fucking around and finding out

i make a mix of cosplay, historical clothing & fashion (gothic/cottagecore/vintage inspired) pieces, depending on what takes my interest at the moment. ive also been getting into bagmaking recently, so there may be more of that around too!

‼️there will be discussion of body image on here as it relates to sewing, especially under the context of fitting garments and with pictures of corsets (one of my favourite things to make!) if youre not comfortable seeing that then i would warn you away.

super rough drape for marys outer layer (i need to figure out what im actually calling this layer- jumps? bodice? idk)

main goal was trying to balance out the seam lines, ill take it off & do a bunch of adjustments & trueing, and then hopefully make a mockup tomorrow!

smock is going well! im almost to a point where its visually interesting enough to take a picture ":) sleeves are up next!

ive started draping the blue bodice pattern! its been a while since ive done this, but i think this garment will be very forgiving. just need to flatten out the bust more than my form allows! still considering exactly how im making up this garment.

i cannot for the life of my find a wool i like for the skirt and it is driving me mad. how can it be so hard to find a heavy brown woven wool?

this was super fun to make! i ended up changing my construction right at the last minute to one that involved hand sewing the two sides together, but it made the top section come out so sharp, so im not mad at all!

I've decided to approach this project by making something visually accurate to the show version, but using historical techniques & patterns wherever possible- so what does that mean for the smock?

We don't see much of the smock in the show as its mostly covered by other layers, so ill mostly be following a pretty traditional pattern, but theres a couple of distinguishing features that need a little extra attention:

I couldnt find any solid historical references to necklines that look like this (it seems far more common to see low cut necklines for dresses or high necks with collars & a slit) but it's a pretty simple shape. Looking at the grain, the 'v' at the opening seems to be a pulling of the fabric, rather than a design choice, but i think its kind of cute & will make doing a small hem around the neck & slit slightly easier. You can also see theirs closes with hook & eyes, ill decide if mine needs a closure further down the line.

The cuffs look as though they are actually a separate piece to the yellow layer, which makes sense for a tv set, but absolutely no sense as a real garment. Im planning to do these all as one piece, drawing inspiration from earlier time periods where a sleeve with a cuff & ruffle was somewhat common.

In fact, my main reference source for this part of the costume will be the Tudor Tailor book- its a resource i already own & is much closer in time period to Marys 1612 dating than any of my 18th century resources, these kinds of garments stayed mostly the same for hundreds of years anyway, and Mary is a peasant woman who would not have kept up with changing fashion trends.

My fabric is a 75% linen / 25% cotton blend- the perfect base colour & hand & just about within what i was willing to pay!

Ill once again be using my trusty wood cutting tool to plan out my smock cutting layout- i have 2m to work with, which should be plenty for this type of garment.

Referring to the pattern & dimensions given in the tudor tailor book & adjusting to my proportions, heres the plan:

the goal: a loom capable of weaving a bookmark length piece, thats packable (read: dismantles), would be easy to make in bulk, and isnt going to cost much. heres what i came up with

for my first draft, im pretty happy! i think the workspace needs to be longer, and i maybe need to figure out a different way to secure the frame section together, but it does fundamentally work! the legs are just attached through the clamp mechanism & unscrew, which will make them easy to travel with.