After way too long here is part two of the manteo or petticoat (part 1 written in 2014 can be found here), to recap here is the layout suggestion I ended up using from Alecga.
Since my fabric is 60 inches wide I did not need to piece the “B” section and was able to cut it as one curved shape.
I changed the measurements to fit my own size.
I’m in need of a new underskirt or petticoat for my 16th century clothing. I’ve been using the same cotton broadcloth one I made back in 2005, for years now. It is serviceable, but it adds a lot of bulk at the waist and it isn’t very authentic in construction or materials.
So it is time to for a new one.
I have 3.5 yards of a lovely wine colored, lightweight worsted wool donated to me by Noel. (Thank you Noel! <3 )
I’ll be drafting the pattern on the fabric and hand sewing the whole thing with linen thread.
I’m working from the Spanish version of Alcega’s Book. The english translation is out-of-print and painfully expensive. I’m not a native nor fluent spanish speaker so google and a few other resources will be heavily used.
I’m using the translated chart of symbols from the tailors book into modern inches from the Curious Frau’s site.
Taking some inspiration from Other Andrew’s The Alcega Project.
And keeping in mind the information of the Modern Maker has posted about his study of the patterns on his blog and on the Elizabethan Costume Facebook group.
Definition from “Nuevo diccionario portatil, espanol e ingles: compuesto segun los mejore…“
Manteo: s, m : a church man’s cloke; a woman’s under petticoat.
Language is a fluid thing, always changing. The above definition is from 1728 far later than the 16th century. However even later dictionaries simply list it as a cloak or mantle. Context is key, when it is listed as Manteo de Muger, chances are it is a skirt.
Hand sewing my way through another petticoat/kirtle project, this time in a scarlet colored light weight wool.
We all have old projects lurking in the back of the closet, things we made when the scissors were still fresh and sharp and we knew just enough about sewing to be dangerous.
They are given away. They no longer fit and gather dust as we move on to new projects, better fabrics.
This was one of the first gowns I made, the bodice was too big, and over time the fabric stretched. It lingered in the back of the closet for a few years before I took it out, tried it on and decided to fix it.
The results can be found here in the Costume section.