There are examples of the camicia/chemise with a quasy raglan sleeve but they have gussets. Smocking and gathering was done. A ruler and blue chalk to mark the stitches or if in a hurry, a basting stitch on your sewing machine will help give even gatherings for pleating. If you have patience you can count the threads. Side note, the chemise's hem does not go to the floor, it is usually calf length. Fabric was silk or linen (I have heard rumors of cotton as well for mid to late 1500s) Currently, silk and cotton are your cheapest route. You can get the light weight, near sheer linen from a company in Europe for roughly $45 yd. 36" wide. Most settle for handkerchief weight linen which is a shade or two heavier then sheer linen. There is a Yahoo Groups list for Italian Renaissance costuming. You should be able to get even more info. on "Italian" Ren clothing there. The pic that you chose is Venetian influence and therefore you may wish to peruse the Realm of Venus site as there are some differences of clothing between Italian city states.
De -----Original Message----- (snip) I agree completely about the 'gathering' looking like very fine cartridge pleating. It will be a test of my stitching patience, but I love the look. Yes, the softer and lighter the fabric, the better my odds for success. I'll try my cotton first, just as a practice run and because it is here and ready. After that...time to shop I suppose. Thank you so much for your response. With everything that everyone has offered up in the way of links and ideas, I'm comfortable finally with getting this chemise started and finished. Laurie T. -----Original Message----- As I recall, the general consensus is that this raglan-style is not supported by current research. If you want a more documentable pattern, go with this one: <http://www.festiveattyre.com/research/chemise.html> Refer also to Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 4 for tips on how to accomplish the gathering. Gathering, back in their day, is a lot more like super-fine cartridge pleating. That's really just how it turns out when you do gathering stitches by hand (it doesn't have to, but it sure looks good that way). _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
