IRCC II: Buttons, Jerkin, and Bonnet
I got the white silk lining sewn into the red doublet, and after puzzling over what buttons I wanted, made and attached buttons down the front. I based my buttons off of the crimson doublet on page 20 of Patterns of Fashion by Arnold, an English doublet I believe, but they had the nice flat profile I was looking for. I made them almost the same way one makes round fabric buttons, but with a tiny disk of cardstock (the closest thing I have to pasteboard/16th century cardboard) in the middle to encourage the flat shape. Then I embroidered around the edge and plopped a nice big knot in the center. I am very happy with how they turned out visually, but we will see how they hold up with use.
I got a hold of some nifty black wool in a weight I liked and started making the overdoublet/jerkin out of it. I fidgeted a bunch over the sleeves, trying to decide if I wanted to go with my original idea of a one piece sleeve, or two pieces (puff and cuff).
Currently I have the one piece pattern sewn on, and while it looks close, I think that the panes are a bit too long, so I might end up turning to the two piece pattern anyways to make them shorter.
Several of the garments in Patterns of Fashion 3 (thank goodness for her upclose photos!) have trim that looks tablet woven, using a rather thick string as the weft. That thick string makes the weave have a nice bumpy texture, and allows for some stability for the picots on the edge. I warped my little loom and tried it out. I think I have something close, although I should have used an even thicker cord on the shuttle.
I wanted to use this as the black trim for the over doublet, just like Don Gabriel's, but I have a feeling that I am just not up for making 10+ yards of this. I might have to fall back on some store bought trim, and use the yard I already made on something else. I think I could use in in the hat band.
Speaking of the hat, I am halfway done with it! It's made of the same wool as the overdoublet, and is based off of the similarly structured velvet bonnet of Don Garzia de Medici. I put no foundation material in the brim, since I think that the wool had plenty of body on its own to stand out nicely. The crown is pleated into the brim, although looking at some other 16th century Italian portraits such as that of Giovan Angelo Annoni, I think that gathering is just as period, and might work with this fabric better. I still need to make a hat band to match Don Gabriel's black spiral one.
