Sewing a 17th Century Kirtle || The first part || The 17th Century Attire Series. Pt 2.

What do you think of if I say clothing and the 17th century? For me, the answer to that question was always quite simple. Dark, rich dresses in deep silks with stiff bodices. Full sleeves with layer after layer of ruffles, trimmings, embroidery and lace. Lace everywhere, gladly in ruffs, collars, cuffs and all the ornate caps. All of this packed with hats, pearls and curls. An answer in many ways true, but also just a disappearing small truth. Is this really what all people in the 17th century looked like? Or have I missed a big part of all the people who live at the time? The ordinary working woman. What did she look like? And how did she dress? A question that I now in this video will continue to explore. Hello, my name is Elin Averamsson. Dedicated history nerd and interested in recreating clothing from the past. In this little miniseries, I'm going to try to create something I've dreamt of for a long time. Namely, nothing less than a 17th century ensemble. Completely hand-sewn and based on contemporary sources from the time. All recorded and in four parts. Welcome to a 17th century attire, part two. Well, my 15 year old self. The journey through the 17th century has begun. And I must say that I think I actually had a quite great start. The start when I made that enormous but also very comfortable shift. But no, my 15 year old self. I am not done. No, my journey has just begun. And while you now ran and made that yellow wool bodice and skirt. I'm afraid to say that our paths will divide here. Because this time, I will make something completely different. Because yes, I understand why you made that choice you made. To find information about the clothing of a young working woman from southern Sweden during the second half of the 17th century isn't easy. In fact, those few sources, paintings, quarter coats, inventories that we have from the time and place will not be enough. No, we will need to broaden our perspective. A lot. Sweden during the 17th century and many hundred years before, and also after, were heavily inspired by German culture. And later also cultures like Dutch and French. And the same goes for other countries in Scandinavia and northern Europe as well. Which means that when looking for inspiration for the next layer in this project, looking at these countries isn't that much of a bad idea. Even if one obviously can ask the question about how strong these influences really grew and how much it's just... I do as I always have done. And as my grandmother and her grandmother has always done. But what we know for sure is that fashion changed slower the lower down in the social scale you were. Therefore, it isn't wrong to go a little bit back in time in this project. Because new fashion most often came to those highest up in society and then it slowly climbed down. But at this time, we also see some slow trends starting to show. Namely that the people on the countryside began to create their own style as well. And this new folk tradition was a bit more quaint and a bit more unaffected by time. And how these different aspects in the end had a part in the clothing that won war is obviously hard to know. And probably it differed a lot between person to person. But by looking at today's Germany, France, England and Netherlands, we can create somewhat of an idea of the fashion there and maybe how it was also here and other countries as well in Europe. But as we all know and as we know from my last video, the undergarment for women's clothing were a shift. Then some type of stockings were worn. Maybe knitted if you were fashionable and could afford it. Or maybe just sewn like hose almost that we see in the Middle Ages. And then we have the shoes. And if one goes for a bit more 16th century style, the shoes were quite flat. But during the 17th century, they are starting to build up a little bit. But then we come in to the next layer. The next layer of a woman's attire and also the layer which I'm going to dedicate this video to. And the question is, what is it? But okay, why this uncertainty? Well, looking at contemporary artwork, we see that the women are wearing some type of skirt. But the question is, is it really a skirt? And why am I asking this question? Well, because in the centuries before, we see that the skirt most often is attached to a bodice. And therefore, you can't really even call it a skirt because the standard were a dress. Or as you also can say, a kirtle. And the kirtle was the standard woman's garment for centuries after centuries. And also what we see mostly during the Middle Ages or in an altered version during the 16th century. Because during the late 15th century or early 16th century, a seam is added to that very simple, very generic kirtle. So that you get that bodice part and that skirt part. And later, that skirt part or more like lower part of the kirtle develops. And you get a bit more fabric, it gets a bit more pleats around the waist. And somewhere there, you also see that the kirtles sometimes doesn't really have those long sleeves anymore. And somewhere there, you get the sleeveless kirtle. And this type of sleeveless kirtle can henceforward be seen in higher classes of the late 15th century and 16th century. And then later, we also see obviously that the lower classes are jumping on this trend as well. And it seems like this most often was paired with another kirtle which was worn over that also had long sleeves. Or in later decades, you could also wear it with a jacket. So okay, that's the kirtle and that's the late 15th century and 16th century. But if we now do a time jump and jump to the 18th century, we see something completely else. Now, the standard is a jacket and the standard is also a skirt. So somewhere between those centuries, the change from a kirtle to a skirt has been made. So the question one then can ask is, when did that change happen? And more importantly, how will this affect the decision that I will be making in this project? But if we go back to what I said before, which is that fashion most often start in the higher classes and then slowly travels down, we can probably draw the conclusion that that old kirtle slowly disappeared or anyway fell out of fashion. Even if it might have been worn during the lower classes later and when one was heavily working, for example. Just because you don't see something being depicted, it doesn't really mean that it wasn't worn. I mean, I would not lay out pictures in me in my sweatpants on Instagram, even if that might be what I most likely would be wearing while I am at home. And another aspect is obviously that clothing was valuable. So if you could, you would continue wearing it, even though you would have wanted to make some changes to it. And this was something I wasn't considering when making that first 17th century costume when I was 15 years old. I mean, I was just making that bodice and that skirt and I was quite content with that. But if I'm now going to make this attire, which would be likely for a working woman on the countryside in southern Sweden or anywhere else in Europe, Ukraine, France, Norway, Ireland, wherever you want to be, maybe that kirtle isn't that much bad of a choice. So after this long introduction, I just want to say hello and welcome to the second part of this 17th century attire series. And in this video, we're going to focus on the upper part of the kirtle, the bodice, and also the pattern construction, the cut and the fabric choice. And this was a quite long project, so we're going to do a quite big time jump today and jump back to March. It's the 21st of March, and I thought that we today could actually start with this kirtle and also decide how we'll do it and with what sources we will work with. Because it isn't far-reached to look into 16th century material, because the kirtles there are very simple and very generic, and it isn't unbelievable that that cut was used for everyday working garments. And such garments tend to be used long after they are fashionable and long after they are visually depicted. But obviously, it could be helpful to look into more contemporary depictions as well from the 17th century, where we have some Dutch, Danish and German depictions and also others as well, which will help us on the way. And there we see that some changes are happening to the kirtle in this period. For example, that some of the bodices are stiffened, and sometimes that you have the bodice and the skirt in different colors. And we also see the neckline changing a little bit, with it sometimes going upwards and sometimes being a bit more rounded, in difference to the 16th century ones, which are often very, very low, especially in the back and also quite squared. And I mean, I could even take some inspiration from the folk costumes, where this kirtle is going under the name livkjol, in Swedish at least. It has other names in other languages. And this cut and this style, the livkjol or whatever you want to call it, it continues on during the 18th century, the 19th century and up until today. So there we could also find some original garments. So, with no time left to lose, let's go to the drawing table and draw this kirtle up. So here we are with our paper, and I'm just going to start by drawing a little face and a little head, and that could come very handy, and also a neck. It's very helpful to have a neck. And then I will continue drawing so that we come down to our bodice. Some kirtle seams have been stiffened, as I said before, but I think I want mine to be unboned, because I want to have it as simple and generic as possible, as I said before. And also, I want it to work as good as possible for the 16th century too. So the support that I will have in this is just the fabrics. It's the outer fabric and the lining with the quite tight cut. The neckline I will make quite low, since they tend to be quite low during the 17th century, but not as low as they sometimes were in the 16th century, where you actually have the neckline going down under the bust, or even at least a big way over the bust, and equally as low in the back. But we're not going to have that fun today, so I'm just going to draw it somewhere in the middle where I think it's most generic. Then we come down to our waist, and that one I will make a bit higher up than my natural waist, because again, in the 16th century you have the waist quite high up, and then it seems to travel down a bit during the 17th century. So I will make mine somewhere in the middle, because again, we're quite unfashionable here. Then I will just go down and start to draw the skirt, and the skirt length seems to differ a bit, but because of my fabric shortage and also that I need this to be as practical as possible, and to not show if I'm wearing an overskirt over this, I will make it quite short, around ankle length. And that skirt is gathered in some way to the waist, and maybe I will just use some plain pleats for that, or I will do a bit more fancy cartridge pleating, but that's something I need to figure out. And then lastly, I will have the closure in the front, either by lacing or by hooks and eyes. I think I will use hooks and eyes. And then I'm just picking up my green pencil to make this all green, because if you've seen my latest plant dyeing video, I actually plant dyed some wool green with welds and iron. So I hope I can use that fabric for this project, and that fabric is beautifully green and quite thick wool. And now, when we have that plan ready, we need to find a way to make that plan possible, which is the pattern. And there's different ways in which you can find a good pattern in. You can either just go and buy your pattern. I'm sure there should be some good 17th century patterns out there, though I don't know how good they really are. I haven't tried them. Or you can draw your own pattern, either by draping a fabric onto yourself or a friend, maybe. Or you can take one of your patterns that you already have and alter it. And that is what I will do. So here I have my pattern book, which is obviously very well organized. What do you think about me? So let's see. Oh, here! So this is the pattern for my blue 18th century jacket. And if you've been following me for a while, I'm sure you know which one that is. But okay, Elin, that is a jacket. And it's an 18th century jacket. Can we really use that for this project? Yes, I actually think we can. Because patterns during history are super generic, they're super simple, and there is barely any change at all. I was talking about it in my shift video, and I'm talking about it now, because it is very true. So if we take a look at the pattern pieces for this, we'll have the front piece and the back piece. And if we look at those few depictions and originals that we have from the 17th century, we see that the cut is very similar to this. The same goes for the 16th century too. You have one front piece here, front piece here, one back piece here, and one back piece here. The only change I can see is the neckline, as I said before, the shoulder seam, and also the side seams. Because during the Middle Ages and what I've seen from the 16th century, you most often have the side seam here. But somewhere during the 17th century or 18th century, that side seam travels back. Here. So now when I'm making this generic 17th century kirtle, I think I will make it maybe a bit traveled back, but not too far. I don't know, I will decide that later. But otherwise, the only thing I will need to do to alter this 18th century pattern to that 17th century kirtle pattern is that I will just cut it up here and do maybe it a bit more shaped in the front here, because I'm not going to have stays underneath, which this one is made for. And then not adding the sleeves, though there were actually sleeved kirtles too. And then I'm ready to go. So with no time left to lose, let's just fetch our really ugly fabric and make a mock-up out of this. So after making the mock-up and then trying it on, I must say that I really have high hopes for this and that there's not really much changes that needs to be done to make this pattern work. So when you're at this stage, you should probably take that mock-up and then transfer it to pattern paper. But since I am lazy, as usual, I will just take the mock-up pieces and place them on the fabric later. And speaking of the fabric, I actually think when we now have our pattern ready, or almost ready anyway, I think we could dive a little bit deeper into the fabric and fabric choice for this project. Because as I mentioned before, it seems like wool were the basic and most common choice. But then obviously the color and the quality of that wool would differ depending on time, region, place, and time, and occasion, and time of the year. So obviously there's many aspects that are in play here. But what I have decided to use, and I think that if you have watched my channel before, and especially one video where I plant dyed some fabric with weld and iron, and transfer it into green, that you know which fabric I'm talking about. Namely, this green fabric. And I'm so excited for this because I'm just falling in love with this fabric so incredibly much. I really love this. I just, I just love this color. I just love this quality because it's quite thick and it's quite sturdy, which I think will be very good for this quite supportive and rough garment that you should be working in. And I mean, weld and iron isn't that much of a strange choice. So I really much hope that this will work out very well. Because again, since I have planted this, and since I don't have the biggest pot in the world, I couldn't place that much fabric into the pot. So there is just two meters of this fabric, which I really hope will be enough. But I don't have any sleeves. The cut in the front is quite low and the shirt is quite short. So yeah, according to my calculations, this should be fine. So now I'm just going to go out in the sun. I'm going to lay out the fabric, fetch the mock-up pieces and cut these bodies out. So the pieces are cut out and now it's time to sew them together. And how a garment is sewn together varies very much, which also makes it quite complicated to know how to do, especially when it comes to lining and how the lining should be attached and maybe not attached to the outer layer. And when it should be added, what stitches and what seams you should have and so on. And when I looked for information about that, I, for example, looked into this book, 17th Century Woman Rust Patterns. And they have some great information about stitches and embroidery. And also they have patterns outdrawn, like so. And in their book, which should be mentioned, is based on the garments from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. And also the examples and original pieces are from there. And it's jackets and high class and so on. So maybe not exactly what I am looking for, but the techniques that they mentioned are, amongst others, that the outer layer seems to be sewn together first and then the lining is added later. Which is, to be fair, something that speaks against what I've learned about the 18th century. So I don't know where this change happens, and if it even happens, and in what extent it happens, and when it does and so on. But in this time and place and class and garments, that seems to be the case. And since the information, as I mentioned before, about the 17th century is somewhat limited, this is what I have to work with. So, in conclusion, I'm going to sew together the outer layer now. And for me, who has sewn some historical clothing before, it's nothing strange really. Because we're just going to take our pieces, pin them together. I usually start with the two back pieces, the straight seam there, and then I take the side seams, just pin them together and sew a strong, good seam with some back stitches with linen thread. That's what I've understood they used. And just sew all those seams together into a bodice. I somewhat feel that this is too simple right now, but maybe sewing is that sometimes. And that is that maybe this lining technique that I am using now, maybe isn't the best for this type of garment. Because, correct me if I'm wrong, but it feels like if you have a very tight garment piece, you maybe don't want your lining to be loose and just sliding around in your garment. You don't maybe want that. Maybe it works better for jackets, for example, which was the example in the book, than it does for a tight bodice that I'm going to make now. So, I looked into a couple of books. I can... Maybe I can fetch one of them! For example, this book, which is a Swedish book by Pernilla Rasmussen called Skräddskan, Sommerskan och Modet. And it takes up several sewing techniques and sewing in general, but during the 18th century. But they do bring up some very interesting sewing techniques and lining techniques, which caught my eye. For example, when you sew together the lining and the outer layer in one seam. For example, the English stitch is one of those. But there's also other seams, and also seams where you have two steps. And they also mention in the book that these seams aren't just used in the 18th century. They are used earlier and later as well. For example, the English stitch can be found in early German material from the early 17th century. So, you know, these seams have been used. So maybe one of these might work. I certainly want to try them anyway. So when looking at all of these seams, and also seams in other books, I found one that seemed quite interesting. And trying to describe this seam might get it sound like a complicated seam. It's not. It's just that it's another way of thinking. So what we're going to start with is that we're going to take three layers. So the two outer layers, the green outer wool fabric, and also one of the lining pieces. And lay them together. And then sew an ordinary backstitched seam with some linen thread. When we have done that, we're going to iron them apart. And then we're going to place the second lining piece on top of the seam allowance on the inside. If you have sewn stays, you maybe recognize this sewing technique. And then we're going to just take the seam allowance of that last lining piece, turn the seam allowance down, and sew it in place with small, small, almost invisible whip stitches. And the result is a very, very neat seam that goes quite quickly. And you get this nice inside and nice outside. And it really holds together, which I think is a better option than having it loose, which was my first idea. So I'm just going to rip apart what I've just sewn. No worries. And sew my bodice together with this type of stitch instead. And then my bodice was done, or almost done anyway. And I'm a bit upset actually that I didn't really take any good pictures of it in this stage. But anyway, the third part of this series will come soon. So you will see it there. And until then, I hope you have a wonderful time. And I hope that I will see you soon. Bye!