So Faire season is coming up, and I’m feeling the urge to wear the Venetian this year, instead of last year’s De Heere Lady. As usual, it needs some work. First up, a camicia. Last year I did elizabethan smock + gathered rectangle of linen in front to mimic more fabric, but it wasn’t great. Particularly since the smock had turned very slightly pink from the time I washed it with something red in the in the washing machine, and the linen rectangle was still pure white.

I went to start this a few months ago, but only had ~2 yards of linen in the stash which was not enough. I bought 3 yards of handkerchief linen from William Booth Draper, and started cutting last night.

When I realized that 3 yards is ALSO NOT ENOUGH.

However, 3 yards + 2 yards definitely is enough, it just means the side pieces and gussets will be from a different (and heavier) linen. I may have to piece a few inches onto the sleeves as well, but hoping to avoid that.

For the first time I tried pulling a thread from the linen to get nice straight lines, since I don’t like the results of tearing linen. I love how it turned out, even if it was super annoying because the thread kept breaking every 1-2 inches.

Straight line for cutting

Annoyingly, not a very strong thread. It kept breaking.