Construction of a high waisted Italian: 1510-1530

**Please note- this was created initially as instructions to some friends who'd already drafted corset and sleeve patterns with me- if you'd like to talk about that, please message or comment**

To begin- some period references of this style for your consideration:

To start begin the creation of this style of dress, I recommend that you first decide where you would like it to open/close. I have chosen to do side closure on mine for the ease of entry and exit on my own.

I've taken the short corset pattern, extended the sides of each edge by 1/2 to 1 inch each depending on the coverage that you want in the bodice.

Keep in mind that the corset closes in the back and not on the sides, so you'll need to trace it onto another sheet and then adjust the cutting on the fold of the fabric to the middle of the front and back, instead of on the sides. (message me if this is confusing).

Now- cut out one each of the following:

Bodice front: 1 green linen, 1 interlining (anything of similar/slightly thicker weight), 1 lining (another linen or something lighter)
Bodice back: 1 green linen, 1 interlining (anything of similar/slightly thicker weight), 1 lining (another linen or something lighter)
Sleeves:  2 of green linen, 2 lining (remember this is going to show most here, so I'd make it something complimentary to the green).
Placket: cut 2 green linen plackets. (see below)

Sleeve- This is only for tie on, if for attachment, will need to lengthen

Bodice Back (cut on fold at center point)

Bodice Front (cut on fold at center point)

I recommend cutting the plackets a minimum of 12 inches long and 4" inches wide. These will end folded in half on the skirt (so 6" long opening) and after seam allowance 3" wide. 

Keep the remainder of your green linen yardage as intact as you can (and those plackets)- we will come back to this for the skirt a little later. 

Now I'm going to have you sew all three pieces of each bodice section together in this order: 

interfacing

lining

external Fabric

 (if using a patterned fabric, the fancy or "right side" should be facing the lining piece)

Sew all three all the way around (except for the TOPS of the shoulders) w/a 1/2 inch seam allowance: 

once those pieces are together, you'll clip all the corners, making sure not to infringe inside the 90 degree seam, 

 

then, on all of the concave curves, we're going to chop out small triangles (up to, but NOT across the seam). This will allow the garment to lay flat once it's flipped right-side out. 

    

Now- turn it right side out (through the open bit in the shoulder) and Iron seams flat. I often use a pencil or something to push out the corners as much as I can. When using linen or other loose weave fabrics, be cautious as it can also just poke right through. 

Now repeat this for the other part of the bodice, and the sleeves. Note that the sleeves will not have interlining. Do NOT sew the sleeves into a tube yet. Just sew lining to external fabric, clip and flip. 

I tend to leave a 4-6 inch gap along the shoulder seam open, so that I can flip them inside out there. Then you will need to do a quick whip stitch to close that up once it's turned right side out. 

Once sewn, clipped, flipped and ironed.

To finish the sleeves, I pin them together, and then fold into 3 rds, marking the two points. I think take button thread matching my fabric, and whip stitch the two together at those points, this "closes" the sleeve, but allows space for chemise to clearly poof out of it as well.

     

Now- onto the skirt (we will finish the shoulders of the bodice last)

The skirt:

At this point, we'll need to decide how to cut the skirt panels. If your linen is wide enough that it will reach the floor from just under the breasts then you can leave it as is, cut it in half, and we're in business.

 If it is NOT long enough, then I suggest measuring from the tip of your sternum to the floor (about where the lowest part of your bra strap sits). Then, I would cut an even number of panels at that length from the remaining fabric. 

My linen was long enough that I used the first method, 

Now- pin the two skirt pieces together (on the long seems) -- yes I realize you just cut these, but we're going to add in the plackets now. At the top of each of the two side seems (in my situation there are only two so that' easy- if you have more panels, fine the two opposite each other) you will want to STOP your seem the length of HALF of your placket (see below). 

Comparison of placket length once folded in half to top of skirt panel-- mark where you will stop your seem clearly. 

   

Length of skirt sewn together, except placket portion. 

Now- press skirt seems open. This will make the next step easier. 

Once pressed, you can pin the seems under in a french hem and tack down along the edge, this can be done by machine or hand, whichever you're more comfortable with. This will ensure the linen doesn't fray. 

Now we're going to add the placket. Pin the placket to the inside of the skirt, starting at the waist seem on one side, and all the way over to the other -with a little bit of manipulation, you can get the transition from one side to the other fairly flat. 

     

Once that seem is tacked down, you will iron (or pin) the other side of the placket 1/2 inch in and then pin it to the seem you just made, on the outside of the skirt. This is in essence, wrap around the edge of the skirt section that isn't sewn to itself already. 

Now tack down again with machine or by hand. 

When the two ends are closed together at the waist band, it should look like this with the placket pushed inside: 

Now repeat for the other side seam. 

Once both plackets are complete, we're going to do a french seem along the top of the skirt edge, to make sure it is not raw, and to provide some reinforcement for where the skirt will be attached to the bodice. So I do this by rolling it about 1/4" twice, and then tacking along the bottom of the roll.

Now for the pleating: You can do this really in any style- these are the common ones used in the SCA: 

Cartridge Pleats

I am going to use the last, cartridge pleats on my dress, you can follow along below, or visit this website for another version of instructions:

The first step is to gather the pleats, I use a heavier thread for this- often button thread if I can find it in a corresponding color (with this green linen, Joanne's has a forest green button thread that works well. I do this technique by hand, but some prefer to measure out their pleats. If you would like to do that, I recommend laying your skirt top flat near a yardstick (waist inside- facing up, against yardstick) then you can mark out every 1/2 or so on the yardstick so you know where to place your threads.

You'll want to use a least a yard of thread for each HALF of the skirt- you'll have extra, that's OK, better than running out. I start with the top thread, pinning it to one end and move along at the even intervals like so:

  

**DO NOT pleat in your plackets!**

When you pull it tight, it will look like this from the side and/or top

Once you reach the end, you should have some extra thread leftover, go ahead and pin it to the other side, now repeat with a second thread if you wish, just keep the same intervals for the stitch about 1/4 lower than the first thread.

Completely pleated side

Once your pleats are pinned in- it's time to fit the skirt onto the bodice. I do this by pinning each edge of the now pleated skirt to the INSIDE edge of the bodice side it's connecting to. **Don't pin the placket- it should hang loose off the sides of the bodice halves** At this point, the bodice outside, should be pinned against the outside of the skirt, with it's edge matched up to the edge of the cartridge pleats.

Once both ends of the skirt half are pinned, uncoil your thread on one end of the top pleat row and pull it until the skirt width matches the width of the bodice, then re coil around your pin. Repeat for second thread if you have one. Now you can manually adjust the pleats to be roughly even along the width of the bodice. 

Now starting on one end, take another goodly length of thread on your needle, and knot it at the end. Insert your needle into the first pleat depth, pull out of bodice front, over the edge and repeat once, then move to the next pleat depth. Allow 1/8-1/4" space between each pleat tack. 

   

After 8-10, take a look from the front, it should look essentially like this:

 

Follow all the way around the bodice side, and repeat for the other side.

Once the pleats are tacked to the bodice, tie off your thread, now you can knot and trim your pleat threads and tie those off on each end as well. Don't pull them too tight or they will distort the way the skirt lays. They are there to be a shape assistant, not a tight seem. 

You are ALMOST DONE. 

Now it's time to either put grommets or hand sewn eyelets on the sides of your bodice. If you elect to do hand sewn eyelets- here's a great set of instructions- or you can also look on you tube.

You can do these with spiral lacing, or standard lacing- I do mine standard since it's such a short space. 

Standard on left, Spiral on right

Note that with the standard lacing, you can essentially do two sets of holes parallel with no issues, with Spiral, you'll need to offset the holes a bit like so: 

Two holes are closer together at the start (top left) and end (bottom right) of this lacing method.

 Once all of your lacing holes are complete, it's now time to put this on and complete the shoulders and hem. This is best done with a buddy. 

So put the gown on INSIDE OUT and lace up both sides to fit your comfort, then have your buddy pull up and pin the shoulders, so that the neck line fits where you'd like it to. Generally I aim for the crest of the shoulder, but sometimes it doesn't line up depending on the length of the shoulder. 

 

Also have your buddy mark out the hem- it is important that the person in the dress stands straight, looking forward NOT DOWN. Pin the hem AT THE GROUND all the way around (your rear and hips can make the hem different on different sides). Now carefully remove the garment. 

Now that both shoulders are pinned, sew them together at that point. Then we will fold each seam under in a french turn and take those down

Lastly- I trim the excess hem off under my marker pins- don't sweat this too much, it doesn't have to be exact, just try and make it as smooth a curve as you can from one pin to the next. I left a little train on mine, so you can see that extra when it's laid out on it's side. 

Once you've trimmed the extra off, you can double turn a french seam again along the hem either by hand or by machine and VOILA! You're done!