FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Rotkäppchen
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
Photos by Tara Thomas
Outline the story …
For this competition I chose to go with a simple and well loved favorite from my childhood, "Rotkäppchen" by the Brothers Grimm . A young girl, who is recognizable by her prized possession - a red cap she had been gifted by her grandmother – is sent to bring lunch to her Oma (Grandma in German) and ordered by her mother to not stray from the path. Young and naïve, she does stray to pick flowers and encounters a big, bad, hungry wolf and even tells him where she’s headed. We all know how the story goes on, but what we don’t know is what becomes of Little Red Riding Hood once she no longer is so little. I have chosen to create a young adult version of Red Riding (according to the limitation of me being a young adult), who is still in love with her cap. In line with interpreting the original Grimms' tale, I have stayed close to her description in the text, choosing to make a cap instead of the cape we see in modern interpretations. I did however let myself only be inspired by historical wear rather than attempting to create an accurate depiction of what a young woman would have worn at the time the fairytale was first created (10th cent.).
Outline the construction…
I chose to make several garments for this costume. The challenge was to manage all the parallel processes and organize myself, from ordering fabrics, patterns and notions to creating multiple items. Patterns were sourced from Black Snail Patterns, Mill Farm Patterns and J P Ryan, all of which had fabulous informative instructions included! I chose to go with natural fabrics and threads wherever I could manage. I chose an assortment of Linen, Cotton and Woolens. I began by looking through my patterns and fabric stash and then ordered whatever else I needed. From my gathered supplies I created a chemise, a blouse, two petticoats, an apron and the famous red cap. Because I have been wanting to try pattern drafting and because I have a shoulder shape that makes most standardized patterns hard to fit to my upper body, I drafted the dark brown kirtle according to drafting instructions taken from a costuming handbook. This was the most frustrating part of the project, as it was the first time drafting something for myself and it turned out to be quite a learning curve and required making, then remaking, then remaking – yet it was also the most rewarding I also got to practice lots of pleating on the top petticoat and the apron. My hand-sewing and stitching skills got honed on the 10 ft of bobbin lace I stitched onto the chemise. The shawl was not made by me, but appears in the pictures as it was just too cold.
Beautiful pleating … lined pockets … delicate chemise
:>)
Well done to have persevered in getting a proper fit for yourself. It looks really good! I love how the red of the cap really pops against the more subdued tones of the rest of the outfit.
the cap is so cute, it brings life to the whole silhouette ^-^
This whole look is wonderful! The different fabrics compliments each other really well❤
Lovely natural fabrics and colour palette. There’s a lovely gentleness to the look. Nicely done.
The cap is so cute! I like that you chose to make that instead of a cloak, which has already been done so many times. Well done for all the hard work you put into drafting and fitting the clothes, (I don’t have much experience drafting patterns either and find it super hard, so I totally understand your struggle) but you can be so proud of yourself because you managed it in the end, and learnt so much by doing it!
I love this! It’s really very well done! Thank you!