Rapunzel Outfit

Inspired by all the "Historical Disney Princess" art on the internet, I got the idea to do a doubleted, pumpkin pants wearing rendition of Disney's Rapunzel. I sat on the idea for a few years before I got word of a princess themed garb challenge which was just the right kick in the butt I needed to actually get this project done. So began two months and 120+ hours of sewing.

I hunted until I found linen in approximately the right colors (you would be amazed how hard it is to find historical materials in that shade of pinkish-purple). With materials in hand and idea sketched out, I followed Matthew Gnagy's FANTASTIC instructions in The Modern Maker to draft and construct the doublet. I won't get into too much detail here because my instructions would pale in comparison to his, I'll highlight some of the small changes I did make.

I had to adapt the men's pattern for a doublet to fit my body because I was interested in this being a menswear outfit. Luckily, I'm not too terribly curvy. I drafted the waist of my doublet from the instructions for a 16th century women's doublet to better accommodate my hips, but the rest is drafted from the men's pattern. I then added extra material in the front and side seam to accommodate my chest. One mock-up and a little bit of tailoring later and I had a pattern that fit!

I constructed the doublet according to The Modern Maker instructions and it came out pretty darn well! Photos of the construction above and some of the details below.

I actually really enjoyed doing 90% of the doublet sewing by hand. I am still recovering from tendonitis in both my wrists though, so this was slow going and I had to make some concessions with particularly thick portions of the body (darn armscyes). But the finished product looked great! And of course I neglected to take any photos of it.

So on to the next big piece, the pumpkin pants! The patterning is based off of the paned trunkhose pattern in Pattern Cutting for Men’s Costume by Elizabeth Friendship. But for the assembly, I used several resources for guidance and then made my own assumptions based off the pattern.

The paned trunkhose are made up of 3 or more distinct layers: the structural layer, the "poof" layer, and the panes. The structural layer is narrowly (but comfortably fit) and ends where you want the hose to end. This is the layer that holds up all the poof. The poof layer is then gathered or pleated onto the structural layer before the panes are applied and the waist and leg bands are used to enclose the ends. For an appropriately poofy pant, you need a LOT of fabric. I used a front and back panel that were each 60" wide.

Next, I started on the panes. I did the math to figure I could support 14 x 2.5" panes around my waist with small gaps between each one at the leg. I preferred that than trying to overlap these thick panes at the waistband. I drafted the "saddle" portion of the panes with a little guess and check. This portion keeps most of the poof out of between your legs and makes the pants much easier to wear. Then it was off to sew, flip, and trim all of the panes! This was a pain and I gave up on hand sewing around this time. It was some 84+ feet of straight seams and my wrists just weren't having it.

Somewhere along this process, I realized I was going to be about 3 yards short of the amount of trim I needed. Panic ensued as this silk ribbon was given to me 4 years ago and I had no idea where to find it. I did eventually find someone selling it by the yard and bought 5 just in case. It came in a different color...

More panic ensued but I only had a week to finish the pants before the competition and the silk was hand dyed so there was no guarantee I would ever find a perfect match, so in the ever wise words of my friends, "making it work is period." So I punched my perfectionist anxiety in the face and rolled with it.

Next came the fun part, I basted all the panes in place to the waist. This was followed by a night of claiming I was an octopus and spinning around to hit anyone close enough. It was a long journey to get this far.

At this point I attached the waist and leg bands and BOOM, I had pants!

In the midst of all this, I drafted and cut a 16th century shirt which my husband lovingly sewed together (I may make this into it's own instructional post at some point if I have time.) I made a belt and doubted my sanity. My good friend Alias Ela made me a knit Tudor flat cap and garters (they are so cute!) And voila! The outfit was done.

But of course, Ela and I had a 5 hour drive to the event for this competition and so as you do, I made a Pascal inspired pouch to do with the outfit on the way there.

Unfortunately, the Princess Power competition didn't take place at King's Assessment, but I was finally able to wear this outfit to the Coronation of Cuan and Signy when the weather cooled down. Photos below are by the lovely and talented Kaaren Valravn, where I'm signing away my husband on apprenticeship to become a bard.