Ren Faire Costume - Coming Together

Here's the doublet, without the detachable sleeves. I'll be working on those today. I think they'll go fast since they are basically just lined tubes.

There are tabs under the sleeve flanges with brass eyelets in them to tie the sleeves onto. But the eyelets are rough on one side, so I'm going to head to Joann's later to find small grommets instead. I don't want the sleeve eyelets to rub a hole in the shirt and I don't think Reko will want codpiece eyelets to rub a hole in …whatever.

The doublet is a lot of work. Let me repeat. A. Lot. Of. Work. None of the work (did I mention there is a lot of it?) is particularly difficult. It's just that there are many, many separate pieces to cut and get ready before you put them all together. I started working on the doublet Friday evening and spent all of Saturday and all of Sunday (with few breaks) to get it to the stage you see in these photos.

Simplicity would have you hand-sew the entire bottom hem of the lining onto the fashion fabric by hand. BY HAND! Hahaha. Not me. Not to mention how much of a PITA it would've been to press a hem into the shifty lining fabric.

Instead, I sewed the lining as you usually would for a vest — armholes, neckline, and leaving the bottom hem open so you can turn each side of the doublet separately, then sew up the sideseams in one continuous seam. Which would be OK except the sideseams aren't really sideseams. They are princess seams that curve to the back. So, it wasn't one continuous go but two per side because everything didn't want to line up without some rearranging around the curves. But that was still OK, since I could do all of it by machine.

Where I went off on my own was to re-open a section of the center back seam of the lining. Through that hole, I turned the doublet sort of inside out ("burrito style" if you're familiar with that on yokes and collars, etc.) so I could sew the lining and doublet hems RS together by machine. The CB seam is still open in case I need to make any adjustments. I'll sew that 5 inches by hand instead of the complete hem of the whole doublet. I can handle that.

Here's a preview of the completed pieces. After the sleeves today, I'll work on the hat. Reko will be here Wednesday evening for a final fitting and will then wait while I make any adjustments or, hopefully, just sew up the open seams.