Here's the list of what I plan to make:

linen shirt and braies
blue cotton/linen tunic (no buttons)
stirrup chausses
woven belt
linen coif

added by Lorenzo Petrucci on Jan 2 2009

I wove the belt out of black cotton crochet yarn (21 ends). It turned out just over 5/8" wide, and I sewed a bought nickel-plated buckle on the end. I added some experimental lozenge-shaped pewter belt mounts that I made years ago. They're not the prettiest things ever, but I don't think he'll mind. The belt goes around him with enough left over to knot with a 3-4" tail, so it should fit him for a while.

added by Lorenzo Petrucci on Jan 2 2009

Handkerchief weight linen, rectangular construction. Triangular gores under the arms, T-slit neckline. The cuffs and hem are hemmed up about 3", and there is one large pleat at each shoulder for future expansion.

added by Lorenzo Petrucci on Jan 9 2009

Handkerchief weight linen, constructed with a tube for each leg and a front-to-back strip through the crotch. Cotton cord drawstring at the waist, with an opening in front to tie he drawstring and two openings at the sides to allow attachment of the chausses to the drawstring. More pictures in the gallery.

added by Lorenzo Petrucci on Jan 11 2009

I had originally intended to make these out of the same wool as my new hose, but I decided against it. For one thing, they didn't really need to be terribly stretchy. I also wanted to make them completely lined, so the wool would have been wasted anyway. I looked through my old fabric and found half a yard of the olive green linen from Andreva's petticoat, and some heavy white linen from an old chemise in the recycle pile.

The technique of sewing the lining in as a separate piece is one that I've never really had call to use, so I decided to give it a try. I turned the edges of both layers under, but didn't bother to tack them down, since the linen held a crease just fine with ironing alone. I pinned the two pieces together all the way around and whip stitched the two layers together. It was a little tedious, but made a very nice edge with no stitching visible on the outside. I then butted the seams together on the back and the bottom of the stirrup.

Pictures in the gallery.

added by Lorenzo Petrucci on Jan 11 2009

I based the tunic on the Herjolfsnes 33 pattern (see link), which was the simplest of the bunch. It only has two gores on each side. I made my pattern by starting with the length measurement I wanted and then eyeballing the rest from the pattern drawing. I then cut the pattern pieces out and added seam allowances at cutting time. I couldn't see any benefit to the multi-piece sleeve, so I cut them as a single main piece and the small triangular gusset. I ended up putting one button on each cuff, since the sleeves ended up a touch narrow at the ends.

The side seams and main sleeve seam were done on the machine, but everything else was done by hand. All seams are flat felled, and the sleeves were set in by hand, which turned out to be much neater (if somewhat more time consuming) than doing it on the machine. The neck opening is a touch wider than I would have liked, but it goes over his head with no fuss at all and should be fine with a shirt on underneath.

The fit is quite loose through the body, and there's about 4 inches I can let out at the hem, so hopefully this will last a good long while. The only part that I foresee him outgrowing is the sleeves, and I can just cut the ends off and add new cuffs when the time comes.

added by Lorenzo Petrucci on Jan 16 2009

I threw together a quick and dirty hood based on the London 174 pattern out of some large scraps of green wool. I sized it to use as much of the wool as possible, and I think I may have made it a tad too big. I don't have his head available to fit it at the moment, so I can only guess. At worst, he'll have to grow into it, or his sister will get it first.

added by Lorenzo Petrucci on Jan 16 2009

The hood was way too big, so I may just line it and give it to his sister (who thought the wool alone was too scratchy). I also made a linen coif at the last minute, but, as is usual with baby headgear, it didn't stay on very long. In the end, the only hat he liked was mine, so I may get him one of his own.

The outfit as a whole worked exceptionally well. He started out with socks on under the chausses and shoes over, but the socks and shoes came off early on. At one point someone put the socks back on over the chausses, which worked (and looked) just fine. Otherwise, everything stayed on, and even diaper changes went without a hitch. I foresee getting a lot of mileage out of this outfit.

added by Lorenzo Petrucci on Jan 18 2009