At the moment, I am concentrating on underpinnings. This is the first of my new batch. Once done, then I can start on a new dress. Besides.... One can never have too many camicias! This one is based on Italian low-necked camicias which can be found in V&A museum, Cut my Cote, New York Metropolitan Museum. For my research on Italian Camicia, see my CAMICIA RESEARCH. Below are some extant examples from Italian Old Lace and New York Metropolitan Museum and Cut my Cote. These have side gussets and armhole gussets. Firstly, a look at the extant examples of the camicia. All made in linen. This shows the patterns and decoration. Next can be seen the pattern and how I am going to make it up.

EXANT EXAMPLES:
Extant eg. from Elisa Ricci's Old Italian Lace	Metropolitan Museum of Art	Cut My Cote by Dorothy K. Burnham.

I planned to use 26 inch wide material (half of the bought linen width) to cut all pattern pieces from. This is more consistent with material widths available in Renaissance times. (right is my pattern based on Cut my Cote . Above is the layout for cutting.). In the end, I used the full width of the material (I forgot to cut it....! ) The gussets will be made very large in an attempt to allow more movement. I intend to partly machine sew and handsew the seams. They will be flat-felled seams oversewn). The body is gathered into the neckband. The sleeves will end in broidered cuffs, as seen in the above examples. I will tie the cuffs with handknitted cords. See AN EXERCISE IN AUTHENTICITY for more information on sewing research

Decoration: I will be using embroidery to decorate this cacmicia (drawnwork is another project for the future, but not now!). I will also add lace (bought) to the neckline and possibly the cuffs. Right is the pattern I intend to use on the sleeves. This is based on embroidery found on two different shirts. The bee is from a shirt in the Bath Museum (1580-90) (left) and the pomegranite based on a shirt found in the Warwickshire Museum. (right). Thanks to Jane Stockton's website, who provided the link on this one. I will do three rows down each sleeve.

Traditionally this is usually done in red or black. I will be doing mine in purple. Well, it is my heraldic colour. The NY Met museum extant camicia has embroidery in lavender, so it was used in decoration on Italian camicias. Slim I know, but there is one example of purple-coloured embroidery on the sleeves out there!

I am still thinking on the cuff and neckline embroidery.

29/10/05

I managed to finally find time to cut out the camicia pieces and draw up the embroidery pattern on the sleeves (left) Left are the first two motifs finished. Wahoo. This is going to take forever! I have used stem stitch, buttonhole stitch, some satin stitch, running stitch and feather stitch. Below is the sleeve fully embroidered.

They were finished at the end of November. I had run out of embroidery silk and am awaiting the shop to order some more in.... so the gussets, neck and cuffs have to wait a while longer.
I managed to finish one gusset: and the second:
In the meantime, I made the UNDERSKIRT.

January, 2006:
Now back onto the camicia. I have finally decided on a pattern for the cuffs and neck. It is based on, a pattern from New Modelbuch - book of patterns. (http://costume.dm.net/blackwork/ Unfortunately the patterns are no longer online.) I tried to pick something easy, as a friend of mine Devora aus Aschaffenburg,is going to embroider the cuffs, as a gift for me. She is relatively new to doing 'blackwork', plus I like crosses.

Here are pictures of my neck embroidery in progress:

and the neckline sewn in and with the lace.

here is the camicia, almost finished....

20 January, 2006:

from the back. Just awaiting the cuffs and lace.	from the side, showing the sleeve.	the right gusset...	and the left gusset.

When I have the cuffs and it is all finished, I will post pics... I am hoping this will be done for the Newcomers Feast in March.... which I did.

Here are the final pictures

Oh, my gosh how indecent!	Sleeve and cuffs: thanks to Devora	The final camicia

 

Bibliography:

• Arnold Janet, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd, Maney, Leeds, 1988, ISBN:0-901286-20-6
• Kovesi Killerby, Catherine, Sumptuary Law in Italy 1200-1500, Oxford University Press. NY. 2002. ISBN:0-19-924793-5
• Crowfoot E, Pritchard F & Staniland K, Textiles and Clothing 1150-1450, Boydell Press, Woodridge, 2001 (ed) ISBN: 0-85115-840-4
• Frick, Carole Collier. Dressing Renaissance Florence.: Families Fortunes & Clothing. John Hopkins University Press. Baltimore. 2002. ISBN: 0-8018-6939-0
• Kohler, Carl, A History of Costume, Dover Publications, NY,1963, ISBN: 486-21030-8
• Willet, C. & Cunnington, Phillis, A History of Underclothes, Dover Publications, NY, 1992, ISBN: 0-486-27124-2
• Fennel Mazzoui, Maureen. The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later Middles Ages 1100-1600, Cambridge University press, 1981. (thanks to Galiana de Baiona).
• Levey, Santina & Payne, Patricia Le Pompe: Patterns for Venetian Bobbin Lace, Ruth Bean, Bedford. 1983. ISBN: 0 903585 16 2
• Ricci, Elisa. Italian Lace Designs: 243 Classic Examples. Dover, NY, 1993. ISBN: 0 486 27588 4 Lace, Bookking International. Paris, 1995. (no ISBN available).
• Ricci, Elisa. Old Italian Lace Volume 1. William Heinemann, London. 1913 available on line: http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books.html
• Lace, Booking International. Paris, 1995. (no ISBN available).
• Veccellio, Cesare. Vecellio's renaissance Costume Book. Dover Publications. NY. 1977. ISBN: 0 48623441X
  
  Web Sites:
• Bronwen's Blackwork Library. http://costume.dm.net/blackwork/
• V&A Museum website: http://images.vam.ac.uk
• Bath Museum of Costume: http://www.museumofcostume.co.uk/ http://www.museumofcostume.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseAction=SM.nav&UUID=013DFA14-32A6-4A33-B3CDA4E8E00C9D49)
• Warwickshire Museum Website www.datavista.co.uk
• In Praise of the Needle. by Jane Stockton. http://needleprayse.webcon.net.au/broidery/warwick_shirt.html
• Oonagh's Own: http://oonagh.actewagl.net.au/
•  Elizabethan Costume Page http://costume.dm.net/bath/bathsmock1front.jpg
• "How much yardage is enough" Susan Reed, 1994. http://patriot.net/~nachtanz/SReed/fabuse.html
• Suggested Yardages for Elizabethan Garments by Drae Leed. http://costume.dm.net/yardages.html# (29/5/03)
• Smocks and Chemises (Drae Leed) http://www.dnaco.net/~aleed/corsets/chemise.html (5/8/00)
• A Reconstructed Chemise by Kass McGann http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/beginners/chemise.html 5/11/03
• V&A web site: http://www.vam.ac.uk/ (May, 2004)
• How to make an easy Italian chemise - Festive Attyre (May, 2005) homepage.mac.com/festive_attyre
• "How much yardage is enough" Susan Reed, 1994. http://patriot.net/~nachtanz/SReed/fabuse.html
• Archeological Sewing by Heather Rose Jones (2001) www.virtue.to/guest_authors/archaeological_sewing.html (5/04)