Eleonora de Toldeo di Medici by Bronzino 1543

Eleonora de Toledo di Medici by Bronzio in 1543

I've been wanting to make this gown for a while and working up to it.  Last year I made a similar pearled partlet without a collar that I can use with this gown.  My bodice pattern works well, so the next step it to figure out how to make those sleeves.

After looking at the portrait, to me it looks like there are multiple panes on the sleeves and one of the panes is centered at the top of the shoulder.  So is it 4 or 5 panes?  At the right of the portrait, we see one of the panes which appears not to originate from the top of the shoulder but is the adjacent pane towards the front.  The panes attach to each other by pearled or beaded details.  I decided to mock up a 5-pane pattern.

I took a sleeve pattern from Patterns of Fashion p 114 that I had used previously and fits me well.

I drew a line lengthwise down the pattern and made lines parallel to the wrist at about 5cm intervals (about 2").  I measured the width of the sleeve at each of the intervals 0 to 55cm.  Then I made myself a spreadsheet:

from wrist/ cm	sleeve width/ cm	pane width/ cm	half pane/cm	pane/ inches	half pane / in
0	20.00	4.00	2.00	1.575	0.787
5	21.25	4.25	2.13	1.673	0.837
10	22.50	4.50	2.25	1.772	0.886
15	26.00	5.20	2.60	2.047	1.024
20	31.25	6.25	3.13	2.461	1.230
25	36.50	7.30	3.65	2.874	1.437
30	41.00	8.20	4.10	3.228	1.614
35	43.00	8.60	4.30	3.386	1.693
40	43.25	8.65	4.33	3.406	1.703
45	43.25	8.65	4.33	3.406	1.703
50	43.25	8.65	4.33	3.406	1.703
55	43.25	8.65	4.33	3.406	1.703

Next I took a clean sheet of paper, drew a long line, added the 5cm intervals, measured out one side the half pane width, folded it on the the long line and cut it out.  Then I made 4 more of the same.  Next step was adding the sleeve head curve to all of the strips.

I extended the sleeve head curve on my paper then placed the 5 pane strips next to each other with the bottom of each strip on a line for the wrist.  With 5 panes, there is a break between panes at the lowest point of the underarm and one of the panes is centered at the top of the shoulder.  Then I traced the sleeve head curve onto all pieces.
In period, they probably would have taken a sleeve pattern and just cut it into panes.  Since I want to center the couched motif down the center of the pane, I did not want curves in the pane pattern pieces.  I deliberately chose a pattern that is not likely to be period accurate, but will most likely achieve the look of the protrait.
The portrait shows a puff or turn back at the top of each pane where the sleeve meets the shoulder strap.  Others have lengthened the sleeves to create these puffs.  There is an example here:
http://katerina.purplefiles.net/garb/diaries/FLSOTTANA_Eleanor-Medici%20mid%2016thC.htm
On my mockup, I placed the pattern pieces on scrap fabric, cut the sleeve curve and part way down the sides then slid each pattern piece down 5" for the puff.

After cutting out, I marked 2.5" intervals up from the wrist and also 5" down from the shoulder.  When I was asking in a Facebook group for other costumer's opinions on the number of panes and the construction methods, one of the suggestions was when making a mockup, draw in your proposed trim.  I am planning to couch gold cord down in the pattern on the portrait on only three panes of each sleeve and leave the underarm panes plain.  Next step was to tack the panes together for a fitting.

Please admire the lovely red bar tacks at each 2.5" interval!  I folded back the 5" extensions at the top of each pane and it worked out OK with the center decorated pane because it is relatively flat at the top.  All the others were horrible because of the angles.

I'm totally giving up on the idea of making the puffs as an extension of the sleeve panes.  In addition, I am worried about the additional bulk of puffs in the armpit.  Although, I have to admit, I have been wearing the mockup while generating this post and it really hasn't bothered me.
My current puff idea which I have not mocked up is very unlikely to be the way it was done in period.  The weather here can be quite warm, so we frequently remove our sleeves - preventing heat stroke wins out over historical accuracy every day of the week!  I'm thinking of making the puffs separate from the sleeves so that they can be attached to the shoulder straps with or without the sleeves.  I'll measure along the sleeve head curve and make puffs that width by 5" long.
Next step, is to figure out how to do the couching!

Hanging Sleeve for Doublet

 This image is from Moda A Firenze and the caption says it is a Neopolitan woman.  I am making hanging sleeves similar to hers - the design elements I want are the horizontal and vertical opening as well as the picadills at the wrist opening.  To draft the pattern, I took the undersleeve pattern (based on page 114 in Patterns of Fashion) widened it by 1" at the lowest point of the underarm, and 1" at the top of the sleeve head, lengthened it by 5", and added a bulge in the seam similar to the hanging sleeve on page 123 of patterns of fashion.  Then is cut the pattern in half vertically and cut a horizontal line about 4" lower than the underarm seam.  The fabric I am using is a subtly striped taffeta that is pre-quilted.  For the picadills at the wrists, I cut a piece of plain taffeta 5" high by the width of the sleeve piece.  Folded the 5" in half lengthwise and stitched up 2" from the wrist edge to form the tabs.

 From right to left we have:

1. right side of fashion fabric, picadills stitched
2. right side of fashion fabric, picadills stitched and excess fabric trimmed
3. picadills turned right side out as seen from the wrong side of fashion fabric
4. picadills turned and pressed

Next, I stitched up the vertical elbow seam, cut off one seam allowance, and  flat felled seam by hand.
Then I bound all raw edges (except for the arm hole opening) with bias cut taffeta.  Stitch folded taffeta on the right side, fold to the back, pin, stitch in the ditch.  The I applied braided trim next to the taffeta binding and across the top of the picadills catching the lining fabric. Then tack part of the horizontal area and a short portion at the top of the sleeve together by hand.  Now it is ready to apply the lacing strip.

 I will use three beads for buttons at each wrist to match the bead buttons on the center front of the doublet.  Since the hanging sleeves are decorative and will not be closed around the wrists, I think I will stitch through all layers and omit button holes or loops.  Can always add those in later if I change my mind!

Doublet Progress

I've been putting off working on the doublet because I did not feel like making the lacing strips.  Once the Shoulder seams of doublet had been stitched, I laid it on pattern paper and made a one piece armhole facing pattern, and a pattern for lacing strips.  At the top of the photo below is a lacing strip, then the side front/back of the doublet from the right side with the armhole facing stitched down and cut with pinking shears in preparation for turning.  At the bottom of the photo is the other side front/back doublet piece from the inside showing the armhole facing turned in and the lacing strip attached.  To allow for changes in size in the doublet, I made the side seam 1.5" in case it needs to be altered in the future.  The lacing strips stop at the actual seam line.

I cut the armhole facing out of one layer of taffeta and one layer of red canvas.  If you look at the photo, the vertical sides were finished and then the facing was stitched to the armhole and flipped to the wrong side.  I cut 8 lacing strips - 4 out of the taffeta and 4 out of cotton. For the strips that were going to be attached to the doublet, I pressed under the seam allowance of one short end and then stitched the long side closest to the armhole at 1/2" seam allowance, the short end at the standard 5/8" seam allowance, and the long side closest to the armhole at 1" seam allowance, and turned inside out.  I topstitched the remaining short side closed and spaced out small buttonholes at roughly 1" intervals all along the strip.  You have to have a left and a right!  Then I pinned the lacing strip onto the armhole facing slightly offset from the finished armhole edge and edgestitched the long side furthest from the armhole.  The lacing strip that will be attached to the sleeve top was stitched at 5/8" seam allowance on the two short edges and the long edge furthest from the armhole, turned right side out, pressed, and matching button holes were stitched into these as well.  After the lacing strip was attached to the armhole facing, the facing was basted to the fashion fabric raw edges at the princess seams and that seam was covered with a strip of bias taffeta machine stitched to the right side, flipped to the back and stitched down by hand.  At piece of trim was hand stitched to the side and front/back doublet sections next to the bias bound princess seams.  The finished edges of the armhole facing were also stitched down by hand.
I searched all over for appropriate buttons - and finally found what I was looking for in an unlikely place....
My friend Jennifer owns an antiques and gift shop called Past and Presents and had a two strand necklace of sturdy gold filigree beads.  On a Saturday afternoon I remembered it and called her and asked her to count the beads for me because I couldn't remember if there were enough!  She has helped me with several jewelery pieces for my costumes and I have also gotten lots of help and beads from another friend in town, Kathleen, who owns and is The Bead Lady.  But I digress....

Here is a flat view of the doublet with the necklace bead "buttons" down the center front.  I used the gold spacer beads from the necklace as my button shank, sewed through the large filigree bead and topped it off with a tiny golden seed bead.  To join the sides to the front/back portion, I am using much smaller filigree beads to cover where I tack the bias sections together.  I am stitching a bead at each stripe in the front/ back portion - there are 28 per side.  My fingers are sore!  Here is another view of the doublet with center front buttoned and one princess seam joined with small filigree beads.

Just finished putting on the rest of the beads - now to sew the side seams and try it on!!!!
The way I have made the lacing strips to attach the sleeves to the doublet, it will look like the sleeves are actually set in.  At some time in the future (translation - after IRCC is over) I hope to make another set of short puffed sleeves as an alternate.  Because I want this costume to be versatile, it is more complicated to make.  Stitching the hanging sleeves to the doublet would have been much easier!

Next are the hanging sleeves.

Spiral Sleeve Disaster Averted

For my IRCC project, I wanted a set of sleeves slashed and trimmed in a spiral.  Originally I had intended to make the woolen pinked Clarice sleeves reverse to this planned spiral slashed sleeve.  But now I am re-considering that concept.  Here is a woodcut showing a spiral sleeve:

I re-traced the Clarice sleeve pattern onto blank paper and then drew a series of parallel lines 4" from each other starting at the wrists.  Then I sketched in the 5/8" side seam allowance and drew sloped lines from one parallel line to the line two beneath it through where the parallel lines and seam allowance lines intersected.  I went back and forth on trim ideas and finally settled on cutting strips of the pin-tucked burgundy taffeta and pressing under the raw edges - basting that to the sleeve and basting down.  I cut the sleeve out of the plain burgundy taffeta, placed one over the pattern showing the trim layout, placed the trim and hand basted.  Then I placed the sleeve without trim on the bottom, sleeve with trim on top and eyeballed a slashing pattern similar to the sleeve of the Neoplitan woman above cut.

Since the June Taylor fray block worked so well on the woolen Clarice sleeves, I used it without doing a test on the taffeta - BIG MISTAKE!  The taffeta wicked up the liquid and it looked like puddles around each slash.  That looks odd I thought, but surely it will dry unnoticeable. But just in case, I stopped after doing one row of slashes closest to the shoulder.  Well it was a DISASTER - it dried just as it looked wet - like puddles around each slash.

That row of slashes had to go but I didn't want to have to cut a new sleeve.  Inspiration struck.  I took out the basting stitches for the trim below the fray guard disaster and added another piece of fabric using two rows of straight stitching that will be hidden by the trim.  Then I re-cut the slashes through the damaged part and into the patched piece and cut the shape of the sleeve top before cutting away the damaged section with pinking shears.  In this photo, I slid pattern paper between the damaged and patched section to show the layers before I cut the sleeve top shape.

The trim is shown folded back and the patch stitching lines are now safely hidden under the trim.  First disaster averted!  Now how was I going to seal the edges of the cuts?  I remembered that synthetic fabrics melt when exposed to heat - ruined a bodice back lining with an iron that was too hot.  This time I tried the technique on a scrap of fabric before trying it on the sleeve.  I folded the cut edges together and quickly passed them by the side of a candle flame.  It worked wonderfully - disaster #2 also averted.

After sealing the raw edges of each slash with the candle flame, I placed the white cotton peek-through fabric under the sleeve and machine basted the pin-tucked bands through all layers. I had picked up a braid with gold edges and a burgundy center for next to nothing at Ledford Fabrics and decided to stitch that down on either side of the pin-tucked strips.  I also decided that if the strips did not quite meet properly at the seam this defect could be lessened by applying the braid in the round after the sleeve seam was stitched.  It was a good idea that was hard to execute.  Because of the spiral, I had to start at the sleeve head on one sleeve and sew towards the wrist on one sleeve and stitch in the opposite direction on the other sleeve.  Thank goodness the free arm on my machine is not any larger.  As it is, I had to perform sewing machine gymnastics to get the braid on.  For the sleeve where I started at the wrist I had to slide the entire sleeve onto the free arm before starting and unwind it off of the free arm as I stitched the trim down.  I'm glad applying the braid is done!

  Sleeves one with the braid attached and the other before applying the braid.

To prepare my sleeves for lining, I run a row of basting stitches at the wrist stitching line and press under at the stitching.  When I sew the side seam I put basting stitches in the 4" at the wrist opening and press the whole seam open.  I fold the intersecting press marks together at both corners of each sleeve opening and miter that corner.  The lining is treated in the same way.  Then, I turn the lining inside out, put right sides together with the sleeve and stitch together at the armhole seam, grade the seam with pinking shears, turn the lining into the sleeve, press well,  and hand stitch the lining to the sleeve at the wrist edge and opening.  I prefer hand sewing on straight the straight edges of the wrist rather than at the curved shoulder of the sleeve.

Sleeves for Clarice IRCC gown

So, I've been chugging away at the IRCC challenge http://renaissanceitaly.net/TempFiles/ItalRenCostumingChallenge-Entrants.htm  and have made great progress on my sleeves.

 This is all the sleeve visible in the Clarice portrait.  Based on this, I decided to make four "rows" of the pinking design that I tapered towards the wrist.  Note the little bead embellishments.  I plan to add beads to all but the underarm because I think beads along the under arm will catch on things and be uncomfortable as I move my arms.

Tapered cutting pattern for sleeves.  Cut with exacto knives, hand cut long slashes wider, then applied fray guard to all cut edges.  Basted peek through lining outside edges and along the lines where the trim will go. I steamed the trim to pre-shrink it (not sure it worked very well) and stitched it on by machine with a double needle.

Now I am stitching beads on while the sleeves are still flat.  I still need to make the sleeve top treatment.

Pisa Gown

Extant Pisa gown probably from a contemporary of Eleonora de Toledo di Medici from the mid 1500s and my version.  The skirt is cut based on the skirt of Eleonora's burial gown without the train but the bodice is separate from the skirt.  Since I like my costumes to be as versatile as possible, the sleeve puff also called baragoni is separate.  It is unlikely that the extant garment is constructed with separate sleeves and baragoni.

baragoni only

baragoni and Florentine side of sleeves