January 27: Garb etc.
I got together with my good friend Michele (who decided to play in the SCA again after an extended break) with the intention of starting on my green linen kirtle, but decided (yet again) that I need a new corset. It really happened when I decided that I really would try to draft a bodice pattern properly by using the sempstress body block draft and thinking that I could finally make pretty underwear that actually fits. Now I'm sitting on a pile of red duck canvas and some magenta silk that I found ages ago and suddenly camp garb doesn't seem so important anymore. I can't believe I keep doing that.
Anyway, here's what mine ended up looking like. It took the better part of an afternoon, but it seems to work pretty well.
And here's my first attempt at a corset pattern that kinda resembles the effigy bodies. Due to the brightness, you can kinda just barely make out the places I've marked out for tabs -- each one is 2.5 inches wide, and extends past the waist line for about 3 inches.
I started thinking that the back piece looked really weird, so I tried again with a little different placement of the side back seam:
I'm not sure what difference it would make between the two -- theoretically it could, since the angle of the boning would be different as it approaches the side back. #2 will likely be a bodice pattern regardless.
In other news, I'm making decent progress on my handsewn 15th century kirtle, and I'll be posting pics hopefully soon.
