Fixing a 16th Century Kirtle for the Renaissance Fair
If your 16th century kirtle for the Renaissance fair doesn’t fit the same this year, take a look at a couple of easy fixes you can make without having to sew new garb!
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Some outfits are made for everyday use, while others are only worn once in a while. Renaissance fair costumes are usually worn only once or twice a year. That means, when you take your costume out after a year of hanging in the closet, it might not fit like it did before.
This year, when my husband and I tried on our Renaissance fair costumes that I made a few years ago, they didn’t fit anymore. I already made adjustments to my husband’s jerkin, but I still needed to fix my 16th century style kirtle.
Wait, What is a 16th Century Kirtle?
A kirtle was part of the everyday outfit of European Medieval and Renaissance women of all social ranks. These were worn as a foundation garment, over a linen shift or smock. They provided bust support, like a modern bra, before stays and corsets took over that function. The silhouette of these garments changed over time, so it can be confusing if you are looking at something called a kirtle that look different. If you compare 15th century and 16th century kirtles, the waistline is less defined in the earlier styles. The neckline also shifts from a rounded shape to a more square neckline over time.
If you want to read more about the European fashion in the 16th century, I highly recommend the book, The Tudor Tailor: Reconstructing Sixteenth-Century Dress by Ninya Mikhaila and Jane Malcolm-Davies, or any of their other Tudor Tailor books.
Even though Renaissance fairs are not known for their historical accuracy, I use the historical fashions as inspiration. That way, I end up making something that was at least historical plausible for that historical era.
My 16th Century Kirtle
About three years ago I made a 16th century style blue and green kirtle completely by hand. It was one of the first historical costumes I had ever made, and I’m still very proud of it. The design was largely based on this amazing video by Morgan Donner, with some additional insight from The Tudor Tailor book. The pattern pieces for 16th century clothing aren’t too complicated, so I was able to just eyeball the shapes based on my own measurements. I successfully made a bodice pattern on the first try.
I followed her method fairly closely, but I did make some adjustments.
Adjustments I Made From the Morgan Donner Tutorial
First, I added pockets, I can’t have a skirt without pockets. I also used an offset placement for my eyelets to accommodate spiral lacing. For increased bust support, I added extra boning (made of large zip ties) to the bodice. To hide the boning channels, I added an outer fabric layer to the bodice. This outer layer smoothed out all the bumps from the boning.
The green fabric I used for the top fabric on my bodice and in the skirts was 45-inch-wide fabric. I only had enough of this fabric left over after making the bodice for two skirt panels. I wanted a very full skirt, so I added extra panels with the blue fabric left over from my husband’s jerkin. This was 60-inch-wide fabric, so it added a lot of volume. Finally, I kept my shoulder straps attached to the top of the kirtle in my original version.
It’s not 100% “historically accurate” but is 100% perfect for running around a Renaissance fair.
As you can tell, when I tried my kirtle on this year, it didn’t fit right. I needed a bit more room in the bodice, the waist measurement, and the shoulder straps. I could barely get my arms in and out of the arm straps, and they hung off my shoulders in an odd way. Thankfully, the design of this Renaissance fair kirtle makes fixing these problems relatively simple.
Adding More Room to the Kirtle Bodice
The first thing to do was add a bit more room to the bodice. Luckily, the bodice my 16th century kirtle has three lacing points, which are easier to add a bit of room to than adjusting seam allowance. The side seams and center front are all held together with lacing. All I needed to do was make longer lacing cords.
The original cords were made with embroidery floss, using a five finger loop braid technique. This style of braiding would have been used in the 16th century. I enjoyed making the laces this way, but my short arms limit how long I can easily make a cord with this technique. For my new laces, I used some #10 crochet cotton (Curio from KnitPicks), and simply made a very long 3-strand braid, using 6 strands of thread. This made a very strong cord that fits nicely in the eyelets I’ve already made.
I replaced all three cords, and now the bodice of my 16th century kirtle fits much more comfortably again.
Fixing the Shoulder Straps
To fix the shoulder straps, I knew I needed to lengthen them, and move them a bit closer to center front. I already knew how I wanted to fix this problem from the Morgan Donner YouTube video this design was originally based on.
Cutting Off the Straps
The first step was to cut the front of each shoulder strap to separate it from the front of the bodice.
I won’t lie, taking a pair of scissors to this dress that I’ve spent so much time working on, that I love, was stressful. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to wear it with the arm straps the way they were, so it had to be done.
Hiding the Raw Edges
After separating each shoulder strap, I rounded off the edges of each strap so they looked intentionally separate.
To cover all the raw edges and hide where I cut the straps off, I added more matching binding. The blue on my kirtle is the same fabric that I made my husband’s jerkin out of, and I have a lot of it left over. There was more than enough to make a little bit of binding.
Once the straps were tidied up, I needed to fix the raw edges where I cut the straps. First, I cleaned up the line of the top of the bodice front, to make a nicer line. Then, all I had to do was add a bit more biding to cover the raw edges.
Adding Eyelets
I needed some holes to tie the shoulder straps to the front of the kirtle. That meant adding two pairs of eyelets to my kirtle.
First, I put the kirtle back on to determine a good spot to add eyelets to the bodice. There was a gap between some of the boning that made the perfect tie point.
I sewed two eyelets on each strap, and onto the front of the kirtle.
Then all that was left was to add a bit of ribbon to tie each strap to the bodice, and my kirtle was ready to wear!
Having the straps tie to the bodice like this is reminiscent of a pair of 18th century stays. Even though it isn’t something that was common in the 16th century, I think the ribbon is a fun detail, and lets me adjust the fit of my kirtle as needed.
Ready for the Fair!
I am so glad I was able to fix my kirtle! I put a lot of effort into making this, and I didn’t want it all to go to waste. With just a little more sewing I can still wear this dress that I love.
I hope this inspires you to try to adjust things in your closed to fit, instead of throwing out your special outfits, even if your body isn’t the same as when you bought or made them.
If you ever see me at a Renaissance fair, be sure to say, “Hi!”
If you want to see more sewing shenanigans, click here.
Hey people!!!!!
Good mood and good luck to everyone!!!!!