yellowgown

The previous paintings are both the work of Edmund Blair Leighton. I intend to recreate the mood of that painting in photography. Although both ladies on the original paintings are wearing sideless surcottes, i decided to go with a 14th century "tippet" gown. I already have many "devil's gate" surcottes and i hardly wear them anymore. The following image is an engraving based on the effigy of Lady Joan of the Tower (1359) at Westminster Abbey. The drawing beside is that of what i want it to precisely look like when i'm done...

I've been thinking about it and i decided to go with the Moy Bog Garment as well just like the lady's gown that i've linked to above from the historiska museet (The Museum of National Antiquities in Sweden)
I'm gonna do like this lady (Julia) and modify the pattern a wee bit. She reversed the sleeve's buttoning so that the closing flap is directed downwards instead of up, i'll do the same. Also, i wasn't planning on taking the shoulder seam to the front because i hate that, but i'll do it anyway because it connects nicely with the front sleeve's insert. Also, strangely enough, the sleeve buttoning of that gown (although not much of it remains) is believed to have gone all the way up the sleeve to where the back piece meets.

God i'm getting good at this !!!
I dyed some very light pinkish wool and, i was aiming for a light baby-yellow shade with just a touch of cream because i don't like sunshiny colors ! I was afraid it would be too yellow so i droped-in only the third of the mix i would usualy put in and... Voilà ! The perfect shade !

I haven't been sleeping on the switch ! As we french Canadian say !
I've been making tests for my button construction and here's what i came up with based on the info we have ;

*The H41 are Material covered, stuffed with material which has been glued together.

*The Charles de Blois has Wooden buttons which have been covered with the fabric of the garment. Disc shaped below the waist, dome shaped above.

*The Moy are Material covered, stuffed with material which has been glued together.

*The Charles IV has Wooden buttons which have been covered with the fabric of the garment. Disc shaped below the waist, dome shaped above.

I wasn't sure how to make the material stuffed ones adequately and, the test i made with a cotton ball and glue didn't turn out so good, so i went for the wooden type even though up 'til now, it's only known to have been used for men's garment during that period. We're not even sure of what that period would be since no carbon have been made on the Moy up 'til now. It is thought to be mid to late 14th century but because of some other evidence("The Birth of the Virgin Mary" by the Workshop of Michael Pacher (Austrian, d. 1498) located in a castle in Rychnov in Czechoslovakia.), it might as well be 15th century)

Does anyone like their eggs sunny-side-up ? Hé ! hé ! Since the linen is somewhat thin, and that a full wool lining makes the tail too thick once it's attached, i decided to add wool only where the wood touchs the linen. I've sewn them following the London data technique but since they aren't stuffed, there's only one row of stitches instead of two.

I went back to the store today and bought 40 more wood studds !
I also made a diagram of what i'm planning to do because things were really getting confused in my head with so many theories. So i picked one and the only changes i made from the original gown are the ones that i cited earlier...

Since everything from the inside-out is handsewn, this is taking forever ! But i thought that i'd keep you posted about my progress anyhow ! Here's a close-up of the front opening and the 2 pieces gore. The button holes will be on the right side (my left), which is only pined for now. The back gore is already sewn as well and tonight, i'll be working on the side gores...

Just a small up-date to let you folks know that i'm still at it ! It's going slow but i'm begining to see the end of it ! All that's left to do now is to sew the sleeve opening's linen facings, the sleeve's buttons & holes and to add the buttons to the bodice as well as the tippets. Here's what the bodice's button holes look like for now...