Step 2 In Avoiding Heat Stroke: The Motif Smock
Project Specs:
Fabric used: 3.5 oz linen from Fabrics-Store.com in the color Bleached. This is hands down my go-to lightweight linen. 2.5 yards.
Blackwork on collar and cuffs. Scale: 1/14th of an inch.
Patterns used: both Margo Anderson's "The Tudor Lady's Wardrobe" and The Tudor Tailor's "The Queen's Servants"
First event attended: 12th Night 2020, Roanoke, VA.
The completed Motif Smock
I've been putting off making more smocks since I started working on garb but that's come to bite me in the butt over my first year playing. Thankfully, that reality is no more.
My first smock was the first piece of clothing I had ever sewn and boy does it show. The hem is wonky, the cuffs are too tight, the blackwork (also my first ever attempt) is glaringly a beginner's product, and the chest is too tight. All in all, not my finest hour, but whose first work ever is?
My major pet peeves with the OS (Original Smock) are as follows:
Sleeves. I get that giant flowing sleeves are period, I do. But to quote the eminent goddess of sleeves, Marisha Ray, "Sleeves are bullshit." I greatly dislike wearing long sleeves and I dislike even more when sleeves get in my way and the fact of the matter is that the flowy sleeves on the OS are just begging to accidentally get dragged through food while I'm cooking or worse. These had to go.
Length. In addition to the hem being wonky, the smock is too short, in such a way that it has a habit of riding up if my skirts aren't heavy enough to hold it down (thank you black kirtle). This wasn't a problem until I tried to wear it with the Teal Dress but since lighter is my goal for the year, that's not going to fly long term.
The smock pattern is simple enough to adapt though so the second set of smocks (detailed below) made it quite easy to workaround. I added a fitted sleeve to the pattern, using the sleeve from The Tudor Tailor patterns onto Margo Anderson's smock pattern. The body of the smock I added approximately 6" to the overall length so that the smock would hit mid-calf. This proved challenging when adding the gores, but ultimately I decided to go with the gores for the larger size from which I took the length and gores instead of trying to adapt the smaller triangular side gores as well.
For the first smock in my line of smocks, which I'm calling the Motif Smock, I did what I usually do and used my sewing machine to do the construction stitches, then I hemmed and Frenched the seams by hand. This is usually what I do because I like the safety net of the machine sewing. Except that machine sewing didn't hold great because I procrastinated and didn't finish all the Frenching before 12th night 2020 which was the first time I wore this smock.
I am actually quite happy with how the structural changes went for this smock. The sleeves are significantly more comfortable, the length helps a lot, and I made a little bit more give in the chest area. I hope to wear this smock with a variety of garb, and I think the fit will absolutely help with that.
The Motif Smock got its name because I did the neckline in a repeating, square blackwork design. This particular design is special- I saw it on Pinterest when I was first looking into blackwork and thought it was just gorgeous. This is the image that made me want to do blackwork and I am thrilled to finally have it on some garb. Though it is not a period motif- despite having some period elements- I just love it. As I said before, I procrastinated on this smock so most of the neckline wasn't actually finished in time for 12th Night. I had strategically placed three of the motifs on the collar, and the cuffs were done but that was it. I then finished the blackwork and the French seams afterward.
I have decided that it's time to take the plunge and make the second smock, the Forest Smock, hand-sewn. Additionally, due to the small scale and intricate pattern on both the neckline and cuffs of the Motif smock, I used water-soluble interfacing to do the blackwork. This stuff is 100% cheating and I am absolutely not above it because this smock won't be entered into competitions anyway. We'll be going back to period methods with the Forst smock. I wasn't thrilled with the interfacing for the more extensive pattern on this smock- there was a lot of trial and error, and it lacked the flexibility and following of the fabric like with pricking and pouncing.
