FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
A Discovery of Stitches
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
creator, teacher
Outline the story …
I was inspired by the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness, but I needed a beginner-friendly project for my first garment, not her elaborate court dress or Mary Sidney’s amazing shoes. I decided to create my own interpretation of the handmade linen smock that the main character Diana wears to time-walk back to 1590 in Chapter 42 of A Discovery of Witches (I’m an audio-book reader, so sorry for the lack of page numbers). The smock is handmade in a short timeframe and described as “plain linen” “with long sleeves and strings at the neck.” The cuffs skimmed her wrists and reached her ankles “and the wide neck drew closed when I tugged on the string.” From this, I did some research on smocks around the 1590s, and decided to go with an anachronistic but spoonie-friendly construction using cotton sheets from my stash. Though sorely tempted by the blackwork embroidery on several extant garments, I wanted to stick with the book’s description that since they couldn’t take anything from the present into the past, Marthe: “had to sew them by hand, and she didn’t have much time. They’re not fancy, but at least we won’t shock whomever we first meet.” I decided to look for as basic a smock pattern as I could find for my plus-size form and planned for most of the construction to be done by machine since I was newly recovering from a lupus flare.
Outline the construction…
I followed the tutorial by Lisa Roberston on elizabethancostume.net. After ripping the rectangles to my measurements, I cut the triangles out around the neckline and serged them to prevent stretching. Then I ironed the neck casing, learned how to make eyelets from Daisy Victoria on YouTube, and added two eyelets for the drawstring using two strands of cotton floss from my stash. After sewing the casing down by machine, I attached each sleeve to the front using a French seam by machine; then attached the back, (French seams). Then I aligned the seams under the arm from there to the cuff and there to the hem, offsetting the frenched seams from the neckline. I machine stitched both side seams from cuff to hem using French seams. I used a darning needle to thread a polyester faux silk ribbon as a drawstring. I stitched the cuffs together by machine and turned them out. Then I ran gathering stitches on the sleeves by machine, hand-gathering fit the cuffs. I attached the cuffs by hand and completed the first cuff using the same double-strand cotton floss I used for the eyelets. Ouch (yes, I was using a thimble). Lesson learned, I took good advice (thanks FB group plus-sized historical costuming!) and purchased some silk thread and smaller needles. I attached the second cuff and felled it by hand much more quickly and much less painfully. I pressed a narrow hem to keep it ankle-length and finished that by hand as well.
I love those books, and I love the title! As soon as I saw what you called it I immediately recognized it as a night rail.
great choice for a beginning. It is the single most essential item for every time period. a simplistic seeming garment that is not simple at all. lovely finishing on it.
Beautiful job!
I love your video so much! Also using sheets from your stash is wonderful!
Beautifully done!
Great work! Love the flossing for the eyelets!
Excellent job on the most necessary of foundation layers!
Begin with the beginning. Such a great choice for where to start your journey. Nice work!
That draw string detail is so cute!
It really looks like the description, as well as looking very comfortable. It’s also very neat and tidy, and finished well.
Such a great project! It looks adorable!
I hope this helps you feel part of the story! So creative and special.
I love the delicate details.
Lovely!
The smock is such an important garment and the base of all the other garments great starting point. You did such a good job with the cuffs and the neckline. Well done!
Congratulations! You did a great job!
great job. you gave a lot of thought to detail that matches the story the design is taken from. As your skills grow….. all that fancy blackwork you are admiring, you could add to this garment in the future if you wanted to further challenge yourself without having to make an entirely new garment. Well done. lovely job!
Beautiful smock! Love your little film.
such tiny stitches… <3
I haven’t read the book, but it seems you’ve illustrated the thing perfectly! Wonderful inspiration and wonderful construction.
Look at that lovely neat eyelet! <3 Well done all around.
The stitching is very pretty!
such a great use of stash sheets – well done
There is gorgeousness in simplicity isn’t there? And to be able to use sheets that you were smart enough to stash! Beautiful. Thank you!
Love it!
It looks just like mine 🙂 I really like it , they are so comfy I only wish we could wear them more ! Congratulations on your entry . 🙂
Such beautiful details. You truly elevated a simple garment into something special. Bravo!
It was my inspiration too but you definitely beat me cos you got it done! I love these books and your shift is amazing for your first garment and exactly what I imagined Diana would be wearing. The video is fantastic too – nearly had me in tears – as do the books. I very much look forward to seeing what you make next.
Lovely comforting cotton sheets — an inspired choice for connecting the present to the past. Beautiful stitching on what is actually a difficult dense fabric. I hope you wear it often.