Renaissance Undergarments

When making my Navy Velvet Doublet Gown, I of course had to make all new undergarments. The only thing I continued to use from my old faire-wear was my purchased farthingale, and the old bloomers I made back in 2005. For my new ensemble, I made a "Frankensmock," a pair of bodies (corset), and a bum roll.

The Frankensmock was my own pattern idea - basically combining a knee length chemise, with a shirt, and having the option to wear the shirt collar like a partlet. In addition, I only had enough money in my budget to buy the fancy fabric for the visible parts of the shirt. The fancy fabric is cotton, with tucks and lace in a criss-cross pattern. I used it for the sleeves, the parlet portion of the shirt, and the box-pleated top of the collar (which I had to piece together from tons of scraps, in order to match up the pattern). The cuffs and collar band are out of a plain cotton, with a machine-done blackwork pattern. The body is done in a typical rectangular smock pattern, with gores at the sides, in plain cotton. The cuffs are edged with lace, and both collar and cuffs are finished off with buttons (and buttonholes on the cuffs). To make the partlet option, the "partlet" is sewn to the smock until right in front of the armpits, at which point it is finished, and closed with hooks and eyes, so that it could be worn with the triangular opening seen so often in the Tudor period.

The pair of bodies was patterned from the Elizabethan Corset Pattern Generator. It is reversible, and laces up front and back. It is boned with Malco brand heavy duty duct ties, which are inserted into channels made of bias tape. Instead of binding the tabs, I simply turned the two fabrics, which are a random pink and white dotted red tag fabric, and a damask print blue and white cotton canvas. The eyelets were done with my sewing machine, and it spiral laces up with ribbon. I also wear this corset as a bodice for faire, with my "milkmaid" look, when it is too hot for the doublet gown.In hindsight, I wish I had shortened the top of the bodies by at least an inch, since they are a little high. Otherwise, I'm quite pleased with them, and they're very comfortable, and were very fast to make.

The bum roll was a super quick project. I don't remember if I used a Simplicity pattern, or if I just did it myself. It is cotton, stuffed with batting, and tied with ribbon.

The black-worked collar

Sleeve cuffs

Renaissance Undergarments

Renaissance Undergarments