Planning a houppelande, the details! Embroidery musings and Linings.

An Orphrey from 15th century France. MET 

So in my previous post, I laid out a basic idea for a Houppelande that been bouncing around my head for years. 

This fabric I bought for it was purchased years ago, because it was silk velvet and a period pattern. However with the research I've done since, I recognize how blatantly modern the treatment of the gold flocking is, and was originally considering doing an all over embroidery to push it into a more medieval aesthetic. 

**UPDATE** I've chosen a new fabric I'm only going to be embroidering sleeves, one or both given the time frame I have to go on.

This is due to the time involved, delay with new fabric arriving and the fact that I can easily document one or both sleeves being embroidered, along with some possible epaulds, dagging and/or tassels. Although this a bit more of a masculine stylization, In period the patterning and drape of this garment would have been the same for either sex, but masculine garments tended to be more decorative. 

I'm purposely choosing a more masculine decorative style for this project because It helps highlight my skills, my knowledge of the grandeur that this garment would have had in period. Especially given the new fabric lacks any decorative elements. And it's extra shiny!

For this particular Embroidery project I am referencing this post on Embroidery for this period from the cottesimple, in addition to looking at extant embroidery textiles. 

Here is a Pinterest board of extant embroidery are artwork depictions. 

And a second focused more on the 14th and 15th centuries.

I've chosen this piece for my inspiration. I wanted something that was Gold work, clearly French, not overly religious and early 15th century, ignoring the figures, it is also something simple enough and can easily be done within my current skill level, resources and time frame. 

But doing an embroidery directly on a garment takes special consideration in the planning process.

An intresting tidbit concerning the Paris embroidery workshops-

The guild regulations for embroiderers in Paris

Fashion Fabric Lining

*Update* even with the change in embroidery I'm still planning on lining it. 

Most my previous embroidery has been done on finished and unlined projects. For this project I simply don't want the embroidery to go through a lining, it's messy and needs to be protected.

So I have to consider how I'm lining it. (Not the removeable fur lining) In order to embroider the garment finished, I would have to bag line the garment. 

The problem with bag lining that I've experienced is that it's not as sturdy. The lining is a lightweight fabric, acting almost as a separate garment, and often seam allowances are unfinished. That tends to not handle the pressure on the seams as well, which means it tears. And to repair the seams means taking an entire garment apart. This could be helped by completely finishing the seam allowances, and adding pad stitching, but is a time consuming process that doesn't solve most of the problems. Because of the difference in fabric weight and stretch a bag lining always ends up wrinkling, at points where it is pad stitched, and major stretch at the hem. Not to mention pad stitching just dosen't look as nice as a seamless lining and I don't like the texture of it.

However, in my experience, flat lining is a lot sturdier. Because the lining and fashion fabric are treated as one fabric during seaming, and then flat felling the seam allowances, creates two lines of stitching that allows the lining to share pressure with the fashion fabric, adding strength. The seam allowances ends up completely encased, without much chance to fray. The lining also dosen't stretch as much, and rarely needs pad stitching. If a seam blows out, then the repair is much simpler. Flat lining is simply is less work also. 

 

I theorize that bag lining became a more popular choice for garments with the invention of the sewing machine. 

I also have the added problem is that modern silk velvet has a chiffon ground, that has no structure.

In such a large garment of silk velvet that has a lot of give and stretch, there is going to be a lot of pressure on the seams, and it's going to need a stabilizing interlining, I am choosing a lightweight 2.8oz linen for the interlining which will help the silk velvet behave and move more like period velvets, in addition to providing a stable ground for the embroidery. It has the added benefit of  reducing the amount of the vivid fashion color that will ghost through to achieve the snow white lining that was fashionable.

So this interlining will be flat lined and felled with the velvet for strength and integrity of the garment. 

I've chosen a simple white satin 12mm silk for the visible lining. It is comparable to silks in the inventories chosen for linings, and the simple white will not change the aesthetic of the houppelande if the fur lining is removed, while hiding any embroidery threads. Plus shiny satin was in vogue. 

One observation by Famiglietti stands out- In 1401 Duke Phillip ordered 102 gowns (Houppelandes) in green velvet lined with white satin for his son's wedding guests to wear. The two for the Duke and his Duchess were matching, each with one sleeve encrusted with jewels, and the other sleeve had their initials embroidered in crimson and encircled by foliage of Pearls. (Tales of the Medieval Marriage Bed 1300-1500, R.C. Famiglietti,  p65)

But, for this project I am currently only adding embroidery to one sleeve. But do plan to add more in the future. 

To keep the future embroidery backside mess hidden and protected, then I'll need access to the interlining. I have no choice to bag line the satin. The flat lined and felled interlining will be taking on the pressure of the garment so the satin will not be a strucural element. So despite the extra work of additional stiching I'd rather not have to take the gown entirely apart to add future embroidery. 

I'm going to use a needle point scroll frame that can turn the fabric, similar to the one pictured below. (Embroidery hoops are inconsistent and would damage the textile.)

I'll have to cut my fabric into the panels, which also happens to be consistent with narrow loom fabrics of the time, then mark the diagonals on the cutting pattern so I'm not going to be cutting through any embroidery. 

*Update* new fabric is narrower by 9" so now I have devised a new cutting pattern based on more period widths of fabric. 

For the fashion fabric, the lining, and the interlining for the fur, I'll be using this cutting diagram, and piecing the linings as necessary, pretty much ignoring the fact that half the fabric will lay upside down. It's period to do so, and even the extant garment I'm basing this pattern on has velvet panels with the nap changing directions. 

Look at the piecing on this extant velvet piece from the Cleveland Museum and the fact that the embroidery was clearly done after the piecing was. 

But with the fur, it's a different story. It's has a nap that *I* simply cannot ignore. 

Have you ever pet a furry pet backwards? It's not exactly the greatest, and with my sensory overload issues I cannot. So even though I'll be using plates, I'll also have to order extra plates and do a lot of disassembly and piecing to make it work. 

I'm still in the process of choosing the right fur for this project which will be another post!