ewing nitting  mbroidery

We enjoy attending the Fort Tryon Park Medieval Festival with friends and this year I decided to make a new costume, since my old costumes weren't in very good shape--and they were Renaissance period, to boot. The garment I decided to make is called a bliaut, and since none of them have survived, the construction methods are rather speculative. The current theory, explained very well in an article called "The Beautiful Bliaut", is based partly on our knowledge of how wide bolts of fabric were at that time and place (mostly France, in the late 12th century).

Although I did this project in quite a hurry, due to the looming date of the festival, and considering that I had to draft the whole pattern myself, I think it turned out well. I'd urge anyone considering actually making one of these to read the "Beautiful Bliaut" article very carefully. It is clearly written and anticipates most problems.

Materials and Supplies

Construction

I started by measuring out the pieces shown on this layout on pieces of paper. Then I started cutting out pieces of the bodice using scrap fabric, adjusting the fit and marking my changes on the paper pattern.

At the same time, I started making the underdress. Originally, I intended to make a muslin for practice and then make the real thing out of linen, but the muslin was turning out very well, and I decided I wasn't inclined to spend more money and time on a piece that would be so little seen.

The first major problem I encountered was that I hoped to make the dress of silk using a cutting diagram for 60" fabric, but I could only find 45" or, very expensively, 54". I had to either devise a new layout or switch to wool, but I was afraid of what the weight of wool would do to the design. So I made a new layout, which you can see, with some comments, here.

The next problem I encountered was that the silk unravelled very easily. I needed to do French seams but had not quite left enough room for them. I had to make the side lacing slit go up about an inch higher than planned. I also ended up having to add small rectangular panels to the hip seams. Finally, although I'd used twill tape in the hemming of the side slits to stablize them, the eyelets I used turned out not to be very durable, and I will probably have to use buttonhole stitch on all the lacing holes later.

The sleeves and skirt were easy to attach. Each panel of the skirt was 60" wide, because I wanted it to pleat to 20". This gave a hip measurement of 40" total, which was the right amount of ease and allowed some "space" for the complicated waist seam. I cut the skirt panels so that the selvedge would be at the bottom--no hemming!

When I cut out the skirt, I made the top edge curved so that it would be longer in the middle back. I also cut the front bodice in a curve, shorter in the middle, to keep the skirt from sagging in the front and tripping me.

Results

Despite the slight raggedness at the side slits, which I hope to remedy later when I have more time for detail work, this is the best costume I've made recently, probably ever. It's authentic, comfortable, and relatively flattering. I hope to trim it later when I find something flexible enough not to stiffen the fabric unnaturally.