1410s French Gown
Spring 2017:
I recently had some family issues causing some stress so I decided to try to do something I used to do in college and when I was a theatre tech - make an entire costume in one sitting. I had been wanting to make a side-laced 1410s dress with swooping sleeves based on the illustrations to the works of Christine de Pizan (a very cool medieval author) and decided to go for it. I am very happy with the results, and have already worn it once and found it quite comfortable! The headress was created the following week, and that information can be found here!
Inspiration:
f. 3 and f. 183 from The Book of the Queen from the British Library
I had been stockpiling images of this period for a while (see my Pinterest page for this project) so I already had the basic pattern planned out. It appeared to be similar to the later period straight-sleeved 4-panel bust supportive gown/gothic-fitted-dress/kirtle but with the more defined curve in the bust you see in the later versions, no visible front closures, and sleeves cut either into a rectangle below the elbow or as a triangle coming off the shoulder. While originally I wanted the large triangle shape you see in the Tres Riche Heures I did not have enough fabric for the large hanging sleeves, but it does mean I had an excuse to made some very nice contrasting undersleeves in green silk.
Construction:
Around 5pm. I got started. I took my basic 4-panel gown pattern (used originally to make my 14th Century Heraldic Gown) and made a few tweaks. As mentioned above the bust is high and rounded so I softly rounded the bust line as well as dropping and boat-rounding the neckline to better match the images. I also shifted the shoulders wider, almost off the shoulder (see image to the left for a loose sketch - original pattern shape in pencil, updated pattern in black pen). While I achieved close to the look in the paintings I think I need to redraft them even farther off to truly match the look you see in many of the pieces.
This is an overdress that I wear over a linen supportive layer so it doesn't have to do much work to change my body shape, and the fabric I was using was a somewhat thick cotton brocade so I decided not to line the dress. If you aren't going to wear a supportive layer underneath you almost certainly shouldn't skip this step if you need any bust support at all.
The fabric is a cotton brocade that I used the wrong side of to better imitate some of the period 14th & 15th century brocades I have seen. It isn't a perfect match but it breathes well enough I can wear it in a warm climate and was only $6 per yard so I am very happy with it!
Cutting out the pieces I left a full inch of seam allowance on the right front and back side seams to allow me to double fold hem the sides to make the side lacing. On the other seams I did 3/4 so that I could do a 5/8ths wide flat felled seam (instructions are for the machine but I do the felling by hand). I've found a thicker felled seam gives a great amount of structure to a piece - almost like soft boning or cording to add stiffness and reduce wrinkling. Once I cut out the pieces (one upside down - yay challenges of sewing all in one night! Fortunately you can't really tell and it's in the back) I machine sewed the bodice pieces together except the right side pieces. I then added my gores (having to take out my front gore which I somehow almost always cut too large and need to take out to make it hang right). This completed the majority of the gown that I was going to sew on the machine.
For the sleeves I took my basic sleeve pattern for a semi-fitted sleeve, added an extra 1/4 inch of ease to account for the undersleeve, and took the shape straight down from just above the elbow. I then measured how far on the body they seemed to come in the manuscripts (it varied pretty dramatically) so I took a tape measure and hung it to decide on the length I thought looked good for me and extended the sleeve pattern down to this point (drawing to the right is very rough and not proportional at all, but I cannot draw to save my life!).
While the period lining seems to be white fur most commonly, I wanted something less warm, and as it was past midnight at this point it would have to come from my stash! I had some gorgeous shot silk in gold and maroon that had been left over from a production way back in college (questionable storage across 6 or so moves in the intervening 10 years meant that it took a ton of ironing and still has a few crease marks, but still so pretty!). Construction was easy, I just added an extra half inch on all sides and sewed the sides and bottom together leaving the part that will be attached to the dress open. I then clipped the seams, turned it inside out, pressed flat, and then treated as a single piece. I then sewed the sides above the elbow together to create the sleeve, then pinned the top closed to hold it in place while it was pinned and sewn into the dress body.
I finally set the sleeve into the bodice and at 2:30am decided that with all of the machine sewing done it was close enough to call it a success as a one-night dress (image to right). Over the next few days I felled the seams, hemmed the neckline, hem, and side opening, and added lacing holes to fully complete the dress. I also later made some green silk undersleeves and a horned headdress to make it into a complete outfit.
Results:
I really love this gown. It is very comfortable to wear, I love the hanging sleeves, and the colors worked beautifully together. This is definitely a style I may make more of in the future and I certainly see myself wearing it to many SCA events!
