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After doing my research, I decided to go with primarily Simplicity patterns. My reasonings were cost
and ease of use since I've never really sewed clothing...mainly curtains & quilts. Also, there are some great sources
out there (I'll list them soon) that give great tips & hints on modifying the patterns to make them more period.
Once I settled on the patterns, I really thought long and hard about what I want the final product to look
like and what kind of modifications I'll need to make to the patterns to make them more period, look less like a stock pattern,
and make them "personal" to our family. See the next page for my design sketches & notes.
Jena's Dress: After doing my research, I can't believe that I found the Disney Snow White and Sleeping Beauty dresses to
look more period. My plan is to mesh the two dresses together to get an Elizabethan look that she can play and grow
in (2 now, 3 during Ren season). I plan to use the Snow White bodice which I might put a few bones in. I'll use
the SB skirt pattern to get an effect of an underskirt with an overskirt. I'm going to modify the SB peplum. I'll
use the SW sleeves and I plan to add an additional wrap around long sleeve that will simply tie to the short sleeve.
The long sleeves will have a ruffled cuff. I plan to make a pomadore on a girdle out of lilac, a wiffle ball, fabric, ribbon,
& beads....stayed tuned.
Jim's Costume: I'm so excited that my husband is willing to do this!!! He's actually excited about his costume and asks questions
about the design, the type of fabric, will he have a sword, etc. I'm still working on the color scheme but I'm
getting close to settling on his get up. I will be making the jerkin similar to the one on the right of the Simplicity
pattern. The sleeves will be detachable but I haven't finalized the apulets yet. I'm going to put chevron trimming
on the chest and close the jerkin with celtic or frog style clasps. I'm thinking of putting looped apulets and
peplum on the jerkin or simple split type ones perhaps with slashing...time will only tell on that little detail. And
can I say what an awesome guy to actually want pumpkin pants for his costume! We'll have to see about the cod piece
though. I plan on altering the slops and adding panes and using a fly closure and NO elastic. I'll use the
Butterick cape pattern for his cape and I'm not sure about the hat yet but I'm leaning toward a tall hat with some great pheasant
feathers. My idea is to buy one of those cheap felt pilgram hats and covering it with fabric and feathers.
Stay tuned. Also, I plan on putting blackwork on the cuffs & collor of his undershirt. The cuffs and collor
will have knife pleated small ruffs.
James Costume: I thought about doing the boy prince costume (he is 1 and will be 2 during Ren time) but I've decided to do
a noble jerkin and breeches. I think most of his costume will be from scratch with a little help from the Butterick
pattern and his real clothes. His sister actually has some black leggins that might work perfectly for him next
season. His costume will be the last one that I make for sizing reasons and I'm still working out the details in my
head.
My Dress: I settled on the Shakespeare in Love dress pattern very quickly after reading Margo Anderson's write up on
it. The hardest part about this whole process so far has been settling on color cordinations, fabrics, trims, etc.
But after weeks of looking at dress photos on line and brousing the fabric store, I've settled on the perfect color/material
combination. Of course the first fabric you have to choose is the underskirt material. I had a rough idea of the
color & type of fabric I wanted when I went to the store during a sale. After looking almost an hour and not
finding what I was looking for, I started rummaging a super sale table and there it was under a bolt of something aweful...the
perfect material and exactly what I was looking for. After that, it was easy to pick the material for the overskirt,
bodice, & sleeves. These will be in a navy blue damask with a subtle vine scroll. The sleeves will
be modified. I plan to have a tight sleeve in the underskirt material with a long flowing oversleeve in the navy lined
with burgundy. The burgundy will match the trimmings I plan to include on the dress. My concept is complex and
will obviously unfold as I go. I plan to do a lot of beadwork on the bodice, foreskirt, trims, sleeves, and oversleves.
I image this will be a work in progress like a painting that I've been working on passively for the last 8 years (but that's
a story for a whole new website :))
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