We begin on Saturday, so it seems like a good time to accumulate the necessary objects. My red silk 20/2 thread is still in transit thanks to the snowpocalypse in the South so my loom is not warped. Alas, I will find that time somewhere. Here are my materials both in photo form (forgot the red cotton velveteen, alas) and a list below. Modern materials are listed at the end. I will be sewing by hand using bronze, steel, and bone needles as appropriate to the specific task. The camicia, calzone, and calze are complete and I am just waiting for the starting bell on Saturday for the rest.
As I am competing as a master I cannot begin patterning before then. So the first task will be drafting using the bara tapes pictured in the center below. I am using the silk doublet pattern from Freyle’s pattern book of 1588 and drafting the trunkhose pattern using Patterns of Fashion and 17th-Century Dress Patterns with guidance from Anduxar’s 1640 pattern book. While the Anduxar reference is outside of our period of play, the patterns give me a frame of reference for analysis of the extant pieces. Ideally, I will get the doublet cut and begin building the interlining layers this weekend as well.
| Materials |
| Linen |
| White Silk Thread |
| Linen Thread 60/2 |
| Red Taffeta |
| Red silk thread |
| Linen thread |
| Wool Serge |
| Linen Canvas |
| Gold Dupioni |
| Wood button shells |
| Wool felt |
| Synthetic baleen |
| Red cotton velveteen |
| Silk thread 20/2 |
| Plied silk thread |
| Silk buttonhole twist |
| Black velvet |
| Interlining as above |
| Black silk thread |
| Red wool jersey |
| Red linen thread 60/2 |
| Silk thread 20/2 |
| Black wool twill 2/2 |
| Linen canvas |
| Hide glue – rabbit |
| Ostrich Feathers |
| Patterning paper |
| Bara |
| Pencils |
| Ruler |
| S-curve |
| Bone, bronze, & steel needles |
| Modern scissors & snips |
Andiamo. A post about the undergarments can be found at fioredibardi.net
I am Nobildonna Fiore Leonetta Bardi (Fee-oh-re) also known as Fiore di Bardi (she/her). Primarily a costumer, I specialize in Florentine dress from the mid-1560s to ~1590, hand sewing, and embroidery. My area of interest includes research of life as an illegitimate woman in Florence, the Florentine Camerata, artifacts and practices for a noblewoman of this time — including the practice of hunting and falconry in Florence, and Florentine textiles. I am increasingly interested in the people we try not to see and which most would have tried not to see even in the 16th-century, namely those of mixed race in Europe. Especially how a person of my lineage (I am of African, French, and Spanish descent) would have lived in 16th century Italy. Motto: Penso e Creo * Blog: www.fioredibardi.net * Instagram: @dressingflorentine
Unto Fiore, greetings again from Beatrice (one of your judges)!
Never before have I so wished to be able to reach through a picture–most everything you’re working with looks entirely pettable (well, I probably wouldn’t pet the glue), and I would love to be able to get a better sense of the weights of the linens and especially the wools that you’re working with.
Petting the fabric is definitely part of the fun. I can do a little video of the hand of the fabrics at some point.
I would love to see that video, even if it isn’t really the same as petting them all in person…