Made By A Fabricista: Renaissance Faire Costume

Simplicity Pattern 5582 Misses' Renaissance Costumes

Summer is winding down and it's Renaissance Faire season in Maryland! I've never sewn up a costume for myself before & my son thought it would be way cool to dress up this year (he'll be a knight, I'm working on that one still.) By no means did I make a "historically correct" outfit here, and I could still breathe & move about (relatively!) well while my vest was laced up. I used Simplicity 5582, View C. I cut a size 14 for all three garments, but needed to alter the paper pattern to fit my figure. Overall, this pattern was easy to work with and I really love the results.

I checked out what colors were appropriate for paupers of the Renaissance era, obviously natural whites & beige's seemed suitable... I learned that purple was off limits to lower class folks but blue was often a sign of servitude. I wasn't doing Anne Boleyn or another royal wife, so pauper I will be!

Check out how huge the chemise (aka The Puffy Shirt) is untucked! I stuck with natural materials for my fabrics. I opted for a cotton gauze for both the chemise and skirt-- the skirt fabric is still in stock at the time of writing this post. Both are a a nicer, heavier gauze. I found the skirt fabric is not sheer, and the off white is minimally sheer.

I inserted a zipper into the skirt's waist, making it easier to get on and off. I picked up from the local big box fabric store my other odd bits needed to create this costume: gold grommets for the vest, feather weight boning, cotton lace & elastic for the edge of the sleeves & collar, and double fold bias tape. The pattern envelope was a bit confusing on what you needed and what it was for. I bought a crap load of blue bias tape thinking it was only for the vest... no... the bias tape is for the vest edge AND to finish the inside edges of the shirt's collar and sleeves. Luckily I had a pretty, pale pink bias tape my stash for the shirt.

Since I'm about 2" taller then what patterns are designed for-- I'm about 5'8", I lengthened the chemise by 2" and the bodice by 1". I actually had to shorten my skirt by maybe 5", but that may be due to the fact that my cotton gauze "grew" some as it hung- and also I didn't want it to drag on the ground because I'm 100% sure I'd trip on it while at Ye Old Faire eating corn on the cob, husk included. I also removed some material at the shoulder and upper back on my paper pattern before sewing to better fit my shape.

I used some of that lovely blue linen for my vest that Fabric Mart keeps in stock all the time. In error, I mis-cut my fabric and was short a few inches, so I whipped out a remnant of a dark olive green linen in my stash that I bought from Fabric Mart a year or so ago. This vest is definitely not a real corset. I used feather weight boning & a medium-to-heavy weight interfacing. The sew-in Pellon interfacing has some body, gives a decent shape and is pliable, but definitely not hard as a rock stiff. I can tie my vest lace as loose or tight as I want and it will still look great. I have some dark orange-pumpkin-y colored cotton material in my stash for the overskirt, but I just wasn't sure I wanted to wear it, I may sew it up the day before I go to the Ren Faire if it's meant to be a colder day.

Happy Ye Olde Sewing!!

~Kathy

Kathy Sews

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