Thursday, October 14, 2010

McCalls 4530 Ren Fest adaptation

Mitch's Renaissance Festival tunic is hot off the machine, leaving me with only the pants to go!!  Woo hoo, home stretch!
I realize that it looks a bit like a nightgown on the hanger...  I'll get a better/modeled pic once the pants are done.  For reference, here was my "inspiration piece".
I started out with McCalls 4530 as a basic shirt block.  I cut the front as one piece with center front on the fold, and a slightly lower neckline.  I lengthened the body to just above the knees and marked the slit in the front of the neckline, and up the the hip on the side seam.  I used the sleeves as-is, except for straightening out the lower edge to make a smooth hemline.  Obviously, I ignored cuffs, collar and front bands, as well as the various "western" yokes.
I bound the neckline with a self fabric bias strip, which I topstitched down.  It also did a nice job enclosing the scratchy trim edge.  The fabric is a homespun that I got at Hancock.  It was nice to work with generally, but a pain to make into bias tape, as it tended to curl.
As a result, the sleeve seams are bound with commercial bias tape.  I did make nice french seams throughout, which look good, are sturdy and also serve to enclose the trim edges on the sleeves.
I also enclosed all of the hems and trimmed section of the neckline within the trim itself.  As a result, there is not a single exposed fabric edge anywhere in this shirt.  I realize that this is just a costume, but Ren Fest gear gets worn more than once around here, at least for the grown-ups, so I wanted this to be well made.

4 comments:

Sam Rose said...

Well that picture sure "inspires" me, jk. Great job as always. I admire how dedicated you are to everything you make. You are an inspiration.

Unknown said...

Nice, it looks just like the inspiration piece! I'm about Renaissanced out these days, but I'm in the home stretch,too! Looking forward to the family photo from you on this project!

Pam said...

Wow! It is well made - congratulations on your detail work. I love the two pieces together! I can definitely see multiple uses!!

amber said...

I spent a ridiculous amount of time putting in french seams and bias tape finishes for the baby clothes I made for Vino. No side eye from me regarding this tunic. ;)