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Janes-Wardrobe — kermes kirtle
Published: 2006-12-30 23:43:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 6938; Favourites: 67; Downloads: 0
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Description
I've scoured my album for a nice picture of this kirtle that is the exact colour of kermes dyed wool. I was so lucky to find wool this colour.It's a six panel design that fits closely to the body, a 15th century English style ith short sleeves that allows for longer sleeves to be pinned over the top. The linen shift or chemise worn underneath is made from linen and protects the wool from the body to minimise on cleaning. The chemise would be boil washed regularly to keep it clean.
Women and girls often wore hoods, this hood is being worn in the style of a chaperon - more a male than female form of attire but very fetching nontheless.
The purse was copied from a contemporary painting and at the moment I can't remember who - if I do remember, I'll edit this entry!
The bracer and three finger glove are not histirically accurate but an essential to protect from archery injuries!
Everything but the bracer and glove was hand sewn using 15th century techniques.
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Comments: 40
Oh, what a beautiful piece! I love the color and the cut of the neckline, and the belt and shoes are lovely too.
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Thank you very much. (It's been a while since I looked at the description so I don't know if I mentioned it there but I made the shoes and belt as well 
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I think you did mention it. And you're very welcome.
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My, my!
This is wonderful!
I love it :> (but I would have loved it more if it was green XD)
This clothing would be perfect for larp's
(but I would be afraid to wear it as it must have taken SO much effort to make it)
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Thank you, I have some beautiful green wool
I love seeing my work worn, even when it's worn to destruction - you know then it's been loved
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I'll 
If I had money I would buy such robe . But nw I can only watch it here
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Thank you 
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can't wait to see it used :>
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Well don't hold your breath, it's been five years already
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this was made with one of those puzzle patterns... what are they called?
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I have no idea what they're called and yes, it's all made out of rectangles and triangles. There's some shaping in the waist seams to make the fit better and there is some shaping to the armhole and sleeve head - which is why there were a few scraps left over. I had to lengthen the dress a couple of years after I made it and did that with geometrically shaped pieces to follow the original lines.
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I very likes painting by Hieronymus Bosch.
"I based the shoes on an original shoe in the Museum of London's collection"
O, it's very good. I trying use original sources too.
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I noticed when I looked through your gallery - unfortunately there aren't many early examples left.
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Nice kirtle. I like this color. Belt and small items i like too
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Thank you, 
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Very nice! I love 15th century. The wool is a lovley colour! you were lucky to find it.
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Thank you very much 
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You're welcome. I would have fabric bans in place, but its too hard to get good fabric here. At my closest sewing shop, if you ask for wool they show you yarn, and asking for linen gets you polycotton sheets. I have to get my sister to drive me for hours to get wool, and linen I can find, but rarley, so If I find linen or wool I buy it if I can.
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I understand your dilema. I moved from a city where I could get anything. 100% wool in a variety of weight and colour you can hardly imagine, 100% linen in lots of colours and two or three weights, silk in quality suitable for 15th C (ie NOT dupion/dupioni depending on what you call it in Australia) to a hamlet where the grocery shop visits on Monday and Thursday afternoons! My nearest fabric shop is about 25 miles away and the selection of wool, linen and silk it minimal. 
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I am near two fabric shops, one in the centre of the city, and one kinda in the middle of nowhere. The second one occasionally has useable stuff.
There is a seconds fabric shop which is over 40km away which sometimes has good stuff. Sometimes you'll walk in and find real linen for $2-$6 a metre or wool for $8, sometimes there will just be junky synthetics, and you never know. There is something 'wrong' with all the fabric, but its useable, and most of it is unlabelled,just lying around on bolts or shelves.
I can get linen sometimes from the normal shops, but I'll be paying $15 a metre, and its very thin and flimsy.
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That sounds a bit expensive for flimsy linen, but when I started re-enatment just about the only inen I coud find was 27" wide evenweave - specifically manufactured for counted thread embroidery. That was £30 a metre I'm not sure what the exchange rate is but that's probably best part of $50 Au a metre!
I love Ikea for cheap linen - it's a bit coarse and shrinks a bit but it's 60" wide and £3.50 a metre which is probably aroud $5. It's great for low status shirts and shifts, it comes in white, natural and some good authentic colours. Pity my nearest Ikea is 3hr drive away
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Yes, I know what you mean, and evenweave is expensive, though $50 would be cheap, it is usually around $70.
The exchange rate at the moment is about 1:2.4 at the moment, so it would be closer to $8 than $5.
I know we have IKEA stores in Australia, but they sell flat pack furnature, and they dont advertise any material. plus we don't live near one.
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Well perhaps $50 would be considered cheap nowadays but I'm talking about 13 years ago! and it was WAY too expensive at 27" wide to even consider making underpinnings from
Ikea don't make a huge deal about their fabrics and they don't have an enormous selection but most of their fabric is nice weight cotton, linen or cotton/linen mixes. Most of it is totally unsuitabe for 15th and 16th century some of it might be acceptable for some 17th/18th/19th century styles. I don't know how long Ikea have been trading in Australia but it took them a few years to introduce their fabrics in the UK. Unfortunately I now live in the heart of Rural France and the nearest Ikea is at least three hours drive away. I would love for them to do a mail order service but then prices would probaby go up
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True, but I've only been sewing two years so I never thought about that, lol.
But even weave is best brought by a group to divide up to embrioder to put on cuffs and so on, not by the two or three or four metres to make underwear out of! hehe
I have no idea where the nearest IKEA store is, as I've never see one, I've just seen the ads and they say you have to take their furnature home on your roof rack, or else your wife will leave you for a man who uses his, lol.
Talking about traveling far, I went on a ten hour train journey (just to another place in my state, lol) and they had a spotlight store there, and I wanted to go because the place we were at was so backwards I thought they might still have good fabric, but my friends said no, lol.
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I am such a horder of fabric that I would buy metre and just store the rest until I found a use for it
I love Ikea - but I know of people who think it falls apart easily. In my experience it's some of the best flat pack furntiutre you can buy but I am married to a man who puts things together extremely well 
I'm going to go fabric shopping soon and I will travel 800+ miles to do it
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Beeston Castle, Cheshire, England. July 2004 (I think) though it could have been 2003
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Wow! i just went there!
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Fantastic place - bit of a hike up to the castle though
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Bracers were around waayyyy before the fifteenth century. There are bone and horn examples from the viking period.
In medieval England most of the finds are buckled leather bracers, just a single strap around the arm with a buckle. The bracer is quite often octagonal in shape. I just hadn't got around to making an authentic bracer when this picture was taken.
Our group will fudge a few things on health and safety grounds, for example we use a modern archery boss and safety nets, most of the archers don't wear gloves of any kind, because they are competent and don't need to. My daughter (in this picture) was wearing the glove because we didn't have any authentic gloves available and because her fingers are too tender to shoot for a prolonged period gloveless. I really don't know when the three fingered archery glove came in but four fingered gloves with thumbs were certainly in existence by the 15th century. I just haven't found many examples
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Yep, I'm just on a comment spree today. I'm sure you can document some sort of bracer for archers, right? Perhaps not two for everyday wear like you see in the movies, but I think in centuries past archers would do something to protect their arms. When did the three fingered gloves come in? I'm sure you group is willing to fudge a few details in the name of safety, right?
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