Category
Terra firma (firm ground)
Entrant
Christine Bess Duvant
Entry
An Outfit for a Friend
History:
I have only ever made one Burgundian outfit. It was about 20 years ago, a doublet and over robe for a jouster friend and I was very much still in my infancy when it came to sewing. So much so, that I remember cutting the outer garment slightly wrong and after I had cried lots, I had to go and buy more material out of my own pocket (which made me cry more…)
My friend Sir Bain had just won crown, and I had offered to make something for him if he wished. He had at the time said something small would be lovely but didn’t say what and said he would leave it up to me. I then was going overseas for a few months and the next time I would have a chance to see him would be Coronation/step down.
He contacted me around a month before coronation asking if I could I make him a jacket for this, and that he ‘had a pattern’ and the fabric already. I asked all the usual questions and he was a little vague on some of the answers. I also needed his body for this task as it needed to fit correctly, and I didn’t know what the pattern looked like or when it had been made, so he offered to pay for my flights to go to Brisbane at the end of the school Holidays. This way I could sit at his house for 4 days, measure, pattern and make him the ‘jacket’ before leaving again.
I took a few of my trusty patterns (sleeve, basic coat), and enough silk for the lining of the coat I thought I was making with me. When I got there, it kind of changed from what I thought it was into something very different. I didn’t mind, but I also hadn’t made anything like this before and I knew I needed to do some quick research as this was for his coronation and it needed to be right (in my opinion).
I found lots of examples, showed Bain, talked about it and what his version of Burgundian was and what he wanted (which may have not been exactly period)…so we had a talk and we looked at the options. Eventually we settled on a very awesome style from 1448 that ‘Philip the Good’ was modelling at the time.
I wanted desperately to find him his split sleeves that he wanted in the style of coat that he wanted, and to make the outfit not too ‘puffy’ while still being the right style. We discussed not using the buttons down the front that he wanted as there were none in portraits and painting, and really, that if he wanted the coat that he was looking at, he not only needed a doublet with the puffy sleeves under, but also the shirt that goes with the time period and actually, while we are at it hose that tie to the doublet otherwise there will be an hideous gap between the viking?!?!? Pants that you bought at Pennsic and want to wear with it and the Velvet doublet that finishes at your high waist……The coat was now an entire 4 piece.
This was not going to be researched, patterned and fully made in one weekend. I knew I would need to take this away, finish it in NZ and then come back a day early for Coronation and pattern/make the hose the day before.
Some of the research:
Images below are from here:https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1440-1449/
I looked for as much evidence I could find for the Coat as the first priority. I also knew that the puff on the sleeve of the velvet doublet would be important to get patterned before I left as I remembered that that had been something that had made me want to cry 20 years ago (and nothing had changed 20 years later with this one.)
Using scrap material from the Queen and from some prior knowledge from a coat I had made myself (Christina of Denmark). For more information see here https://chantellegerrard.wordpress.com/christina-of-denmark-gown-page-under-construction/
From this prior knowledge I knew how the coat should swing and also wondered if the sleeve could be helpful for Bain’s robe. Sadly I had never taken a pattern from that sleeve, but I had a mental image.
After measurements were taken, and in between business meetings, the toile (pattern) was tried on our then majesty. He had wanted it calf length and it was obvious that the material wouldn’t fit the length and flair so piecing was the key – and in all honesty, another .5 of a metre would have meant that most of the sleeves didn’t have to be pieced either, but that is what happens and you roll with it…
The green pattern on top is the original me trying to get the fit and flair right…when I had, I lengthened it, made 4 and sewed them together. The red is the sleeve pattern. The Blue is the linen interlining that came from the Queen as she was willing to sacrifice it for the common good. My silk and the outer material didn’t have the right weight or swish. It needed to look like the paintings and most often, there is a linen interlining that creates that in period.
With the blue linen looking good the outer layer was cut and pieced and sadly, I only had enough silk lining for 3 panels so that had to wait to be finished in NZ. Annoyingly, if I had had more, I could have finished the majority of the coat over there (minus the fur).
The hook and eye tape was applied to the front. I made up a sleeve to see how it worked and put it in to see the whole effect. It was then left to hang for the rest of the trip so that the linen had a chance to drop. The linen also had a lot longer to drop in all honesty, as when it got back to NZ it was hung for about a week before I had a chance to work on it.
The sleeve had box pleats, and each pleat is sewn on the machine and then hand sewn together at the join so it doesn’t separate when put in. The sleeve also had a few layers of wool cut and placed at the top so it sits up and out at the shoulder. This gives the puff needed and supports the box pleats.
The velvet doublet was patterned, cut and fit and fitting in between making the jacket. The sleeve was mocked up, but I didn’t get to fully make it up in the way I usually would so it made it a bit harder when I got back to NZ…and by harder, I might have said more than a few choice words while making them (and unpicking them).
The doublet seams are felled on the inside and the sleeve puff has a similar wool insert to make it stay up. Bain didn’t want a really puffy and bulbous finish that you see in some recreations, and was happy with this ‘lesser’ result.
The fit was my concern. I always worry – no matter what I make, the fear doesn’t go away until it is on the person, finished, and they are happy. Luckily, it was fine on the day. I split the doublet up the back of the sleeve to make sure that this happened as the arm had been a bit tight before I left and it still needed a linen shirt under.
The shirt was a white linen, straight sleeved, fold over neck which I finished the neck and sleeve length when I was in Australia along with the hose. All the rest of the eyelets had been done by my eyelet hole attachment on my sewing machine, however, I was doing the hose in Australia and they needed to be done by hand.
The hose were a little loose around the thighs and buttock for period. The pattern was tight fitting and wasn’t seeming to have any issues, but we decided not to push it and loosen it as Bain’s main dislike about having proper hose was that he had some in the past that hadn’t fitted right, were tight in the wrong places, and had been uncomfortable. In the end he said the ones that were made for this outfit were very comfortable and in the future they could be tighter as he wasn’t expecting them to feel that good and he hardly noticed he was wearing any.
The hose needed to resemble these::
During the process, I wondered if the reason for the change in length for the later style shorter robes was something akin to my initial cut of the fabric. This was where it all fit in the same width of fabric without needing to piece it at the bottom. It was the same length as the pictures, and Bain is roughly also the same height as men in that period so it was a good measure to see if it was similar.
I was also interested in the different place for the sleeve split – starting in line with the shoulder seam, instead of in the place where a two piece sleeve would have been later and in a way that I have done before for other periods.
We knew we could use the material that had been bought for the coat – as you can see behind the coat length etc that we modelled Bain’s on, there is someone with a lovely gold and black brocade that looks suspiciously like our material.
I also noticed that the V neckline at the back came naturally from the way the pattern was cut and placed. I was really happy with this (maybe overly…) as it made me realise I had done the right thing for it to not only have the folds look right, but also have the right V.
We didn’t have time to make aglets, so I scraped together the ones I had already and tied it all together.
The final result was really pleasing. Bain got an outfit, I got to try a style that I had wanted to do properly for ages and he looked very pretty on the throne.
