Hem & H.A*
(Historically Adequate)

This is another project that has been on my to do list for a while. It started almost exactly a year ago: I made my first mock up during the July long weekend last year and took these photos over the same holiday weekend this year.  It was meant to be a quick summer project, but it was almost immediately derailed...because I have the attention span of a gerbil.

Welcome to the second of my "Mix & Match" posts for my Blue Kirtle.  The insanity continues! As I mentioned in my last post , I'd taken some additional photos of my new kirtle but these quickly devolved into playing ahistorical, Medieval dress-up...so I thought they'd be better off in their own post.

Welcome to the photo dump for my new blue kirtle (the construction of which was recently documented in my latest  Dress Diary ). Based on early 16th century illustrations, the kirtle laces up the front and features short sleeves, a 'V' back, and a shaped skirt (constructed with piecing).

 *** This past weekend I took my new Blue Kirtle out for a spin at the SoCal Renaissance Faire.  A lovely photo taken by another patron! The kirtle has been re-styled with red sleeves, a beige apron and giant straw hat. More on this later when I do an follow up with a full "Mix & Max" post...but for now here are a bunch of super blown out and blurry photos of me goofing around in the parking lot!

  My first foray into early period!  While my heart still belongs to the insanity of the 1590s and beyond, I have to say that I have a soft spot for the simpler, elegant lines of the early 16th c. silhouette. It's just so darn pretty! Having said that, it should come as no surprise that this outfit (as usual) began life as something else.

As documented in an earlier post , I recently finished a brown wool doublet (well, not so recently, but we'll that that slide...) Made of scrap fabric, it was originally intended as a practice piece to learn some tailoring techniques, and as a result the design was always a bit of a hodge-podge. This made stying the outfit somewhat difficult, since without a firm inspiration image or decade to work from, everything just seemed a little  off.  

(NOTE: This project was started back in early 2020 and was finished at some point in 2022. Trying to piece together the process 3 years later has been... interesting .  So I apologize in advance if this whole post reads like a fever dream.) So... Despite this being my first attempt and more complicated tailoring techniques, I have to say that this project originally started as a bit of a "throw away".