A high class Unterrock (kirtle) in silk and brocade, appropriate for a noble woman in early 16th century Germany.
Although I have the right Unterrock for my peasant class garb, and a couple for middle class, I don’t really have one for upper class. My black linen was originally made for this job, but neither the fabric nor colour were ideal for a nobility level undergown.
And the straps were wide – fine with the pink brocade I made it for, but showed under all my other noble class gowns. I’ve been wearing the nicer of my two middle class ones, but it was time to make a noble version.
I looked through my stash and found the last few meters of some silk I got cheap because it had been smoke damaged. It’s double faced, twill weave and a bit slubby, but a nice weight. Careful washing solved the smoke problem and I used up quite a lot of it to line a coat for my husband, my own Husseke and some doublet sleeves.
There was just enough left to make an Unterrock with a good sized skirt, if I piece it carefully – and dye it a better colour.
Research
I’ve made many of these supportive undergowns before. The general research for this was the same as for my black worsted Unterrock, but with a different hem ornamentation suited to the upper class.
Versions worn by elite women often have a deep decorative border at the hem, sometimes of fur but more often of a rich fabric or brocade, as can be seen in the painting below. The woodcut by Georg Pencsz shows a bride holding up her Rock (gown) to show the Unterrock beneath, which has a distinct fretwork pattern on the decorative border.
Source: Zeno
I remembered that I had some black and gold brocade in stash which looks very like the pattern on this inspiration picture. I was given the fabric years ago and it would be great to finally use it for the for the decorative hem!
Construction
First, I wanted to change the colour of the silk from a pale mustard to something more appropriate. I tested some samples, decided on green and used my usual method of stovetop dyeing with liquid food colour, which came out a lovely leaf green, more intense than my test sample.
I used the Unterrock pattern I developed for my black worsted Unterrock, which has a bodice with narrow on-grain straps. This approach is seen in 16th century tailor’s manuals – it makes cutting much more efficient and the strap does not stretch.
I thought I could get three skirt drops from my silk, using the corner piecing approach (as seen in the Alcega pattern below and other tailor’s manuals) to get the maximum skirt width from the fabric.
The dyeing shrunk the silk a little, so I ended up having to piece a lot more than expected, juggling around the bodice pieces – and even dyeing some extra silk scraps to finish the job. I machine sewed and hand felled the piecings to make my skirt panels.
I sewed the three assembled panels together, using run and fell seams (machine sewn, hand felled) at the back and flat-felled at the front, to make it easy to hem the front opening.
Then I cut a 9cm linen facing for the top, sewed it on, pressed it and basted it down. I felled it to the skirt, picking up a few threads each time, so the sewing is hardly visible on the outside.
On to the bodice.
I cut the bodice sections from canvas and prepared the fronts. The silk does not have much body, so in addition to my usual addition of twill tape (to support the eyelets) I added an extra canvas panel to the fronts to reduce wrinkling – both at the back of the canvas, so they don’t show.
To reduce bulk, I sewed on the shoulder strap with an overlap seam. I sewed the silk strap to the front, then basted these to the canvas fronts. Then I basted the silk to the back canvas.
I sewed the side seams, then pressed these open and pick-stitched to flatten and stiffen the seams. Then I overlapped the canvas shoulder strap seams at the back and stitched these, then hand-sewed the silk seams over it. I turned up the hem and catch-stitched it to the canvas.
Next, the binding. There was not much left in the scrap pile, but I had enough to bind the armscyes, neckline and wider pieces for the front (to allow for eyelets). I basted them in place, sewed, then wrapped the bindings around the edge and catch-stitched to the canvas.
Then I worked eyelets down the front – offset for spiral lacing, with even top and base.
I lined the bodice with linen, basting each section in place (back, then front), then slip-stitched it around the edge and the side seams. Bodice complete!
Now to join the skirt to the bodice.
** pleats is a nice proportion, and makes it easy to divide the bodice and skirt evenly. I marked the pleat widths on the bodice lining, then pinned on the skirt in quarters, matching the centre front and back. Then I worked on each section at a time,
With the skirt attached, I can mark an even hem, allowing for the border depth – easiest done with my husband and a pile of books 🙂
Now for the brocade border. It would have been nice to make it one pattern row deeper, to match the inspiration woodcut, but there is not enough fabric. I have two pieces * x * – leftovers from someone else’s project.
Because of the pattern, I’m cutting the border flat, not curved, but it will still hang well enough. I pieced the brocade to the right length to match the hem, matching the pattern on the the full width seams (almost invisible) and making a symmetrical pattern join for the last one.
I pinned it to the silk, being careful not to stretch the bias silk, then machine sewed it on. I machine sewed a linen lining, pressed everything, basted, then felled the lining over the seam inside for a neat finish.
To finish the Unterrock, I made a matching green lace in fingerloop braid of 5 bowes. Silk would been ideal, but I had nothing the right colour, so I used perle cotton instead which is strong with a nice sheen.
I forned a brass aglet on one end of the lace, made a figure 8 knot on the other and threaded the lace. This approach makes it easy to replace the lace if it wears or breaks.
Finally, I sewed a hook and eye at the top, for a secure closure.
The silk and border look suitably lush and the Unterrock will provide great support – and add an extra layer of luxury under my various noble-class gowns!
