SCA: A 15th-Century Velvet Houppelande

At my very first Gulf Wars, someone lent me a giant flannel houppelande on a cold night, which I threw on over my cotehardie, and I have wanted one ever since.  So comfy!  So voluminous!  It's like wearing blankets!  This year I finally made one for myself, since War of the Rams (BAM) in November is likely to be pretty cold in the evenings.  

This houpelande is made of the same cotton velveteen Ikea curtain panels that I used for my Regency pelisse, back in June.  Last year I acquired a huge box of these curtain panels from my local neighborhood swap group for free, and I still had 4 of them left (about 10 yards of fabric) - they were perfect for this project.  

I didn't have enough of the velveteen to make a full circle houppelande, so I used a simple A-line cut for the body of the dress, (adapted from a vintage 80s dress pattern) with side gores for as much fullness as I could pack into this thing.  The sleeves are D-shaped, and come to a short cuff at the wrist.  

The houppelande is unlined - I didn't have any fabric to use as lining, and I figured this velveteen would likely be heavy enough to keep me warm when worn over my other clothes. After it was put together I dyed the entire piece with teal and charcoal Rit dye, which gave the aqua-blue fabric a lovely medium blue-ish-gray color: 

After dyeing the whole thing, I added a collar and cuffs of white faux fur from my stash: 

 

The belt is one I made for a Burgundian gown that I made several years ago and never got around to wearing (oops). I had to move the hooks out several inches from where they were to get it to fit, but thankfully, the belt was long enough that I had plenty of space to work with.  The hooks themselves are gold-colored plastic highlighted with green nail polish to mimic an enamel look; I forget where I bought them originally, I've had them for aeons. 

The padded roll hat in the first picture is one I made many years ago.  It's nothing fancy, just a stuffed roll of damask upholstery fabric with pearl beads sewn on, worn with a netted/beaded snood and a couple of lightweight veils pinned onto it.  

So there's a big, new, warm outfit for BAM that I can wear on cold nights.  I also have my linen coat to wear over my Viking outfits, which won't be terribly warm on its own, but which I can wear with layers of hoods and caps, and my wool shoulder cloak.  

Edit:  It turns out the weather at BAM wasn't cold at all - mid-70s during the day, and only into the 60s at night, so I didn't get a chance to wear this at the event at all.  Maybe next year.  

Regency: Teal Velveteen Pelisse

Behold:  a finished velveteen pelisse for winter wear!  

Last fall I acquired a huge stack of velveteen Ikea curtain panels from my local neighborhood swap group.  I knew right away I wanted to make a pelisse out of it. The fabric is heavy and warm, but not TOO heavy - perfect for our relatively mild central Texas winter weather. 

It would be a nifty addition to my Regency wardrobe, I thought, but more than that, I was in dire need of a long winter coat that was affordable - so I knew I wanted to make one, but I could never find the right fabric and pattern for it.  Yes, I absolutely plan to wear this in "real life" as my regular winter coat! 

left: fashion plate from Ackerman's;
right: design inspiration from Laughing Moon

This fashion plate, and this gown, were my first inspirations.  I loved the ruffles around the neckline and the big tie in the front of both, so I decided to use my Laughing Moon Spencer pattern (#129) for the bodice and sleeves, since it already has the shaping and design on the bodice that I wanted. 

I used the skirts from my Reconstructing History round gown pattern as a guide for the width and length of the skirt panels. 

dyeing the velveteen

The first problem was the color of the velveteen curtain panels:  they were bright aqua, which - no. Too bright and cheerful for me.  

Fortunately, they're 100% cotton, so they dyed pretty easily with Rit dye.  I used a 2:2:1 mixture of dark green, teal, and charcoal gray,  and came up with this lovely deep muted spruce green color.  (Okay, it's TEAL. Rit dye's formula charts call this "Blue Spruce Green," but it's totally teal).  

 

inside ties and hand-finishing

The pelisse is lined in a sage green cotton fabric that started life as a duvet cover I had sitting around not being used. Here you can see the ties I placed inside the bodice to help hold the thing together - I didn't want to rely on the belt/sash to do the job on its own.  The ties will help keep everything aligned properly when I wear it. 

The problem with dyeing the fabric was that I originally did it in two separate batches.  I measured carefully, and used the exact same dye on both batches...and yet, they still came out slightly different colors - one batch was a bit greener, and one batch was a bit bluer. 

So, after I finished the pelisse, I overdyed it again to bring the colors back in together.  The lining dyed, as well, and now it matches the velveteen fabric. 

bodice back

Since I do plan to wear this coat mundanely (i.e. not as a costume, but as regular daily wear), I made a few modifications to the pattern to help it be more wearable - the inside ties are one. 

I also lowered the hem of the bustline by 3" to accommodate a "normal" modern bustline.  It still fits fine when I'm corseted, but since I mostly won't be wearing this with a corset, I wanted it to conform to my "regular" bust shape when I'm wearing it to the office, for example.    

I added hidden side-seam pockets to the skirts as well.  Bitches need pockets! I generally don't carry a purse - just my phone which is in a wallet case, and my keys, and I needed somewhere to stash them. 

I also added belt loops to the side seams of the waistline, to help keep the belt/sash in place. 

before hemming the bottom

Altogether, this pelisse took me about 12 1/2 hours (over the course of 7 days) to construct and finish.  Most of it is sewn on the machine, although I did do all the finishing - anything that's visible from the outside - by hand.  Because it's so long, and there's so much fabric, it's surprisingly heavier than I thought it would be, and it IS very warm.  It'll make an excellent top layer and windbreak in winter weather this year. 

Thankfully, our winters are generally pretty mild, usually averaging about 40-50º most of the time, and only getting down into the 20s-30s for a couple of weeks in January or February; so this pelisse didn't have to be very heavy - it's mostly just a windbreak and an extra layer. With a sweater underneath and a scarf at the neck, it'll be just fine for the weather here.  

Things I would change if I had to do this again: 

(1) the sleeves are a teensy bit too long. They're lovely, but I worry about them being in the way while driving.  

(2) the back of the bodice and the shoulders are very fitted, and I worry that they won't accommodate more than a very thin shirt underneath - I won't be able to wear sweaters with this thing.  (Good impetus to lose a bit of weight before this winter!) 

(3) The belt loops are laughably too big. I should have made them half the size I did; but it's okay, I doubt anyone will notice or care.