• The Corset was entirely machine sewn except for the eyelets, the pattern was drafted from the custom corset pattern generator at The Elizabethan Costuming Page.
• The Farthingale was a simple gored skirt, machine sewn using bias tape as casings for the spring steel hoops.

Unknown Artist, c.1533, Portrait of Anne Boleyn (detail)

• The forepart is constructed using machine sewn French seams. It is a simple 6 panel gored skirt, 2 of the 6 gores are cut on the fold instead of a seam, therefore there are actually only 5 gores the front two thirds is brocade while the back third is plain poplin, I decided to use a wide panel for my forepart as the overskirt has a tendency to fall back especially in a wind. It is also hand hemmed.
• The undersleeves, have false puffs of chemise fabric along the bottom edge. These puffs are faked using scraps from another chemise sewn just inside the edge of the sleeve. At the edges of the undersleeves I made a narrow hem about 1 cm which was hand sewn with hemming stitch. Each sleeve is sewn together at 3 points below the elbow, with buttons resembling those used to decorate Anne Boleyn’s gown (see detail left).
• The French Hood is a hand sewn buckram and wire base covered with polyester satin. A maroon ribbon is pleated to the edge to imitate the gold ribbon seen in most portraits. This ribbon was most likely actually attached to a coif worn beneath the stiffened buckram form.
• Also worn with the gown (though they don't appear in the picture above) is a string of (imitation) pearls with a reproduction 15^th century cross from the British Museum attached. And a chain girdle with a velvet-covered book hung on the end, inspired by portrait of Mary I. (see detail right). at some point in the future I would like to replace the plain velvet book cover with an embroidered one.

Unknown Artist, c.1550, Portrait of Queen Mary (detail)

Cranach, 1537, Hercules and Omphale (Detail) (Image from La Couturière Parisienne)

Unknown Artist, c.1560, Portrait of Mary Fitzalan, Duchess of Norfolk

Holbein, c.1535, miniature of Mrs Pemberton (Detail)

Holbein c.1536 Portrait of Jane Seymour (Detail)

• I've come to the conclusion that the way the shoulder straps are constructed is not period. My next dress wil feature more normal shoulder straps similar to those in the pattern to the right from Juan de Alcega's pattern book.
• The next Tudor gown I make will feature the gown's sleeves cut in 2 pieces one for the fitted section and one for the bell shaped section. Although there is no evidence from English sources for how these sleeves are constructed the German picture to the left shows a woman wearing a similar shaped sleeves which aren't pinned up.
• At some point in the future I would like to replace the lining for the sleeves with a brocade. When I made this gown I spent a long time searching for pictures of velvet gowns in order to find out what would be used in place of the fur/velvet more commonly seen. The only velvet dress I could find was Jane Seymour’s (above) and finding that sort of net like fabric was not possible. Therefore I decided to use a plain imitation silk. After I had completed the gown I found a picture featuring brocade sleeve lining and a plain coloured fabric for the gown (see detail right). I believe the body of the gown is most likely velvet, as, with the exception of Jane Seymour's portrait above, (where there is sufficient detail to see that it is made of velvet) this style of dress is depicted with the sleeves lined with fur, velvet or the same fabric as the body of the gown, it is, however, impossible to see enough detail in this picture to know exactly. It’s also interesting to note that except for the train and the colour of the French hood, my gown has turned out a closer imitation of this gown than the Jane Seymour gown I was aiming for.
  Update, 31 March 2005: I have found another picture showing a velvet gown with brocade lined sleeves (see portrait of Mary Fitzalan, Left). In this portrait it is far more clear that the main fabric of the gown is actually velvet
• In my next Tudor style gown I would like to experiment with a pin on stomacher and front lacing, the portraits of Mrs Pemberton and Jane Seymour (left) show the pins down the side of the bodice. The sketch of Cecily Heron (right) shows this style of gown with the stomacher removed.

Pattern for a woman's low cut bodice and kirtle. From Juan de Alcega's pattern book 1589 (thanks to Deb for the image)

Unknown Artist, c.1545 Whitehall Mural of Henry VIII's family (detail showing Princess Mary) (click on the picture for a larger version or here for the full mural)

Holbein, c.1527, Sketch of Cecily Heron

• This outfit is missing a kirtle. my next Tudor gown will include a short sleeved kirtle (see right) this kirtle may be used in place of a corset and may or may not have boning.
• The undersleeves and forepart will also be attached to the kirtle the sleeves will be pinned on (as can be seen in the picture to the right) the forepart may be pinned to the kirtle, or perhaps mounted on a separate waistband as the current one is.

Simon Bening, c. 1510, The DaCosta Hours, detail from the month of April

Corset worn by Pfalzgrafin Dorothea Sabine Von Nurenberg

Pattern for a farthingale from Juan de Alcega's pattern book (picture copied from The Elizabethan Costuming Page all red marks courtesy Drea Aleed)

• I would like to use more period patterns for the corset and Farthingale. My current corset is loosely based on the corset of Dorothea Sabine Von Nurenberg dated c. 1598 (left), however my corset is a very simplified version cut all as one piece, rather than a front and back piece. The original also has tabs at the waist, and eyelets that were probably used to attach a petticoat or Farthingale. The other Extant late 16^th century (or perhaps very early 17^th century) corset is one found on the effigy of Queen Elizabeth I (right) in Westminster Cathedral and dated to sometime before her death in 1602 . Queen Elizabeth’s corset has boned waist tabs, front lacing and curved side-back seams. I been told that this is one of the most comfortable corset designs so I may attempt a reconstruction of this corset (with modifications to make it more suitable for the earlier date of the gown) as one of my next projects.
• I am not sure if the size and shape of my farthingale is right. Most other farthingales seen on reenactors are much wider, but pictures like that of Princess Mary (above) seem to show a much narrower farthingale if it is there at all. I would like to attempt another farthingale based on the pattern in Juan de Alcega’s tailors book (left, ) this should give me a more period silhouette. I’ve also found that spring steel is not as flexible as I would like for this farthingale. My next farthingale will be stiffened with plastic tubing (as suggested on Sarah Goodman's page) as plastic tubing collapses more easily when I sit down, or if I have to pack it away. I may also experiment with quilted petticoats to create a softer line a quilted petticoat can also be packed and unpacked with relative ease.

Corset worn by Effigy of Queen Elizabeth I in Westminster Cathedral

Sources I used.