The bodice was drafted using the shapes of my current pair of bodies because it fits well and is from the correct time frame. I made a few changes to make it more appropriate: removed the tabs, raised the neckline and changed the angles of the straps.
Once that was done, I cut out one layer of linen canvas for the interlining, one layer of linen canvas for the lining, one layer of the orange medium weight linen for the fashion fabric, green linen for the guards and yellow linen for the guard piping.
I have been wanting to try out padstitching the layers of the bodice to see what effect they have in regards to stiffening the bodice.
Bodice Back: Padstitching on half only, see how it changes the drape of the fabric.
Bodice Front Half: The padstitching is smaller and tighter as it rounds closer to the front area in order to give more stiffness.
The bodice pieces are basted together and sewn on to see how the padstitching is working out. In the following pictures, the left side is padded and the right side is not. It seems that it is helping to smooth out the wrinkles at least a bit. The waist is still a bit long in these pictures as well, so shortening it to my natural waist will help remove more wrinkles.
Once the bodice was finished being padstiched, I sewed the lacing rings to the interlining layer and finished the edge by catch stitching the edge back to the layer.
I added a small strip of the canvas to the inside of the outer fabric to add additional stiffening and to alleviate some of the pulling that happens with the tension of the lacing rings. The strip was first basted to the edge of the fabric, then folded back and sewn into place.
The interlining/lining layer was then placed within the lines of the fashion fabric and the edges of the outer layer were double folded over the inner layer and stitched down with a fell stitch. I attached the side and shoulder seams by placing the right sides together and using a flat fell seam finish. Finally I attached the guards.
The Skirt:
The skirt was drafted using a gored method based on the Alcega Tailoring book drafts. I used a two to one ratio for the waist as I have found that it allows enough to do knife pleats without adding too much fullness. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures…but I do plan on doing a post all about patterning skirts in the near future. I did not line it because I wanted to keep this lightweight and cool. It was stitched together by placing the right sides together, and sewn using a smallish running stitch. The seam allowances were finished by folding over and secured with a whip stitch. The hem was then done using my padded hem method detailed Here.
The guards were cut out as bias strips. The green was cut as a four inch strip and the yellow was a 1.5 inch strip. The yellow was folded in half, pressed and then sewn to each edge of the green. Then I pressed it into a curve before applying it to the skirt. I stitched it down in the seam line using a small fell stitch. Finally, the skirt top edge was finished by double folding and then attached to the bodice with a whip stitch.
Well, things have slowed down a bit and after cleaning up all the clutter from all the other projects, I finally have had a chance to continue researching the 16th century German Working Class dress. I really love the look of the gals from the last quarter of the century, so that is where my focus will be.
I usually work very hard to keep my items as close to what would have been done in period, however there are a couple concessions that I am making for this dress.
Fabric: As I said before, I was gifted some linen, and although there is no evidence that linen was used in outer garments (except for some jackets very late in the century) I plan to use it for a sleeveless dress in the hopes that it will be a cooler alternative to wear in the California heat.
Construction: Although, a working woman’s dress would have likely been made at home instead of by a tailor, my interests lie mainly in tailoring techniques used in the sixteenth century, so I plan on approaching the dress construction in the manner that a tailor would.
Pictorial Overview
First Step was to compile as many pictures as possible and sort them out by region and time. I went through and grouped the pictures together in collages from earliest to latest by region. Here is my pinterest page that has all the source images German Working Class 1550-1600.
Swabia and BavariaNurembergStrasbourgPenig 1617. Past the time frame, but the silhouette and some details are very similar.Alsatian and Tubingen. These ladies may be from a merchant class, but the similarities in the dresses is why they are included here.
Upon reviewing the artwork, I did notice some similarities that seemed to be consistent in the majority of the dresses.
upright silhouette with straight back, and soft curve at bust
ankle length skirts
skirts look to be a gore type construction with wide pleats at the waist
bodice laces closed leaving an open space in center front
long plain white apron that covers the front of the skirt
High neck hemd with frill at neck and long sleeves
over partlet in white or black
jacket options
variety of head coverings
skirts have contrasting guards
both ladder and spiral lacing used
There are also some questions that these depictions do not answer.
the bottom of the bodice is covered by the apron, so it is impossible to tell whether it dips or if it is straight.
the neckline is covered in all of these by a partlet or a jacket, so it is impossible to tell how the neckline is shaped.
Many of these ladies have a different color bodice than skirt. Is it an additional skirt worn over a kirtle? A pair of bodies with a separate skirt over it? A doublet/jerkin? Artistic license?
The bodice reads as stiffened. How was this achieved?
What method was used for the front lacing? Eyelets, lacing rings?
What is under the CF opening?
To address these questions, I had to look at dresses from other places and classes for answers.
Shaping the Bodice Neckline and Waistline:
The first thing that came to mind was a dress that I was able to see at the Janet Arnold Costume Colloquium in 2008. According to my notes, the dress is from around 1550 and is believed to be an dress that would be for everyday wear around the house. Sadly, at the time I didn’t note much more than that because I didn’t really know enough about what to look for and most of my interest was focused on the Red Pisa dress. But, with some help from google, I found a site that has a great deal more information Cocktatrice located a little more than halfway down the page. Although this dress is Italian, it is relevant because Italy borders the HRE in the south and the influences on dress are very evident in the southern regions.
Pisa dress from around 1550
Square neckline is fairly high on the chest
waist dips slightly in the front
rectangular skirt construction pleated to bodice
pleats do not continue at CF
CF closure
armseye shape is oddly angular in places
Hem is finished with a facing
no padding in the hem
shoulder seam is toward the back of the body
the dress is of a linen/wool blend!
the seams are completed with a backstitch
the seams are either flatfelled or left open
seam allowances were not tacked down
7mm seam allowances (approx .25 inch)
An extant bodice dated to 1560 was found in a well in Prague Castle . During this time in the century, Bohemia was included in the HRE through earlier marriages and it shares borders with the Germanic regions of Bavaria, Saxony, as well as Austria.
1560 Prague Bodice
square wide open neckline
straps angled inward (like alcega)
front opening
low scooped out waistline
Turning back to artistic depictions, Weigel includes an illustration of a working woman from france in his Trachtenbuch of 1577. France borders the Western borders of the Rhenish areas of the Germanic Regions. located here
French woman 1577
square neckline
although waistline is not visible all the way to CF, it reads as straight based on the side view
shirt/under layer has straight narrow sleeves
awesome big straw hat perfect for sun protection
lacing method not visible, so either hidden lacing rings or lacing strips attached to inside of bodice out of sight
difficult to tell whether it is spiral or ladder lacing
no visible pleating under the CF opening
hem facing or guard at hem
Based on the above, I am going to draft a square neckline, but with the wide open feel of the Prague bodice. My reasoning is that I have been pondering the angles Alcega uses in his bodice straps and I really like the lines that they create and the Prague bodice offers me the chance to try it out. The waistline is going to follow my natural waist which means it will curve slightly down similar to the Pisa gown.
Center Front Details
Taking a look at the inspiration images from the Germanic Regions some generalizations about the details can be made.
CF Details
most are spiral laced
ladder lacing is possible
means of lacing not visible
two pictures have circles on the outside. Could be lacing holes or rings, but it doesn’t look like the lacing cord actually goes through, so it could just be a decorative detail
Some show a different color under the lacing, some the same color
No pleated fabric evident under the lacing
Lacing cord in black or white
Most have some sort of guarding present
So, for my dress, I will use hidden lacing rings in a spiral lacing formation. I also plan to do a guarding detail down the center of each front panels.
What goes under the CF Lacing
This is the hard part. So far we have determined that in the artwork, there is usually a flat fabric of varying color beneath the lacing. This can be either a stomacher over a pair of bodies, a stomacher over a kirtle, a side or back closing kirtle, or a placket built into the dress itself. I want to keep things fairly simple at this point because I want to get the dress done fairly quickly. I already have a pair of bodies that gives me the proper silhouette, so I could make a stomacher or a placket to use with it. However, since this is about having a cooler outfit, I don’t know that I want that extra layer. The other option could be to make a self supporting dress with a stiffened placket or stomacher to fill the opening. This would mean just one layer and would be the cooler option, but the most unlikely. The jury is still out on this one.
So, based on the above evidence, the dress will have
Open CF with hidden lacing rings
Guarding down the CF
Square open neckline
Be sleeveless with optional sleeves that tie on
Follow my natural waistline
Gored skirt with a pleated waist
Faced hem
Skirt guards
still deciding on whether to use my pair of bodies or not
