Finishing the 17th century kirtle || The second part || The 17th Century Attire Series. Pt 3.

Hello and welcome to the part two of the sewing of my 17th century kirtle. Today we are going to achieve somewhat of a dream of finishing the green kirtle. But before we are there, there's still some things left to do. And now I hope you've seen my first part in this two-parted series of my green kirtle, which is the third part of... Yeah, this is a bit complicated. But anyway, I hope you've seen the first part where I made the bodice for this, and now it's time to do everything else. So, let's roll the intro. Hello, my name is Elin Abramsson, 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 three. So, a couple of weeks ago I started with the second layer for my 17th century costume. And that is the ultimate garment where you have the skirt, the bodice and the bra all included in one, which is the sleeveless kirtle. But in that video I didn't really finish it. I did a whole lot of research, I drafted a pattern, I cut out the pieces in a beautiful, beautiful green fabric, and then I sewed it all together and added some linen as a lining, so that I had almost a functional bodice. But I mentioned a skirt before, right? And we still have some things to do with the bodice, like the closure for example. So, we still have a lot of things to do with this kirtle. So, let's go back a few weeks to where I started making this skirt. Good morning, it's... Good morning, are you? It's one of the hottest day this year, and I thought that obviously it's the day to make our thick wools. Yes, it's the day to make our thick wool skirt. Obviously. And as I mentioned before, I really want to keep all of the pieces in this costume as simple and generic as possible, and therefore I've decided to have the skirt in this kirtle, in that very, very simple rectangle gathered together in the waist skirt. As I've done, I think I've done that already two times on this channel, because it's just a very, very simple skirt and it works for almost most of the history from the 16th century and forward. But essentially, my goal is to create two rectangles. And when I make a skirt for myself, I usually want to have them... I usually want to have them one meter wide, you know, from my waist down to the ankle or the floor. And then I want the width to be somewhere around 150 centimeters, because the circumstance of the hem is very good to have, you know, so you can walk in it. So minimum would be around two and a half meters, but if you can have more, that's great. But the problem with this plan is, as usual, I don't have enough fabric for it. So to be able to do this, I think I will need to take the bits that I do have and really piece and work with them as much as I only can. So I think I will need to really create a plan for this and cut away pieces and add them in other places to really be able to create something that is as similar to these, you know, rectangles as possible. But as I said, I don't know if that's possible. So we'll see how this goes. So now we finally have those two big rectangles. And if you would have enough fabric, this wouldn't even be a step in itself, but it was for me. But I figured it out, so yeah, good for me. But obviously we don't have a skirt yet. And to be able to have a skirt, you know how to make a skirt. I've sewn it a thousand times on this channel. We're basically just going to sew it into a tube and then pleat it into the width of our waist, which is going to be, you know, the waist part. The thing is, now we're going to decide how to gather that fabric together into the waist. Namely, decide the pleating. How the 17th century cuddles were pleated, I don't really know. I've tried to look into contemporary materials, but you know, it's very hard to see in paintings, for example, what they have used. But I've looked into those few originals from the time that we have left. But the thing is, those most often are like court gowns. But those seem to have cartridge pleating. But as I said, that's a very different type of clothing compared to what I am making right now. So if cartridge pleating was the thing that they used, I don't know. But it seems like a likely solution. I will not go into detail in this video how to make cartridge pleating. But what I can say is that I will take the upper part of my two panels, measure up a distance, like a point within every two centimeters, for example, and then take some strong thread and sew down into every of those points, and gather that together. And that's basically the whole thing. It's a few hours later and I just got this idea. I looked into those few originals that we do have. Unfortunately, we do not have any original kirtles that I do know from Scandinavia, from the 17th century. But I looked into a few late 18th century and 19th century kirtles. And the thing is, they seem to have been pleated with simple laid folds. And that made me think if I made the wrong decision in this. But it would be a shame because I really like the cartridge pleating that I've already done. And I don't want to redo it. But then I saw another kirtle that had cartridge pleating in the back and simple laid pleats in the front. And that caught really my attention. Because wouldn't it be so fun to have two types of pleating in the same kirtle? Right? Because then I could try both of them and have both of them. If one of them are wrong, then I have the other one. So why not try this? I thought it would be fun anyway. So I'm just going to finish my front piece, which I haven't done yet. And if you maybe saw me doing something strange before with a grey wool fabric, that was something that I haven't mentioned yet. And it's basically something that's called a saving piece. And you know my problem here in this process with having not enough fabric. And when that problem came to people in the past, they used this saving piece technique. Because people in the past most often wore an apron. So what you had underneath that apron was never going to show. So sometimes they used a fabric that was less valuable underneath. Which is just so smart and works so well even today when sewing. So if you have the same problem, I would really much recommend that. But yes, let's go and pleat some more! Okay, so I actually got some exciting mail today. And if I'm not wrong... Yeah, it is some... Some brass thread. And that's actually very suitable. Because today I had in mind to start with my hooks and eyes. Because I've been thinking for a while now how I should solve the matter of the front closure. And looking through history, there were different ways that you could close your garment in the front. You could use pins, ties, bows, lacing or hooks and eyes. And that's actually what I think I will use now in the end. And also that I will make them myself. And that's the first time for me. I've never done hooks and eyes before. So this is a bit scary, but also a bit exciting. And to be able to do this, I've ordered this one millimeter thick brass thread. And as I've understood it, and also according to my last trial and errors with similar projects with thread like this, is that the thickness does really matter. You don't want the thread to be too thin. Otherwise it will just break or not hold the shape that you want it to hold. Or it's too thick and you can't shape it in the way you want. I really try to find the right thickness for this. And I really hope one millimeter is good enough. Okay. So since I need some guidance in this, I will look at Skansen, which is an open-air museum. Their website, where they have actually a tutorial on how to make your own hooks and eyes. And they say that I will need a couple of these. I don't know the word for these in English. So bear with me. Just look at them. One thin plier like this with a thin end to it. And then one which I will be able to cut the thread. And then the thread itself. Okay, that's not too much. I can obviously link the website below if you want to try this as well. Since I'm basically just taking their instructions here. Okay, so apparently we're just going to start with the eye. And for that, we will need one piece which is four centimeters long. So four centimeters long. And then it seems like we're going to take this thinner plier. And then take the outer ends of this brass piece and shape them into small, small loops. Okay. Small loops. Okay, it seems like it's a combination of both pulling and pressing this together. Yeah, I think I have one. I think I have one loop. One ugly little loop. Okay, and now we're just going to do a second one. This was much, much fillier than I ever expected it to be. Okay, it looks like a mini, mini viking ship with those both loops. So let's go to the next step. And now we're going to take this plier again. And pull both ends towards each other so that they meet. Okay, I see already now. I haven't pulled it together in the bottom here. But I think you can see it even from here that this is way too big for my taste at least. It might work if you want to make something a bit more sturdy and a bit more rough than I plan to do. So I'm actually going to cut this down. I think I can just do that here. And then pull these ends, which are now much closer to each other, together in the bottom here. Okay, now it's much smaller and I actually think it's very, very cute. But I really like it. And it wasn't difficult at all. Okay, so the first eye is done. And I think before we do the other ones, we should try the hooks as well. So for the hook, we're going to start with a piece that is 6cm long. But maybe I will make mine a bit smaller now because my eye is also smaller. 5.5cm perhaps. And now we're going to make the loops in the same way as before. Okay, it's not difficult this far at least. But I feel like this brass wire was very good to work with. Okay, so I have my viking ship again. And now we're going to place this plier in the middle. So okay, this is the exact same way as before. And then we're going to fold this in what direction? Against each other. Okay, I'm doing this. When we have these parallel to each other, we're going to do the last fold. So place our plier here and then fold this over. I love this! It turned out so beautiful! Wow, this was much easier than I believed it would be. Okay, the moment of truth. Will these work together? Okay, I learned to do hooks and eyes today. Not too bad at all actually. Now I only need to make like 20 or 25 more of these. Today we have one mission. And that's to actually finish this kuttle. Which I hope I will be able to. Because the skirt is actually almost completely done now. We have for example the sparing fabric part panel in the front. And we also have, because I realized that I also need to be able to get into the skirt. So I made this little slit in the front. Which obviously won't be visible when wearing the kuttle. Because I will have an apron there anyway. So what we're going to do today is basically take this skirt. And this bodice. And join them together. And there's perhaps many ways to do that. But I think I will just pin it together and bring my linen thread. And sew some backstitches. I tried to find any sources and information about how it was done in the 17th century. But couldn't really find any. So I looked at how I did my 19th century dress. Where I also joined the bodice and a skirt. And it was just joined with backstitches. So I think that's maybe the most likely solution. So yeah, let's do that. Okay, so the skirt is now assembled to the bodice. And I tried it on with the bodice attached to it. And I actually think it looks very great. So now I'm just going to take the lining and the outer layer. And fold them to another. And secure them with some whip stitches. Because that's the way I've understood that they did. And then I'm going to strengthen that edge. And also add some decoration by doing some stab stitching. Which is just normal running stitches. And the last thing after that is to hem the skirt itself. And that I'm going to do with the help of some facing. Which is basically just a piece of fabric that I sew along the bottom of the skirt. And then fold it up and whip stitch it in place. If that's entirely historically accurate, I don't really know. But I've seen it in later periods. And it wouldn't be that strange to see it here as well. And then the last, last, last thing is just to add my homemade hooks and eyes. And then we're done! This has been such, such a fun project. I have really, really enjoyed this so incredibly much. You really have those type of projects where you really feel like you're breaking new ground. And where you learn new stuff along the way all the time. And this one really feels like one of them. I love this kirtle. I think the green I achieved from weld and iron is just a beautiful shade. And I love the style as well where you have the bodice and the skirt. In a modern sense too, you know. You could just wear this, almost wear this in a modern setting as well. And I think I see now, when wearing this, why this type of garment really survived for such a long time in history. It's simple, it's practical, it's comfortable. Also quite flattering and beautiful. And if I now go back to my intention with this project, which was to make a garment that a young woman somewhere in Scandinavia would have worn in the later half of the 17th century, I think this could actually be it. And the best thing is that you could just, with some small changes, wear this to the 16th century too. You could wear it as a fall costume. And you could even wear it in a modern setting too. I mean, why not? Why not a summer dress in this? Maybe I will make a summer dress out of this pattern too. Upcoming video maybe. But yeah, in a 17th century setting, I think this is just the perfect base layer. And you know, you can wear it with a jacket maybe, a skirt. Or why not a beautiful cap? Because that is exactly what we see in the 17th century depictions. That the women are wearing something on their heads. And what that is and how to make it, is something that we're going to save for the next video. So until then, take care and I hope I will see you very soon. Bye!