Italian Camicia
This page will discuss the making of and research into the construction of an authentic linen camicia such as may have been found in late 15C/early 16C Florence.
PATTERN
I have taken as my starting point the camicia found in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, described by Dorothy Burnham in her book 'Cut my Cote'. The pattern has been made available online by the excellent among others who has impeccable research credentials. Rather than adapt the form to make it 'easier', I have used the original pattern and found it very straightforward. The resulting ungathered shape is huge, and the gusset helps form a very interesting . However, the neckline is finely gathered and the resulting neckline is around 40in squared off, which sits very well for the period of gown I am making.
ORIGINAL GARMENT
I have been extremely fortunate to have corresponded with Ms North, a conservator at the V&A. She has patiently answered my inane questions and invited me to view the garment (presumably to stop the barrage!).
Catalogue No.: T.770-1919, unphotographed as yet and not included in their online album.
SEAMS: two selvedges are whipped together. Selvedge + raw edge and 2 raw edges are run and
felled. It should be clear from Dorothy's diagrams where the selvedges and raw edges are. "Run and Fell" should be understood as a very fine and narrow 'flat fell' seam, like those found on modern jeans. This is sturdy and hard-wearing, as well as flat and comfortable.
NECKLINE: The neck is turned over, then very finely pleated and bound with a self-bound 1/4 inch linen tape. The top of the gathers is sewn to one edge of the 1/4 inch linen tape and the other edge of the tape whipped down. The taped side is on the inside of the camicia, not seen. Sleeve cuffs are similarly treated, but bound with 1 inch linen tape.
Some of this is a bit unclear but when I visit the V&A in December I'll be able to see clearly which stitches are used where. In the meantime, has a great page on the construction and embroidery of this item.
17 November 2004
Okaaaay. This is getting more tricky. I gathered the neckline using two rows of 6mm stitches, using separate pieces of thread for each part of the garment (e.g. front, back, sleeve 1, sleeve 2). What I found was that it is possible to gather a neckline of over 100 inches into a neckline of around 35 inches. Unfortunately, this made the sleeves quite hard to get into - the gussets, which I made 7 inches square instead of the 9 suggested by Kass, were right up under my armpits and I actually had to wriggle to get into it! Now, considering I'm losing weight at the moment, I think this is rather odd. My tutor suggested loosening the gathers on the sleeve heads which did make it easier but also lowered the front and back to an indecent level! I re-examined the emails from Susan North at the V&A, and she described the gathers as being "very full" and "dense". Since the top of the camicia is already turned over, there is no need to enclose the top inside the tiny linen tape - this means that it is possible to have a deep and 'thick' pleating at the top.
I have made two samples - one showing the kind of gathers I already have, the other a sample of cartridge pleating. The second is deeper, thicker and also reduces the fabric more. Compared to the results so far, I have come to the following conclusions:-
1. The gathers (on this type of linen at least) must be deeper and fuller. This will gather in the neck
sufficiently. This is consistent with the original AFAIK.
2. The gussets are too small and also too high up. Making another one of these, I would perhaps alter the
pattern by setting sleeves and larger gussets further down in the side panels.
3. The linen tape or 'self bound band' of linen was sewn onto the inside of these deeper gathers and so it
was essential the edge was turned over before gathering took place.
My plan is to undo the of the neckline, redo it in more of a 'cartridge' pleat and ponder how to deepen the area around the , if necessary.
6 January 2005
Very briefly (my porridge is boiling) my trip to the V&A decided a few things and left a few more unanswered - without taking it to pieces :-)
1. The gussets should be 9 inches square (i.e. on each side). The seams are so tiny that they do not require the usual 1.5cm/ 5/8 inch allowance.
2. The slits the gussets sit into are 13 inches from neck to lowest point, therefore a serious amount of sleeves is attached to the actual body. This would resolve the 'on display' difficulty of the current pattern...
3. The gathers on the neckline are very deep: I will have to undo the current gathers if they are to be anything like the original.
Sadly all my images came out blurry and I had to sign an agreement that they were just for personal study and wouldn't be reproduced anywhere. I hope, later this year, to return and take non-blurry ones for an article on the camicia - it really is a most intriguing piece, in terms of the embroidery and that weird, weird, trim at the neck and wrists. Anyway, I've cut out the gussets (AGAIN) and will let you know how it goes.
25 January 2005
Okay I just lost everything I typed, so this will be brief!
The camicia is nearly finished - the larger gussets and deeper side slits make the whole fit much better. I ran three rows of gathering stitches along the neck, only taking each thread two to three millimetres apart. When I pulled it tight, one thread broke so I was really glad for the extra thread! I reduced the neck to the 26 inches of the original which gives a high but appropriately modest neckline. The linen band I attached is a one inch bias strip of linen, pressed in on both sides to form proper bias strip no more than 1/2 inch wide. Attached right sides together to the gathers by quite a lot of work (I didn't want any of the gathers to escape), I whipped it down on the inside making it quite snug so that it didn't show on the outside. The whipping stitches also helped keep the gathers neat, as on the original. Remaining jobs: decided on the wrists. The original is gathered and also has a couple of ties but I've not seen this on any paintings - time for more research. The embroidery will be added later, as I go along.
2 March 2005
The camicia was completed last week. In the end I gathered the wrists in the same way as the neck - very pretty - and used white commercial cord as temporary ties until I can fingerbraid some myself. The embroidery will be an ongoing project until the final assessment in June, once I've established that the embroidery floss I use is not going to bleed colour all over the linen! To that end I'm sewing a few samples, which I'll photograph and upload next week, along with an image of the finished garment.
Summary of findings:
1. Use the pattern from Kass/Bella.
2. If using Kass's pattern make sure that you lower the inset of the gussets by two or three inches.
3. Use LINEN - it's a waste of time to use cotton, honest.
4. Run a minimum of three lines of gathering stitches around the neck - four if you can...
