Middle [school] ages

In a year 9 history elective my class decided to have a medieval lunch. Due to my internet-ly wanderings at that time I had just discovered the concept of ‘historical accuracy’. I decided I wanted an accurate costume and couldn’t possibly wear the supposedly ‘medieval’ hot pink satin ‘frog princess’ costume my mother had previously made for me to wear to a birthday party.

Frog Princess

So I sought out a pattern for a sideless surcoat outfit (Burda 7977), bought some cotton poplin and embarked on the project. At the time it seemed like such a huge project. I had a week to make it – but it was a week when we were out every night.  Fortunately it’s not a complex outfit and I was able to follow the pattern as is (a very rare occurrence). Only the godets caused some grief. Godets were a new concept at the time for both myself and my mum and I had to redo them several times. Now I know to sew them differently from the pattern instructions (one should attach godets before sewing the side seams).

The outfit was ready to wear on the day, albeit unhemmed; Mum made the hat while I was at school and dropped it off just before lunch. 

This was my first attempt at a deliberate, accurate costume and I have never looked back.

This costume has since been worn to birthday parties and medieval festivals and has been a visual aid in class presentations. I’ve grown so used to it that it has migrated out of my costume wardrobe to be mixed-and-matched with my everyday wardrobe. 

Of course this is perfectly normal uni wear.  What do you mean it’s 700 years out of fashion?

I have since accumulated quite a collection of early medieval cotton garments. I made outfits for the doctor and lady-in-waiting for a scene from Macbeth in English class (I do that). These are both essentially lengthened t-shirts. I tried to use trims that looked like weaving if you squinted at them from a distance, and the one on the brown robe kind-of does. Lady Macbeth wore the cream dress (above) without the surcoat.

More recently I used the Burda 7977 pattern to make an everyday dress. I adapted the sleeve pattern into bell sleeves and I was very happy with how they turned out. This pattern has surprisingly agreeable sleeves and I use them when I have to add long sleeves to other patterns.