandtrowbridge.com/coll...
I used 5 colors of standard embroidery floss for the fingerloop braid
Frixion pens: smile.amazon.com/s?k=frixion+...
Corset lacing ruler by Amped Atelier: amped-atelier.square.site/
Socials:
Follow me on Instagram: / fantasticalfolliescost...
Follow me on Twitter: / jnmoffa
My Website: jackimoffa.com/
Music I use: Bensound.com
License code: XKC4CDB919VRZAH5
Sound effects by Zapsplat www.zapsplat.com/
#historicalcostuming #medievalcostuming #15thcenturyclothing #handsewn - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Not sure I've liked something as fast before: "got your thimble?" "Got my thimble!" this is gold.
Also exactly what I was looking for for both the visual inspiration to get sewing again but also that it will still look good even though I'm not a stick! Thank you!!
So glad you enjoyed it! And yay for being inspired to start again!! ☺️
I loved your video, thanks for filming it! I'm not a historical sewist by any means, but I sew a lot of my own (very unfashionable ) clothes and I've been watching enough many historical clothing tutorials to know that in the olden days the cloth was woven narrower than our modern day fabrics, and it's absolutely historically accurate to add pieces of cloth where it's wanted and not even as gores but just matching the direction of the weft and warp and sewing the missing piece on. Cloth was expensive and took ages to weave so they used every bit of it. Thank you for making your videos, I'm now following you!
So glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching AND for the sub! Welcome to the channel. 😊
I used Morgan Donner's kirtle drafting video and it was the first hint that my measurements lie, but I made a mockup, figured out some stuff and made myself a cute sleeveless knee length linen kirtle, and I think if I make some little crescent bust improvers it'll actually fill out nicely (lying measurements!), but it is surprisingly comfortable and supportive! I only had a metre of linen (a very similar shade of purple as yours!) to work with, so I did rectangular panels with triangular gores and it worked really well.
Awesome!
Use basting stitches to put the sleeves in. You can just pull them out when you want to remove the sleeved.
Good tip! Much better than wrestling with pins. Thanks!
Great idea
I loled at “got my thimble” 😅
🤣 Glad somebody caught that!!
I'm liking the bodice back and side seams. That's a solid strategy I'll be making use of!
Whoohoo! Glad you thought it was useful! Thanks for watching 😊
An incredibly helpful and enjoyable video! New subscriber and I'm going to be watching this video again (a few times) to get some ideas on how to finally get a supportive kirtle to work for me. Downward drift is a huge problem...
Hello, and welcome! Thank you so much! And I agree 😒 definitely an issue. Darn that gravity, lol! I definitely think getting it nice and tight in the underbust is big, and accounting for the relaxing of the fibers. Let me know how it turns out! 🤞
Thank you for this video. Super useful in making my own supportive kirtle.
Awsome, I'm so glad you found this video useful! Good luck with your kirtle :)
You can get gel-ink pens that are erasable. They write soooo smoothly and actually erase, not like those "erasable" pens you may have used in jr high. I like the Frixion ones. It would make things easier to see and you don't sacrifice erasability!
Thanks! Is there a particular brand of frixion pens you recommend?
They dissapear with heat, so you just need to run an iron over the lines when you want them to dissapear.
Personally I use Pilot frixxion
At the end with the crossbow, you looked like a bad ass, purple Princess Lea. :-)
HAH!! It totally is Leia hair! 😆 Thank you!
I LOVE IT 💘 Your hand sewing is gorgeous.
Thank you so much!! 🥰
That intro is fantastic. It was very relatable. "Why do I have such and such...? I don't know.....but I have it, and it's awesome!" lol You're a knowledgeable dork and that's my jam. Happy 2024!
Hah, thank you! 😆 And thanks for watching, happy New Year!!
Awesome idea with changeable . I also like it without sleeves. (Apron)
Thanks so much! I love clothes that are multi-taskers. I think it's probably going to get the most use without the sleeves, so I'm glad it doesn't look horrible 🤣
Elderberry fruit can be used to dye fabric purple. You need to add a few ingredients to make the fabric color fast.
COOL! Another awesome use for elderberries! Thanks for sharing!
I’m in S. ATX and this is the video I have needed to get me started to make a kirtle from some great B & T linen and a camel overdress.. I, too, am a well padded person for whom drift is an issue. A well fitted kirtle will be a dogsend. May I also suggest using eyelets and ribbons to tie in the sleeves? I don’t know if that’s too much a Renaissance fix but it could work for you. Also, silk buttonhole twist for those seams that need extra strength is a good investment. Cheers!
Whoohoo! Fellow Austinite! Glad this was helpful for you! Eyelets and ribbons is a good idea 👍
This is such a great video, you totally inspired me to make one 🌟🤗 So grateful to find you and your lovely projects 💜
Thank you so much! So glad to have you here! ☺️ And that's awesome, good luck with your sewing!!
would love to see, yet fear to see, a work with Morgan Donner!!
HAH! I would thoroughly enjoy breaking the internet alongside Morgan 🤣 maybe one day I'll get the opportunity! 🤞
Such a great opening to this video 😂
Thanks! 🤣 my friends are enablers and let me buy things I shouldn't. Glad you enjoyed 😎
great job and very funny😂
Thank you so much! 😊
You are also not skinny AND you live in Texas too!!!! This tutorial is heaven for me! I have been wanting to make a chemise but between my size 22 body and even bigger boobs, I have no clue where to start.
Yeah, I had reservations watching smaller-chested folks making self supporting gowns, but I can confirm two years later that these can be comfortable and supportive even for large busts!
@@FantasticalFolliesCostuming I appreciate you very much and am a very excited new stalker, I mean follower!
The purple dye you're looking for is most likely a historic dye (murex, or Royal Purple) not currently available. Its use limited by the large quantity of marine life necessary to make a small amount of dye, rendering it accessible only in small quantities at a very high price. There were sumptuary laws which prevented its use for everyday garments, restricting its use to royalty. If a common person wore this color, they would be instantly be presumed to be impersonating royalty and face the penalty for treason. Maleficent was a Queen, so this would likely have been the source of the color she wore.
Good point! Thanks for sharing!
THE HEMS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE LONG...TO KEEP TOES WARM IN COLD WEATHER...AS YOU SIT SEWING BY THE FIRE...ON THE FREEZING STONE FLOOR...YOU KEEP WARM BY TUCKING SOME OF THE SKIRT UNDER AND AROUND YOUR TOES.
Well a rooty-too-too for Medieval Europe 🤣 Honey, this is Central Texas, where the temperature is above 85 degrees 8 months out of the year, my AC runs constantly between Feb-Nov, and we're currently seeing 10 days straight of 100+ temperatures and a 110-120 degree heat index. The last thing on my mind now or ever is staying warm while sitting on a freezing stone floor in front of a fire. I'll put my hem where I want, thanks, so I don't trip and break my face, or drag it in dog shit. Now if you'll excuse me, Miss Capslock, I'm going to go shove my head in the freezer and try to cool off 😂🥵
can't believe I came to watch a cool video about historical clothing, only to get murdered 16 seconds in
really great vid, worth the crossbow bolt to the face
LOL! That's the risk you take, here at FFC. Normal one second and then, BOOM! Random violence. 🤣 Also, thank you so much!
I have almost the exact same high tech pattern weights! 😁
Hah! Awesome! They're always handy and are serious multitaskers 🤓
And now I'm wondering if I should try my hands at a supportive kirtle to fight back against the downward drift of my extra-padded squishable parts.
Ahahahha 😅 It's worth a shot! I mean, it's no corset, but it's pretty darn comfy for everyday wear
Apparently a light weight cross bow, while later there were heavy weight cross
bows, with 2 handed cranks and metal ?
bows that fired metal bolts. 1 feudal
ruler made an experiment that found that
1 bow & arrow fired 8 arrows/1 bolt. but
bolts were stronger.
Ancient Chinese had multi arrow light cross bow, like older machine guns +
stock/magazine of bullets on top of
barrel.
Ancient and Medieval Euros had giant
crossbows in frames, called ballistas.
Dangerous!!
AWESOME! Thanks for sharing! I definitely need to get me some of those 😂
You are so fun.
Thank you! I never know how much goofy is too much goofy, so I'm glad it's not overkill 😂
@@FantasticalFolliesCostuming it’s just enough to show your personality! I enjoy it!
Auuuuu!
I want to know about the eyelet ruler. Tried searching for it on Amazon.
I love the big rush when a project is completed and fun to wear. My version would have been raw silk and used for occasions which require more formality and not care what anyone says.
It's from Amped Atelier. TH-cam doesn't like when I link in comments, but if you google the name, you can find it pretty easy!
I agree! Finishing is my favorite part, hah! Raw silk is very nice!
@@FantasticalFolliesCostuming thank you.
I adore this tutorial- it’s so helpful! We have similar body types, so I extra appreciate a tutorial on a similar shape ☺️ I am stuck after doing the taped sloper. I’m trying to figure out how to cut the sloper so the bust fullness rotates out to the center front for a curved seam. Did you find a good resource for that stage? I’ve done taped slopers to pattern corsets and bodices with darts, but I’m blanking on how to get a flat pattern with shaping and no darts.
I'm so glad you found it helpful! And also nice to meet people with similar body types, for that very reason 😁
I've been noodling over your question a bit, and realized that (AS ALWAYS) I was overthinking it. Hah! So you've got to do this in two steps. Cut straight down the center of your taped sloper to get your basic medieval block. This is the block that you can use for any medieval garment you want to make.
Buuuuuut...to get the curves for the kirtle, you'll need to then transfer the block onto scrap fabric, baste it all together and pin it on your body while lying down to get it as tight as you need. The taping method won't work for this, because it doesn't behave the same as fabric. You really need to get in there and pinch out all the ease if it's going to support you, and that's hard with sticky stuff! There's an excellent tutorial for this, on La Cotte Simple's website. Here: cottesimple.com/tutorials/curved-front-seam/ I managed to do this on my own, but definitely easier with help.
Hopefully that helps! Let me know if you have further questions :)
@@FantasticalFolliesCostuming alas, you are right. I tried manipulating the taped form and it turned out way off. I have a feeling the pinch/pin method will be a headache, but I’ll give it a go! Thanks for responding ☺️
@@kristenpeters4434 Of course, that's what I'm here for, hah! Hopefully the pinch and pin wasn't so bad. I didn't mind it...but after trying to do the same method on an 18th century mockup recently, anything seems a breeze 🙄
Looks like TH-cam blocked my previous comment. :( For purple dyes, look at logwood, cochineal, madder and woad overdyed with each other. I wrote a longer reply with more tips but I can't re-write it.
Thank you! That's so helpful! I'm not sure why TH-cam did that, but I'll look into it. The good news is that while it got eaten on the site, it exists in all it's glory in my email. Can't wait to start digging through all your suggestions 😎
@@FantasticalFolliesCostuming You're welcome. :) TH-cam probably blocked it because I tried to sneak in some website suggestions for natural dyes. But at least now you have some key words you can search for. :) (Madder is red and woad is blue. I haven't searched for how/if they were mixed. But woad (blue) and weld (yellow) overdyed made green fabric. First they did one of the dye baths, then the other, and it made green).
Only came across your video now, so the info may be moot by now. Linen was hard to dye colourfast in old days. Wool and silk take up colour much more easily. A cheaper version is to overdye red with blue. Cheaper and not cheap because of double dyeing process
Makes sense!
@@FantasticalFolliesCostuming forgot to say that woad was about the best stuff to dye linen with.
Purple was originally extremely expensive- extracted from a purple sea snail and used almost elusively by royalty. Would not have been possible See "Tyrian purple" in wikipedia for a quick overview. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_purple
Thanks for the tip!
Yes this is true, however people could also layer red and blue dye jobs to create purple, which were much more readily available
@@coldhands4799 Yes! What a great point! 🤯 Thanks for bringing that up!