Medieval madness

Last few months, I have been working on a few medieval items, which I would call ´the medieval collection´. And these items are now finished. So, I wanted to share with you some things about these items, like how it is constructed and other interesting details!

In my other post, I told already told you a little bit about this, about where my inspiration comes from and showing some pictures. I wanted to make this collection look ´ancient, noble and somewhat holy´ - there needs to be a certain serenity in it.

So, I want to show you each of the items I made, and maybe you will feel inspired as well for some project of your own, or it is just fun to check things out!

Green medieval dress with long bell sleeves.

This dress has something of a ‘king Arthur’ feeling, with the long sleeves and the simplicity of it – you can see that it is still close to the roman era. I made this dress because…..I needed to make a dress with long sleeves – never made it before and I wanted to try. And it fitted well with the other pieces. Though I must say those long sleeves gets terribly annoying when you put the dress on - still, non the less, a pretty dress I must say.

The construction of the dress is actually quite simple, although the details and ribbons and such is something to think about. If you would like to know more about how to make a dress such as this - this picture (show with a dress Keira Knightley wears in the movie 'King Arthur'), was very helpful to me, and gives a simple but clear instruction about the making of such a dress.

Medieval underbuste corset/belt
I had seen a couple of these here and there on the internet and I was exited to make one myself. If you lay this belt out, it is actually just a rectangle of 74 x 20 cm. I quilted it, then I put a nice ribbon at the edges (which were already done with a serger). Al last I put holes in the corset and I was done. I had a little suede cord on top for a lovely detail. Thought it might look easy as I explain it - it did took me some time before it was finished, but the steps are not very difficult to explain.

Medieval dress with pretty sleeves.
So this one of my favorite dresses I made and I think it looks rather good to me. I put some special attention to the sleeves - indeed, my husband came home that day and after asking what I had done that day, I told him 'Ik heb een mouw gemaakt' (Dutch for: 'I have made a sleeve'), so that was basically the only useful thing I had done that day.

Anyways, the pattern is from a book about medieval costumes, called 'Medieval costume and how to recreate it' by Dorothy Hartley. It has a full circle skirt, so the skirt it really wide so if you twirl around you get a lovely effect!










Medieval cloak
Well, you cant be a medievalist without a decent cloak, wright?
So I made one out of black 'coat' - a fabric I found at a dutch online shop. I is no genuine wool, but it look and feels like wool and is quite a lot cheaper. If you like to make a cloak like this - on my pinterest account on my board 'sewing' are a lot of tips that helps you make something like this
  

Crown and veil
A crown and a veil was a very common thing for woman to wear in the middle ages, so I decided I could not live without if I was to make several medieval items anyways. If I had talent and skills for being a goldsmith, I would have made a lovely real crown, but alas - my talent don't reach that far and I don't have a friend who has either. So - I made one out of 'gold' (fabric) and I put a nice linen veil with it. Nice and simple.


Sleeveless red dress with lacing at the sides.

At last we have this nice satin red dress. I brought the fabric of this dress at the thrift shop and although it is beautiful fabric, I had not enough fabric to attach sleeves to it. But the result worked out quite well. The shape of the dress goes along with the body, and to add volume to the skirt I added four gussets (triangle shaped) at the sides of the dress.

So, I know a went through these items quite fast, but unfortunately I don't have time to discuss more of it. If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask. Anyways - these items will be soon for sale at my etsy shop, so if you like, you can take a look! Hope you enjoy!