Blue Cotehardie

Here is the finished blue linen cotehardie. It's been done for quite some time, but today I got good pictures. The chemise is a 1500's version, and not for this dress. However, when modeling for paintings, historic accuracy often takes a backseat to artistic license. Note the relatively modern spinning wheel and fully modern blinds. I think my coffee cup is in the window sill.

I'm very pleased with this series of photos, and just wish I'd been able to wear the right chemise (see the previous entry on the 1400's cotehardie for the inspiration painting) and my veil. I may re-do the photos for my online gallery, but these will do for now.

This modeling session made me very interested in the process of spinning. After holding that small hank of wool for so many hours, I can see how it would be a meditative past time. It had a very pleasant pull and felt smooth. I think I would really enjoy spinning. This may be something I will look into in the future.

As of right now, I'd like to replace the machine stitched button holes with hand-stitched holes and the commercial ribbon with a 4 strand cord. I'm working on a fairly big order at the moment, getting ready for an event in May and making more test garments, so I really don't have time for these alterations. I may or may not get to them before summer.

I love this dress. It's comfortable, pretty and has a divine power to resist stains of all kinds (including coffee and oil paint). It's not quite as long as an historic gown, the back just touches the ground, but in these modern germ-infested times, who wants to drag your train through the mud? I may add a white linen boarder for length... if I do I will replace the gold edging with white... and drag that through the mud...