Summer Sea Shells on eBay this week!
Showing posts with label 17th century embroidered smock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 17th century embroidered smock. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 08, 2015
Bears & Sea Shells
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Constructing Marguarite's 17th century Embroidered Smock......
So first, I am making up my front panel, which consists of 6 narrow widths, once this is finished, I will trim my back piece to the exact same width, and we will be on to the next step. I am using an awesome white Londenderry linen thread weight 100/3, just doing a back stitch, then will trim off one side seam allowance and turn to flat fell them, so there will be no raw edges. If you like, staying true to period, you can also turn and hem the edges of your pieces, then whip them together.
For those of you who are constructing a smock along with me, we are on to construction. Some are embroidering all their pieces first, depending on the blackwork pattern....I am staying true to the original c1575-1600 smock held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, so my next step is to construct the body, so I can have a zillion seams to cover with my powder blue filament silk....YAY! NOT~ I have found embroidering these weensie motifs really challenging, they are so small, and all being the same, sorry to have to admit, but extremely boring to work. So much so, I was elated to stitch seams!
The original smock is made of a fine linen...I am using ramie for this one~ still a 100% natural fiber, and it is so thin and soft....just perfect for this scale I am working. Its basic construction is a rectangle for the front, one for the back, 2 small rectangle pieces that cover over the shoulders, 2 sleeves, and 2 sleeve underarm gussets. That's it~ very simple. I am making mine a little different, because I want it to look like it was pieced from scraps, AND, doing this will give me the lines I want in the front for my embroidery to go over, so I wont have to mark it. The original was indeed embroidered all the way around, but my Marguarite's will only have the vertical embroidery on the front seams.
So first, I am making up my front panel, which consists of 6 narrow widths, once this is finished, I will trim my back piece to the exact same width, and we will be on to the next step. I am using an awesome white Londenderry linen thread weight 100/3, just doing a back stitch, then will trim off one side seam allowance and turn to flat fell them, so there will be no raw edges. If you like, staying true to period, you can also turn and hem the edges of your pieces, then whip them together. Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Lets Start~ a c1600 embroidered smock for Marguarite
I have done alot of research into what sort of smock I want Marguarite to wear under her bodies....must be period correct of coarse, and be able to be worn under a gown or jacket with a low neckline. I love Janet Arnold's books~ she was such a gift to us, and did more for research of early 16th-17th c clothing than anyone else. I am utilizing her Patterns of Fashion, Volume 4 for the smock I am making. Pattern number 71, which is an embroidered smock c1575-1600. I would have liked to use a later period smock, say, 1630's ideally, but couldn't find one in the cut I was looking for~ as in, LOW neckline. This smock is quite full, but I am using a really sheer natural fiber ramie, so I am not worried about any bulk under the bodies. IF you are going to use a linen, I would definitely cut out a few panels in the body, to make it more fitted. Above is a view of the smock as Janet sketched it out~ I will be following the pattern fairly closely, and yes, using this same embroidery motif.
Here you can see that mainly, these early smocks are just comprised of rectangles~ very simple in construction. I cut my pattern from paper, and fitted it on Marguarite, making adjustments for her unique body type~ basically, there is a front and back, 2 sleeves, 2 small bits that go over the shoulders, and 2 square underarm gussets.
Typically the fabric would be embroidered first, then stitched together...but alot of the embroidery is over the seams on this one, so I am embroidering the underarm gussets first, then am going to stitch it all together, and embroidering it last. The most embroidery on this is on the sleeves, and I want to be sure the fit is correct and perfect, before I go spending a ton of time on embroidery that may get put into the trash. I am drawing the motifs on with a lead pencil, which works quite well~ my fingers rub it off, and by the time I am finished with the motif, the lead marks are all gone.
The original smock was embroidered in a salmon color filament silk~ I am color coordinating Marguarites outfit, so picked a nice shade of blue that will look nice with her bodies. I am using soie ovale~ a flat untwisted filament silk, but as you can see, it is quite heavy off the spool~ if you ask most folks they will say that it cant be divided, but I have found that if I fray the end a little with my thumbnail, it separates quite easily into 6 strands...sometimes I get a 7th.
Here is one underarm gusset complete~ each motif takes me about 2.5-3 hours to stitch...ridiculous isn't it?! They are so small, and I am doing a back stitch~ now the original would have been done in a running stitch, as in, if stitching a straight line, worked one direction, then turned, and worked again the the opposite direction to make a perfectly smooth line....but I find my scale and thread just too weensie to do the proper technique. I still get a quite pleasing effect, very delicate with just a hint of color~ am liking it so far!
I have done alot of research into what sort of smock I want Marguarite to wear under her bodies....must be period correct of coarse, and be able to be worn under a gown or jacket with a low neckline. I love Janet Arnold's books~ she was such a gift to us, and did more for research of early 16th-17th c clothing than anyone else. I am utilizing her Patterns of Fashion, Volume 4 for the smock I am making. Pattern number 71, which is an embroidered smock c1575-1600. I would have liked to use a later period smock, say, 1630's ideally, but couldn't find one in the cut I was looking for~ as in, LOW neckline. This smock is quite full, but I am using a really sheer natural fiber ramie, so I am not worried about any bulk under the bodies. IF you are going to use a linen, I would definitely cut out a few panels in the body, to make it more fitted. Above is a view of the smock as Janet sketched it out~ I will be following the pattern fairly closely, and yes, using this same embroidery motif.
Here you can see that mainly, these early smocks are just comprised of rectangles~ very simple in construction. I cut my pattern from paper, and fitted it on Marguarite, making adjustments for her unique body type~ basically, there is a front and back, 2 sleeves, 2 small bits that go over the shoulders, and 2 square underarm gussets.
Typically the fabric would be embroidered first, then stitched together...but alot of the embroidery is over the seams on this one, so I am embroidering the underarm gussets first, then am going to stitch it all together, and embroidering it last. The most embroidery on this is on the sleeves, and I want to be sure the fit is correct and perfect, before I go spending a ton of time on embroidery that may get put into the trash. I am drawing the motifs on with a lead pencil, which works quite well~ my fingers rub it off, and by the time I am finished with the motif, the lead marks are all gone.
The original smock was embroidered in a salmon color filament silk~ I am color coordinating Marguarites outfit, so picked a nice shade of blue that will look nice with her bodies. I am using soie ovale~ a flat untwisted filament silk, but as you can see, it is quite heavy off the spool~ if you ask most folks they will say that it cant be divided, but I have found that if I fray the end a little with my thumbnail, it separates quite easily into 6 strands...sometimes I get a 7th.
Here is one underarm gusset complete~ each motif takes me about 2.5-3 hours to stitch...ridiculous isn't it?! They are so small, and I am doing a back stitch~ now the original would have been done in a running stitch, as in, if stitching a straight line, worked one direction, then turned, and worked again the the opposite direction to make a perfectly smooth line....but I find my scale and thread just too weensie to do the proper technique. I still get a quite pleasing effect, very delicate with just a hint of color~ am liking it so far!
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