For this 1490s Venetian underdress, I choose a lightweight– almost tropical weight– teal wool from Pendleton’s. This wool was purchased as two 3-yard remnants. I found a lovely jacquard trim on Etsy to compliment it. The trim came in the same pattern in two different widths. This will allow neckline, hem, and sleeve trims to compliment but use a width of trim that best suits the purpose.
The bodice for this dress started out using the same pattern as the magenta silk 1490s underdress I had previously made. I made minor alterations to the side lacing edges, removing about an ⅛ of an inch on both the front and the back at the lacing edges to help accommodate the minor weight loss I had had.
I then began to assemble my guts. I used 2 layers of duck cloth with minor quilting and light boning using thick cable ties. Once the 2 layers of duck had the quilting and boning added, I added a third layer of duck cloth on the outer side of the quilted pieces. I added black linen lining to the inner side.
The straps were just 2 layers of duck with machine quilting running the length of the strap pieces. After the lining was attached, a flat button was sewn on the lining side of the strap at the apex of the shoulder.
Once the guts were assembled and lined, I attached the fashion fabric to the guts. The fashion fabric was wrapped around the guts, with a double folded edge on the inside that was then handsewn to have no stitching visible on the outside. The straps were handled in the same manner.
Once the bodice front and back were joined with the straps by whip stitching them together from the back, it was time to trim the neckline. I used the thicker of the two trims for the neckline. I pleated the trim around the curve of the neckline. While the pleats are somewhat irregular to align with the variable curve of the neckline, I chose to pleat the trim in a manner to best showcase the flower motif on the trim and reduce the visibility of the swirl motif in the trim. The trim was first pleated and clipped to the neckline and then the outer edge was whipstitched down. The inner edge was then whipstitched down and clips were removed as I made my way around the edge of the neckline.
The skirt was comprised of three full-width panels. The entire width of the fabric made the front of the skirt. The side backs and side gores were made from another full-width panel that was cut into two 15-inch widths and one 30-inch width panel that was then cut on the diagonal to form the walking gores. The two 15-inch panels became the side backs and were added on each side of the center back panel which was also a full-width panel. The panels were machine sewn with flat-felled seams.
To finish, stiffen, and trim the hem I utilized bias tape, synthetic horsehair braid, and the wider of the two trims. I finished the hem–as well as the top edge– with bias tape. Then I layered 2 layers of the synthetic horsehair braid with the trim and machine-stitched them down at the far edges. The double layer of braid between the skirt fabric and the jacquard trim provides enough body in the skirt to keep it out from under my feet while moving about.
Once the skirt was finished, it was time to marry the skirt to the bodice. I used knife pleats on the skirt to reduce the skirt’s top edge to the total circumference of the bodice’s bottom edge. I made my knife pleats even by using a fork to make the pleats. Once pleated and clipped to the bodice, I whip-stitched them together.
The two-piece sleeves were made using a very similar method. The upper and lower sleeves were two layers of lightly quilted duck cloth that were also lightly boned using cable ties. The black lining was then attached to the sleeve guts and the fashion fabric was wrapped around them as we did with the bodice. The only significant deviance from the method used on the bodice was that the deep cut-outs on the lower sleeves were bound with single-fold bias tape as the curve was too significant to get the wool to lay well when wrapped around that edge. Lacing loops were also added to the upper and lower sleeves.
To trim the lower sleeves, I used the narrow of the two jacquard trims. I used the same pleating method to accentuate and showcase the flower motif while limiting the swirl motif that was used at the neckline to go around the radical half-circle cutouts on the sleeves.
At the top of the shoulder of the upper sleeve, a cording loop was added to quickly attach the sleeves to the bodice of the dress by looping the cord loop around the flat button on the underside of the strap.
The finished dress both on my dress form Audrey D’Capitina and on myself.
