Every now and again, bad things happen to good costumers. Usually, they happen at the worst time possible. I pulled out Ye Olde Disney Peasant dress for a Halloween party over the weekend, and being my normal timely self, I was done washing it about a half hour before my guy was supposed to pick me up. And that’s when I noticed disaster: a three inch rip up the center back bodice, through both layers, which had also loosened a few inches of skirt pleating. Oh, joy…. I love a last minute repair. Should you find yourself in the same situation, here’s how to fix it.
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So, you’ve got a basic ren wench bodice pattern. Yay! Now it’s time to pick some fabrics and sew it all up.
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Sewing and hemming gored skirts is a skill needed for almost all periods of western fashion since the late 1400s. This demo shows how to make a gored skirt with a simple side-seam pocket, mounted on a waistband. We’re going to gather the fullness of this skirt to the back, making it very suitable as an underskirt to be worn over a support skirt (hoops or farthingale).
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The Spanish Farthingale is a stiffened underskirt that gives Tudor and early Elizabethan skirts their characteristic conical shape. You can make a very passable one with a full length gored skirt pattern (either a commercial A-line skirt pattern, or one you draft yourself), a lot of ribbon or bias tape, and boning.
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A lot of people seem to really like circle skirts. They look all cute and romantic on tiny elf-looking girls, and multi-circle skirts are popular with some dance troups. To me, for historical work, they always scream “sock hop!” and I avoid them even though circular hems are demonstrably correct for sixteenth century surcoats and capes. (They also eat fabric like you wouldn’t believe.) This is about the second easiest skirt pattern I can think of, though, and it’s a good trick to know.
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The drawstring skirt is about the easiest thing in the world to make, so it’s a great starting point for building up your “sewing without a pattern” confidence. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the least flattering skirts to wear. It will pass for an underskirt, and it’s good if you’re in a hurry or sewing for children. (You might, however, have to explain the idea of drawstrings to the child repeatedly, as I found out during Oliver! – children have grown up in some sort of “all elastic, all the time” universe and are confounded by clothing that needs periodic adjustments. “My skirt fit yesterday and today it falls off.” “Did you tie the drawstring?” “Yes.” “Tight?” “Yes!” “Really?” “Um….”)
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Sewing a chemise can be as simple, or as difficult, as you want it to be. This is version has a slightly more advanced finish on the neck than the simple chemise with drawstrings, but it’s got an easier sleeve. You will need your Simple Chemise Pattern. This method produces one of my favorite festive peasant chemises, but with a little decoration and nicer fabric, it also produces a neckline that’s a good fill for any square necked bodice.
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Sewing a chemise can be as simple, or as difficult, as you want it to be. This is one of the simplest versions. Combined with your Simple Chemise Pattern, these sewing directions are all you need to produce a chemise. Well, I mean, you’ll need some fabric, too, and some thread and a sewing machine would be awfully handy, but you get the idea. Shall we?
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