Red peasants: bodice, skirt, coif, flatcap & apron

I met a lovely lady at the Renaissance symposium this year who promptly contacted me for a peasants outfit. We worked long distance from measurements and had one fitting in person. She had the fabric in mind already and try as I did I wasn’t able to convince her to go with an all linen outfit. But the coif, apron, and flatcap are 100% linen. The coif and apron are decorated with red machine embroidery. I had to test the red thread in cold and hot water to make sure it won’t bleed on the lovely white linen. We sure don’t want pink linens!

With apron:

The skirt is attached to the bodice and opens at the center front.

After her first event she exclaimed:
“It’s wonderful. And not only is is wonderful but I can breathe too. The dress is perfect and with the hat really makes a statement.” I’m looking forward to seeing her wear it at faire!

If you haven’t tried out different linen fabrics, there are some great suppliers out there. Here are a couple:

http://www.fabric-store.com/
http://www.graylinelinen.com/

I’m getting ready to make a few linen shirts this week. I’ll be at Livermore if anyone wants to stop by and check out the different linens in person. I’ve already pre-washed both types I currently have but you can see and feel it in person. I know fabric-store also will send sample cards which I’ve found useful to have on hand.