Building a Generic Italian Renn outfit for my daughter

This is a subpage of my dress diary for clothes to attend my sister Linda's coronation in September.

Updated: Tuesday, 18 July, 2006 Here are the instructions to build a generic Italian for a lady who will be 6+ months pregnant at the event. Assumptions made are:

Her temperature will fluctuate, so we need layers. The camisa and Gamura will be linen and cotton, for maximum coolness. We'll make attachable sleeves and an overdress for more warmth as needed.
Her waist, just below her breasts, will enlarge by 4-6 inches
We should go for the 5 x waist skirt measurement to enable enough expansion over the "Bump" to keep her comfortable as well as gracious looking.
We will hem the outfit just before we leave, so that the hem will be straight rather than pulling up over the front.
We'll need a big modesty panel behind the lacing to adjust the fit of the bodice to her enlarging torso.

This is the dress concept for her, without the sleeves. I plan to make the overdress something like this one, only with the sides closed for warmth, of a warm brown tone.

Camisa (underdress, camisole)

Our plan is to make two (she'll only be at the event two days) with sleeves at least 6" longer than her arms, and nice and wide. That way there will be plenty to poof out of the back openings and around the armscye. Sometimes the chemise appears around the neck and sometimes not. We plan to have a smooth, not ruffled, top of the camisa show about an inch above the neck. Because of the change in her bust due to the pregnancy, she'll be wearing a good support bra under this. We'll give her curvature as are shown in the front on the ladies in the paintings. (hey, she has cleavage for the first time in her life, and we're going to take advantage of it!) We are considering adding faux blackwork embroidery around the neck (made with my sewing machine). It is an elegant touch to the undergarment as well as being period. I will probably make a casing at the bottom of each sleeve for a small button, as Jen dislikes "fussy" things on her clothes. Instructions for the camisa are from Mistress Leona Khadine d'Este and Mistress Enid d'Auliere, Renaissance Pattern Book.

Basic Chemise Instructions and Diagrams

Measure yourself from the waist the floor. Lay gown bodice pattern on material or paper and add the waist-to-floor measurement to the waist bottom of your pattern plus an inch for hem. Draw a line from underarm point on bodice pattern down to bottom plus an inch to form hem as illustrated. Be sure to angle cut line out from under the arm so you will be able to get into the chemise (if you you want it tight fitting then you will have to add a front or back closing system) Repeat for back.
Measure from under your arm to floor.Measure from shoulder to wrist and underarm to wrist. Add 4 inches and cut out sleeves as illustrated.
With right sides in stitch back to front at shoulders. (see picture below)
Pleat or gather along sleeve tops and stitch sleeves to chemise body.
Right sides together stitch from wrist to hem on each side. Hem bottom of chemise and make drawstring casings sleeves.
For around the neck either make innerfacings, or use seam tape, lace, etc.

Gamura Bodice and sleeves

To support the cleavage Jen will have at this time, we're going to use the curved front and laced back model for the bodice. We'll also put a larger than normal modesty panel behind the back lacing, so that no matter how she expands, the dress will accomodate her. At 4.5 months, the measurement just under her breasts was 34", so I am going to assume 37" to accomodate the rib cage expansion that will happen in the next two months. We'll build in 5" of modesty panel in case the baby gets much bigger than we expect. (Twins?)

The basic bodice pieces will look something like this:

The total bottom measurement for both pieces, when combined/sewn together, will be 37". That means that each will measure approximately 9.25" plus .5" seam allowance for fitting. This will leave me just about six yards of fabric for the sleeves and skirt.

The shoulder to skirt measurement should be from the top of the shoulder to 1" below the bustline. I will add 1" seam allowance in order to have enough space to box pleat the skirt onto the bodice.

I'm going to put a larger than normal seam allowance in the front seam of the bodice, so that I can custom fit it to Jen; the bodice curve as drawn is for about a C or D cup, and Jen has never been that large. The shoulder to side of the breast measurement (where the bodice cut-out starts) should come to the top of a full coverage bra. Add .5" seam allowance.

I will likely fully line the bodice after the final fitting to give it extra support, and to make it easier to insert the modesty panel. I'll do this with light cotton fabric in a coordinating color fabric. I will put cording or light boning in at the grommets or buttonholes to give them extra support.

The pattern for fully attached sleeves looks something like this:

Sleeve pattern

At this point the sleeves will be the last thing to be made as the dress itself is the most important.

The dress with lace up the back with a modesty panel for expansion. The lacing should start two inches down from the top of the bodice back and go 4-5" into the skirt itself. This will prevent "Gapitis." I will cut the modesty panel 5" wide and 10-12" long, depending on how the back lengths of the bodice measure out.

Skirt

The skirt for this garment will be a rectangle, 5 x the width of the body (approximately 5 yards) and as long as the measurement from 1" below the belt plus as much as possible for hemming. The skirt will be box or knife pleated onto the bottom of the bodice; whichever will give the most elegant fullness when being worn. Cartridge pleats, another possible choice, tend to stand straight out from the seam and would over-emphasize the "Bump." skirt pattern

The Bodice pattern and general instructions, plus many portraits, are courtesy of Jennifer Thies.

Jen will need a second dress, and so I'm going to make her one of of the "1480's" dresses that we see all over. Here is a sample from "La Belle Jardienner:"

I'll make the bodice from a standard bodice pattern, lace it up the back and have hooks and eyes up the front. And the black trim, of course! I have a lot of linen lying around, now's a good chance to use it up!

We turn out to be making this from a dark blue (not quite navy) linen, and a bright geometric but narrow (3/4" or smaller) trim. The instructions to lace the back and leave the front open from waist to neckline, so we can use hooks and eyes, still hold. When I get the patterns back from the person who's making the dress for me, I'll post pictures.

4 Sept 2006: This dress is done! Jaie did it for Jen, so it's finished.

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