A friend found a book at the library called “Renaissance Patterns for Lace, Embroidery and Needlepoint” by Federico Vinciolo and Apparently the patterns are reprints from books originally printed in 1587 and 1606. Of course I had to try one! It is magical to think that I can work the same pattern that a lace maker used over  four hundred years ago!This is my first piece of filet lace. I made the mesh and did a cloth stitch to fill in all the solid squares. I do need to finish the edge still. I took this picture while the lace was still on the frame.

The thread I used was linen, and I only have the one size so I had to pass through each square four times rather than two to fill in completely. That took awhile. The linen thread is not even so the lace does not look perfect, but I actually do love the imperfections in this piece. This lace reminded me of a pattern that Isolde might have made…if she made lace!

I have experienced a sewing Renaissance lately and have been working on more challenging projects. So here is one of the projects that I have finished: (Special thanks to my lovely dress form Josephine for modeling!)

Only one week before an English Country Dance Ball I decided that I wanted, and needed, some period undergarments for my Regency gown. That is typical for me, to wait until the last minute to begin a complicated sewing project! I can’t even tell how many times my mom and I have finished sewing a dress the night before an event. Since I did not have the time to ship the pattern that I wanted from Sense and Sensibility patterns I downloaded the e-pattern for Regency Underthings. The pattern includes a chemise, chemisette and short stays. This was my first experience with an e-pattern and I loved it! Of course, the best part was not having to wait for the pattern to be shipped since I downloaded it within minutes of ordering. Using an e-pattern actually saved me time, because I did not have to trace my pattern; I can just print a different size if needed. I never cut into my pattern pieces in case I need a larger size later, so I usually spend a lot of time tracing them onto tissue.

The chemise was easy to sew and very comfortable. Seriously, very comfortable. All of the seams are flat felled so I am pretty sure that the chemise will withstand a lot of wear. For the short stays, I was exactly between sizes and decided to go a size down. I am glad that I did because it fits perfectly and I can either lace the stays up all the way or I can leave a small gap in front. I made sure to use 100% cotton threads and fabrics and I stitched the eyelets by hand.

Now comes the part where I admit that in regards to periodicity I cheated for the short stays. If this was an outer garment I would not have been able to live with myself, but I figured that since it was undergarments no one would see them. To be period correct I should have done all the top stitching by hand but I was running out of time so I used my sewing machine. I also had to use plastic for the boning, but figured that I can replace that later if I want to. When I get time I am also going to take the binding off and resew it by hand so that it is neater.