Some of you may recognize Nina Sosanya as Rosaline: she costarred with Tennant in Casanova -- which I’ll get around to reviewing soon -- as well as in the

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The exhibition Shakespeare, the Stuff of the World brings together more than 100 outfits, from Gertrude's gown to Banquo's blood-stained doublet

*** Finally! The "Kirtle of Perpetual Procrastination" is complete! I'm now one step closer to finishing that elusive fitted gown outfit that I started planning an embarrassingly long time ago (like, an absurdly long time ago...to that point that it's getting ridiculous). I first sketched out this version some 3 years ago, but I now know that so much about the outfit --from the materials to the colour scheme-- isn't supported by historical evidence, and as a result it's languished a bit. It seems historical-ish on the surface but I can't find much evidence of a kirtle in this colour, and the material (a mottled wool cashmere) is definitely off for the period. BUT...I had already purchased the fabric --it's been taking up room in my stash for years-- and so I finally decided to commit to finishing the outfit, historically correct or no. In the end I'm really glad I did! It actually turned out much better than I had hoped, and as my first all wool gown it's at least more historically correct in that sense (compared to my earlier outfits which relied heavily on linen outwear). Eventually the kirtle will be worn under a brown wool over-gown (in a darker version of this same wool cashmere fabric) or with separate, detachable sleeves. However, one of those sets of sleeves will be made from the remains of the aforementioned dark brown fabric and so I'm waiting until I finish the over gown to cut those. My second choice would have been to use the grey linen I used as trim, but in the end I only had enough left over for one arm. So for now I remain sleeveless... *** *** This kirtle is very similar in shape and construction to my earlier brown linen kirtle, so if you're looking for a blow by blow Dress Diary please check out that earlier post. Right now I'm just going to focus on areas where I deviated from that process, or go further into depth on steps that I've glossed over in the past...so this might be a bit of a hodgepodge and I apologize in advance for any confusion. First off, a brief history on the evolution of the pattern for kirtle...especially the bodice. As you may remember the pattern for my previous kirtle was adapted from the Tudor Tailor pattern for the Dorothea Sabina von Neuburg corset/bodies I made a few years ago (which I had, in turn, adapted for front lacing). Please ignore the cat...but you get the general idea. Basically the point has been significantly reduced and the straps widened, most noticeably over the shoulders. Almost everything else, including the boning pattern and shoulder placement remain the same. I liked the fit and line of the new bodice, but after a day out at Faire I started to develope some lower back pain. I think this was due in part to the way I divided the skirt pleats (with too much fabric --and therefore weight-- at the centre back) and partly due to the fit of bodice...and especially my posture while wearing it. Of course like most people who work at a computer all day I have terrible posture, but this was not helped by the construction of the bodice and the way I was lacing myself into it. I realized that as I was lacing myself up I was bending over quite far to see the lacing holes, extending my back muscles in the process. Not only that, but I was effectively lacing myself into this unnatural position. This was further exacerbated by the placement of the shoulder seam, which had a tendency to want to slip from the top of the shoulder to the front of my shoulder head, thereby pulling my shoulders down and pinching them inwards...which by extension put more strain on my back. So I moved the shoulder seam to the back of the shoulder head and widened the straps at the back to offer more support. I was also careful to keep my shoulders arched back as I was lacing myself up. The difference is not hugely apparent, but I think you can see the slight change in posture, especially at the shoulders and bust-line. This is much more comfortable! I also converted the back panel to a single piece (as opposed to two pieces with a centre back seam) and curved the straps so they more closely resembled the kirtle pattern found in The Tudor Tailor. This curve will be more evident in later photos of the bodice when laid out flat. Okay! On to the construction! As with my previous version I pad-stitched the layers together, only this time (since I knew I wasn't going to be removing it later) I didn't do such a piss-poor job of it! Also, there are only two layers of fabric as opposed to three, since Hemp Traders finally got their 10.5oz twill back in stock. Pad-stitching is completed on front and back pieces. Boning channels are sewn in at the front, back and sides (though only the front will contain actual bones, the rest are just for extra quilting and support). The boning pattern is also a little different, with the "cups" being smaller and a little shallower than before... I found the cut-out area was too far down my torso in previous versions. The stitching is then removed from the boning area (front pieces only). Now it's time to insert the boning. This is a step that I sort of glossed over before, so I took a few more photos of it this time around. As with the corset and previous kirtle the two channels on either side of the lacing area are boned with 7mm plastic coated spring steel (pre-cut to length). Those are inserted without alteration. The rest of the bodice is boned with 5mm synthetic whalebone, cut to length. The bones are then filed down with a fine metal file (it's best to do this outside or in a well ventilated area...and do wear a mask if possible, you don't want to inhale plastic dust!) They are then checked for fit and inserted between the two inner layers. And here's where things get vague again... The rest of the construction is pretty much identical to the linen kirtle. The outer fabric is basted to the inner shell... ...and the pieces sewn together. The seams are clipped, turned under and stitched down with a tight herringbone stitch. Lastly the hidden lacing strip is added (no photos of this bit, but there are lots on the previous post...and I did correct the eyelet spacing error I made last time!) and shoulders joined. Finally it's time to add the trim! The kirtle is guarded in medium weight (5.5-6.5oz) grey linen. I don't think trimming a wool garment in linen is supported by evidence...except perhaps in the form of woven tape. I really tried to source some silk or wool that I liked as much, but in end I didn't find anything that was as nice a colour as the linen, and since we've already covered the historical issues above I didn't worry too much about it! The bodice is trimmed with 3/4" bias tape, stitched down with a tiny fell (vertical hem) stitch. With the bodice complete it's time to finish the skirt. Like last time the skirt is made up with 3 panels (which is still probably one more than I truly need) but this time they are shaped rather than rectangular. So whereas the last kirtle had a top and bottom circumference of just under 180" this one has a top circumference of about 90" and a bottom of 165" (making each panel 30" at the top and 55" at the bottom). The skirt is attached all around with 1/4" cartridge pleats and hemmed with a strip of self-basic bias tape. Again, please see the earlier kirtle post on how to cartridge pleat to a pointed bodice. EDIT: Actually, DON'T see that earlier post! Or at least not yet...because I botched the skirt rather badly and it ended up a good 2" shorter in the front than the back. The skirt has since been removed and re-leveled but I never explained how I fixed it. I'll do so now... (though I don't know if this way is 100% right either, but it did fix the problem) I didn't take any photos of this process (or none that I can find) so instead I'll demonstrate what I did with the original kirtle and then illustrate where I went wrong. First I placed the bodice on some graph paper and traced the curve from the centre back seam to the front point (A). Then I traced a line across the back seam, and down at a right angle to the point (B) Now, this made good sense to me at the time since the instructions I was using were based on a bodice pattern in which the bottom back and front centre lines were perpendicular to each other. The only problem is that my front and back lines were NOT perpendicular (on account of the bottom back seam being slightly curved). This can clearly be seen once line B is superimposed onto the original placement. The bodice front actually follows a slightly different angle (C)... This is the actual line I should have been using. However, what you DON'T want to do is this (continue the line of the back straight across to the front). This results in a waistline which is just below the bust (and thus clearly wrong). This is because the waistline and centre front should still be perpendicular (at right angles) but by tracing a line straight across you end up with a front angle which is much too acute and therefore too high. Instead you have to treat each bodice piece separately. So using the centre front a guide, draw a perpendicular line just as far as the side seam. Okay, now it's time to divide the skirt into sections. As with before you follow the waistline (Point A to the side seam and then from the side seam to point C), and make perpendicular lines down to the edge of the bodice....in this case I'm dividing the bodice into 2" wide sections. The only slightly tricky bit is at the side seam where the angle changes slightly... to get around this I measured to the side seam (about 1.5") and then continued on the other side (0.5") so that the total measures 2". So far this has solved my leveling problem, but I can't guarantee it will work in all circumstances (say, perhaps with more extreme angles). When you go back and compare line B and C you can see that the difference (D) accounts for the extra 2" I took out of the skirt at the waistline, which resulted in my original skirt being too short in the front Luckily the excess was just folded back rather than cut away, so I was able to take the skirt apart and re-level it using this method. Anyway, that's the fix! You can now reference back to that earlier post for the rest of the skirt pleating and attachment process... So having figured all that out the skirt is cartridge pleated to the edge of the bodice...properly this time. Because the seams are more obvious in this light colour there is no seam down the centre front, instead a 8" slit is made in the fabric. A thread bar is worked at the bottom of the slit to relieve strain at the bottom of the point and to keep it from tearing. Finally, the skirt is guarded with 2 rows of linen bias tape. The top is double the width of the bodice trim at 1.5" and the bottom is slightly wider at 2". Both are attached by hand with a fell stitch. And that's it! Kirtle done, brown fitted gown is next! (probably...) Final thoughts: I couldn't be happier with the overall fit of the bodice! The wool is very forgiving and completely hides the boning channels, creating a really smooth, even line through the torso. With any luck it will prove to be a very handy foundation garment and one that I can easily (and happily) wear on its own during warmer weather...I'm very glad it isn't still languishing in my fabric stash, despite all my earlier misgivings! As a dear friend often says "Done is beautiful!" *** *** Resources & Materials Pattern: -The Tudor Tailor (book and/or ready-made pattern) Fabric: -Dove Beige Cashmere/Wool from Mood Fabrics -Grey "Judy" linen (5.5oz) Gray Line Linen -Hemp/Cotton twill (10.5oz) and Hemp/Cotton "suede" (10.5oz) from Hemp Traders -Muslin for mockup (also from Hemp Traders, but any muslin should do) Thread & Lacing: -Brown silk thread (for channels and seams) -Grey silk buttonhole thread (for eyelets) -Grey silk thread -Linen tape (1/4" for lacing) from WM Booth Draper Boning: -7mm Plastic coated spring steel bones (4) from Vena Cava Design -5mm Synthetic whalebone also from Vena Cava Design Other Supplies: -Swedish pattern paper from Amazon. (This stuff is great! You can iron it!) -Pattern weights -Purple vanishing fabric marker -Blue washable fabric marker -Tapered tailor's awl -Eyelet tape (for mockup) -Small bulldog clips

Fourth and last in a series (including the infamous "Marquis de la Betty Boop") aimed at replenishing a Renaissance Faire-going wardrobe rendered obsolete by "moderate" middle-age expansion. Now I learned my lesson and I made all my doublets and jerkins with lacing on the sides... Geez! Hopefully I'll be able to tighten the laces in the near future, rather than letting them out. LOL!!! Most lamented was the inability to shoe-horn myself into my blue French Ambassador outfit, the one that's all beaded and embroided, and a true work of art. Although I didn't want to re-invest the hundreds of hours the Ambassador outfit had required, I still wanted something that would look appropriately sumptuous amongst members of the court, should I ever want to mingle with that sort of low-life riff-raff again. Did this on the cheap. The only fabrics I actually purchased for this project were the already-beaded silk for the sleeves; the burgundy Jacquard for the pants and lining of the cape; and the lace for the cuffs and collar. I had everything else on hand. The doublet itself is made of 5-6 large coordinated sample swatches from an upholstery fabric distributor. If you look closely you'll see that the two front panels are different, and so is the back. In a way it's like a patchwork, and methinks that makes it more interesting than if it were all the same pattern. ;-) The fleur de lys fabric for the short cape was purchased for less than nothing years ago on eBay.

Well, I finally can make installment #3 in making this Elizabethan dress! And it's Kirtle time! Or I guess, 'petticoat bodies' time would be more accurate in this case. I also apologize ahead of time for the picture quality. My only camera right now is my iPhone, and it's proving to be…

The last stitch was taken and knotted at 6 pm yesterday evening. And here they are from the inside. I thought I shaped the seam allowances so all the ends would have been tucked under the binding, like they are along the top edge, but clearly I wasn't as precise as I should have been. But I do like the converging stitch lines on the center panel. I'll lace it up an photograph it on this weekend. In the meantime, the statistics. 2/3 yard - cotton Toile 2/3 yard - lightweight denim 2/3 yard - cotton batiste 3 1/2 spools - thread 32 - 3/16" grommets 15 2/3 yards - 2.5mm basket reed 10 2/3 yards - 1" bias trim 7 yards - 1/4" cotton satin ribbon number of seams picked out - 6

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And now for something completely different, (at least for a hat blog) I'm working on an Elizabethan dress based on this portrait. (Don't worry, I'll be making the hat too) Why, you might ask? To have something on which to showcase the awesome sparkly ouches and the girdle belt and Carcanet necklace :) of course. I estimate that with the jewelry and all, this will use about eighty of them. First, I have to make it, though. I've made great progress working on the bodice, including a sweet little upper sleeve puff with a zillion little darts in it and persnickety little pickadills. In fact - it was SO much fun, I made this process poster thing showing the steps I used to find the sleeve pouf pattern. This sortof got my documentation bug going, and also got an enthusiastic response from fellow costume geeks friends. I promised that I would document the process I used when I made the slashed and bedecked undersleeves. Without further ado, here is The Slashed Sleeve Process I drafted two sleeve patterns, one that is the base shape of a very straight, pretty boring sleeve, with no puffs, and another that is exactly the same, but four inches longer. (I had done a sample of the slashes in order to find out the ratio of the larger sleeve to the smaller, which is how I came up with the four inches larger.) On both sleeve patterns, I marked and notched the horizontal lines for the rows of trim and the spaces that I would slash, but it turned out that I only needed them on the larger pattern, and even on that, I used the ruler rather than my notches for the sake of precision. My assumption that the slashes needed to be on the bias was proven to be true by the samples I did, but I wanted the slashes to appear vertical, so I cut the entire outer satin sleeve layer on the true bias. (This one is the larger pattern.) Then, I marked all the horizontal trim lines on the back side of the satin, and very carefully marked the grid lines (3/4" apart and 3/4" high) that will be the slashes. Back side of satin sleeve - with grid all marked. I placed a rubber cutting mat beneath the satin, and used a box knife with a new blade and my clear ruler to make the slits. The biggest challenge was to do them cleanly with one cut, since going back over a cut made it not as neat. Here is the front view of the silk satin, with the slits all cut. I cut out the smaller base sleeve layer from cotton drapery lining, which was thin but quite papery/stiff. This layer, I cut on the straight grain, like a regular sleeve. I lined the two layers up and pinned them at the cuff On the satin side, I pinned the first row of the trim through both layers of sleeve, just below the first row of slits. And stitched it in place on both sides, using invisible nylon thread. (I did a number of samples with "real" thread - and this was by far the best looking result. Not my favorite stuff to work with, but sometimes it's the right tool for the job.) I found that a narrow zig-zag stitch was the least noticeable, which was a little surprising. I couldn't see the stitches at all. I pressed the trim flat, and went back to the cutting table. I placed a thick cord (I had to twist three together to make it thick enough) in between the two sleeve layers to create the ridge I wanted between the trim rows. You can see the ridge here I pinned the next row of trim in place below the next row of cuts, and gently pulled out the cord. Repeated this process with all rows of trim Another angle of the same thing. Here are all the rows of trim, all pinned in place. I then stitched all rows of trim through both layers of the sleeve, This holds all the puffs in place on the base sleeve. As I got higher up the sleeve, I rolled the stitched rows up and pinned the roll to keep the sleeve from being scrunched against the machine, and keep everything neat. Here's the sleeve with the trim rows all stitched down, from the back side. And here it is from the front. I stitched the single vertical row of trim down the center of the sleeve and trimmed all the raw trim edges down to a smaller seam allowance on the long seam edges. I then pinned the sleeve seam, matching the rows of trim carefully, stitched the sleeve seam, and pressed the seam allowance open. Here's the current state of the sleeve. Next, it will get little satin pickadills at the cuff, and then get a smooth, thin lining, and be otherwise treated like any other sleeve. (Here's an earlier version, before I added the vertical trim, but it's pinned into the doublet.) The entire process took three and a half hours (not bad, really!) Whew! Now? I will go to bed.

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In celebration of the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth today we'll be taking a look back at some of David Tennan...

Mes chers lecteurs, aujourd’hui j’ai envie de vous offrir un peu de mon savoir faire, car j’ai mis beaucoup de temps à étudier comment j’allais faire ma collerette, à quelle…

I recently became highly obsessed with the TV show The Borgias, so when it came time for me to make my monthly Thrifty Thursday purchase all I could think about were Italian Renaissance dresses. Just look at these dresses! They may not be 100% historically accurate, but it is impossible to deny that they are pieces of art. Can you see why I was inspired? I got one white sheet, a pillow case that I stole the trim from, an opulent bed skirt, four pieces of light brown fabric, and a pearl necklace from Goodwill. In total it came to $16. I started by doing some further research. I know quite a bit about English Renaissance dresses, but Italian? Stumped. The Borgias takes place in 1492, all my costuming books skip this period and move straight from Medieval into the 16th century. Even Janet Arnold's AMAZING books had nothing on this period. I wept and turned to the internet, which was absolutely zero help. Forums and forums of people arguing whether ladies wore corsets or not...where they laced the dresses, what fabric they used. Almost no one agreed with each other. So I decided to just make up my own mind based on paintings- and if it wasn't historically accurate...well I would learn for the next time. I pinned a bunch of paintings to my Pinterest board, but these were a few of my favorites. This dress is a dress from a bit later in the Renaissance, but it showed the lacing of the dress up the side which was supremely helpful. I decided to make a really weird corset that would simply give me the correct shape I needed, rather than being historically accurate. Why? Because I could find NO visual examples of an early Renaissance corset. It didn't make sense to me that the same corset they use for later in the period, when the waist drops, would be used in this period when the waist is so high. So I made this...thing. Half Tudor, half Regency...it is 100% inaccurate. But hey, it gave me the right shape. I made a chemise out of the white sheet and added gold trim on the neckline. Technically this would have been gold embroidery...but I didn't have time for that. I figured gold trim was a nice compromise. You wish your undies were as awesome as mine! So together- I needed lots of help getting dressed- it was no easy task. The dress tied up the side rather than lace. I tried adding hooks for lacing, but couldn't pull the bodice closed enough. So I tied it instead. The sleeves all tied on as well. My hair got SUPER messy during this dressing period. Note- do your hair AFTER you get dressed. Not before. Then I dragged my mother out into our park to take some pictures in the few spots that actually had green grass still. I made a gold cap for my hair, and added my hair extensions. While I have quite long, thick hair, I don't have THAT much hair. Oops...my sleeve broke. Shh. This project was fun. So much fun that I want to make several more dresses and just wear these all the time. Going to the grocery store, the library, to work- Italian Renaissance style. Thanks for reading! If you have any comments, suggestions for the next Thrifty Thursday, or information on ways I could be more historically accurate next time I make something from this period- please leave me a comment!

Northumberland's Belsay Hall showcases historical costumes during a series of events throughout May.

Well, I finally can make installment #3 in making this Elizabethan dress! And it's Kirtle time! Or I guess, 'petticoat bodies' time would be more accurate in this case. I also apologize ahead of time for the picture quality. My only camera right now is my iPhone, and it's proving to be…

Publicity still of Douglas Booth

This gallery contains pictures of costume, textiles and reproductions pre-17th Century.

My latest renaissance period couture endeavour. This afternoon I shipped this golden chenille tapestry doublet with detachable sleeves to a gentleman pirate in Florida. This is an updated, and much upgraded, version of a similar doublet I made some years ago. I was lucky to find the last three coordinating pieces of that style of fabric available. Had fun piecing it together. Methinks it turned out rather nice...

Kirtle of antique violet damask, 2011 This project started with a vow and a tablecloth: I would finally make a boned kirtle in 2011–or give up costuming! Happily, I did not have to give up co…

Part 2 contains the female half of the outfits, click Part 1 for the male half! Now on to the ladies portion of the russet red wool outfits! Just as a quick reminder, I am working on a pair of his…

I have been planning my new years wardrobes ,I always like to have some central theme or historical figure in mind as it then makes it easier to focus detailed research on the gowns ,head dresses …

Actress Cate Blanchett was a movie newcomer in 1998 when the Oscar-nominated biopic Elizabeth established her as an international star. Now, she returns to the role in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

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Queen sabel de Valois (1546-1568), third wife of Felipe II Author: Sanchez Coello, Alonso (ca1531 - 1588 ) Chronology: ca.1560 Painting localisation: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Gemäldegalerie Image source: www.marileecody.com