[Ponte Alto] Workshop Frenzy! The Well Dressed Late Medieval Woman

[Charlotte Wurtzel]

Greetings! Seems that there's a workshop bug on the loose out there, stronger
than the flu this season. What could be better! 

I am pleased to announce a series of workshops/sewing sessions to take place
this spring at my home in Alexandria, VA (for who I am, see the end of this
note). The Well Dressed Late Medieval Woman - a series of classes on the
construction of the Gothic Fitted Gown will take a participant from start to
finish in creating an authentic 14th or 15th century woman's gown. For those of
you who attended the Robin Netherton lecture, this is the "how-to" for the style
for which she provided all of your background info. The period for this is
roughly 1340 to the beginning of the corseted, Tudor era. For you Italian
types, the pattern can been successfully modified to create a self-supporting
Italian Gamurre (though my expertise is in England and France, I'll do what I
can to help). 

The timing of this prodigiously coincides with Lady Courtney's kind opening of
her home for monthly workshops, though neither of us had knowledge of the
other's plans before her announcement. :-) Rest assured, that if you wish to
participate in both activities, there will be little to no overlap of
information. We will be in full communication with each other to ensure that
the sessions are complementary, and that the timing does not conflict. In fact,
we'll probably each be at the other's workshop on any given week. 

The First Workshop:

On Sunday, January 30th, I will be hosting the initial fitting workshop. At this
time, we will be constructing a mockup for a self-supporting, gothic fitted gown
(GFD). This session is limited to eight people, for space and sanity concerns. 
This session is aimed at serious mid- to advanced-level seamstresses, who need
help fitting themselves, don't know where to start, or just want to up their
authenticity level a notch. It is possible for an enthusiastic beginner to
succeed and come away with a lot of knowledge and a beautiful gown, so please
contact me to discuss your skills if you're interested. 

I have a few prerequisites that I ask, as we only have room for 8 in the
fitting, and I want to make sure this isn't just a social occasion, but a
session full of people who intend to make a gown. Since I've implemented
pre-reqs, the completion rate is much higher. 

1. Please be willing to bring a couple of yards of linen fabric to create the
mockup from. This mockup may also be usable as a lining. Cotton and synthetic
fabrics have very different properties than wool, linen, and silk. The rest of
the (short) materials list will be provided to participants later. 

2. In the interest of authenticity, please be willing to make your final gown
from wool or silk (or linen if you are allergic to wool). We will discuss
materials at length during the sessions, but wool makes the absolute most
dreamy gowns. :-) You will need 5-6 yards (bring an extra yard if it's 45") of
fabric for this gown, plus the lining. 

3. If you have experience with 14th or 15th century clothes, it's quite possible
to make this dress on your own, but if you don't think you'll know what the next
steps are, consider being available for at least some of the follow up A&S
sessions (see below for more details).  

4. Not a pre-req, but a hope... In the follow up session, I will be teaching
authentic hand sewing and hand finishing techniques. Every time you hand sew an
eyelet, an angel gets its wings. Ok, maybe not, but Mathilde is a happy, happy
woman. :-D My hope is that you will discover the joy in having all/most visible
finishing being hand done. It's impressive to see. 

5. Although this is for people serious about making a dress, you MUST be willing
to have FUN. I will not bend on this one ;-) (and if you don't behave, I'll draw
funny pictures on your pattern - while it's on you - with my sharpie of doom). 

During the fitting sessions, you will each learn how to execute this on another
participant. In fact, you could even teach your own workshop after you're done
(and I encourage this!!!). Participants will be disrobing to the waist because
this gown fits and supports *without* modern undergarments. For those who are
shy, the actual time that you are uncovered is very brief. For obvious reasons,
this is a women's only day (break out the bon bons and Colin Firth movies!) 

This is first come, first served, so please email me at mathilde at
mathildegirlgenius dot com, asap, if you're interested. In the past, I have had
long waiting lists. 

Continuing Sessions: 

We've all experienced it. Once we have a pattern, we sit at our sewing table
looking at it, looking at the pile of fabric, looking at the machine, and
think, "what now?" In order to address the "what now" part, I will be hosting
bi-weekly A&S sessions, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. Lady
Courtney's workshops are the 3rd Wednesday. If there's a 5th Wednesday, let's
all get together for Margaritas. All are welcome to attend these sessions, but
the focus of each week will be part of the continuing dress saga. Those working
on other projects are welcome to come and be social, participate in a particular
topic, or hit up my fiance to talk about his armour addiction (he doesn't know I
said this...) :-) 

Topics covered will include: pattern layout and cutting, sleeves, eyelets and
buttonholes, fingerloop braiding, aglet making, hairstyles, accessories, and
anything else we happen to get to. This is also a chance to have a sympathetic
person hem your gown, if you significant other tends to do it crookedly, and do
final tweaks to the fit, get advice, or use our industrial machine (though
heaven knows why!). More info to follow, as a session gets closer. 

About Me: 

In the SCA, I'm known as Lady Mathilde Bourette, or Lady Mathilde of
Northshield. I recently moved to Ponte Alto from the East Kingdom, where I
sojourned for a short time after starting this game in the cold-weathered, but
warm-hearted now-Kingdom of Northshield. My first love is fourteenth century
clothing and accessories, but my new love (my ryght worshypful fiance) is a
fifteenth century junkie and has gotten me hooked on a new time period. I have
held four group-fitting sessions for the gothic fitted dress over the last
several years, and have fit numerous women individually. When I lived in the
East this spring, I held a series of workshops similar to this, with great
success, and quite a bit of learning on ALL sides. :-) While still in the East,
I was inducted into the Order of the Maunche (roughly equivalent to a Pearl) for
14th and 15th century clothing, and for the pursuit of authenticity. 

For a sampling of my past work and some documentation, (in other words, who is
this raving lunatic who just moved in?), visit: 
http://www.mathildegirlgenius.com/gallery/Paston2004/Image121mod
http://www.mathildegirlgenius.com/gallery/04Hastings/IMG_1570
http://www.mathildegirlgenius.com/Pictures/CharAtCrown.JPG
http://www.mathildegirlgenius.com/NorthernLights/Red_1380_French.pdf
http://www.mathildegirlgenius.com/NorthernLights/TabletWovenCirclets.pdf
http://www.mathildegirlgenius.com/NorthernLights/Hairstyle.pdf 

Cheers, and looking forward to hearing from you! 
Mathilde 
mka: Charlotte