Handsewn Wool Kirtle
For this project I used wool bought off ebay; unfortunately, I had no idea that "suiting" meant lightweight cloth that looks nothing like wool. I'm sure I'll appreciate it's lightness, though, as our climate would make a heavy wool fabric uncomfortable to wear. I couldn't find any wool thread to use, so I pulled threads out of the fabric and sewed with that.
I found the this site to be very helpful both in inspiration and instruction:
http://cadieux.mediumaevum.com/frontlaced-kirtles1.html
While making this dress, I did experiment some with fitting it through the body; so I didn't end up exactly following the pattern layout. For future gowns of this type, I will not extend the front opening down so far. It's not necessary and causes the dress to look rumpled and pucker funny there. Maybe it's just because I'm impatient and anxious to not miss a thing at events, but it takes forever to pull the cord through all those little hand done eyelets. I also find that the cord has to be very long to leave it laced up loose enought to slip the dress over my head, and then when tightened, the cord drags behind the dress several feet and has to be tied up. I wonder if this is something I'm doing wrong, or if everybody just deals with this.
I'm pretty pleased with the dress, especially as this is my first attempt at a completely handsewn item. The skirt does swish nicely when I'm dancing, so I'm happy.
-Jayne
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