17th Century Women's Shift
Les Précieuses ridicules (1659)
Linen shift in accurate 17th century style for Les Précieuses ridicules (debut 1569). Completely hand sewn, excepting long straight seams (side and sleeve). Includes cartridge pleating at the front and back neckline, sleeve head and sleeve cuffs, and top of rectangular inserts in the side of the shift. Created under the guidance of Delphine Desnus of Théâtre Molière-Sorbonne in Paris.
Fall 2023
Front; skirt is not my work. The shift consists mostly of rectangles. The body is made of two rectangles stitched at the shoulders and then reinforced with a half-oval piece whipstitched firmly along the neckline.
The sleeve head sits at the top of the side seam, followed by a 5 cm x 5 cm gusset. The gusset is framed by two long rectangles.
Around hip level, the two rectangles are replaced by a pleated rectangular gore, which continues down the remaining length of the side seam.
All inside seams are hand finished. One of the seam allowances is cut short and the longer folded over it, encapsulating all raw edges. The folded edge of the seam allowance is hand felled to the shift. Generally, the seams were folded towards the body of the shift.
Back; skirt is not my work. The shift is pleated along the front/back neckline, sleeve head and cuffs, and at the top of the side seam gores.
The raw edges of the fabric are carefully folded down and whipstitched along the fold line to prevent fraying. This clean edge is then folded again to provide a surface on which to mark the cartridge pleats.
The neckline sections are gathered so that the shift sits slightly off the actress’s shoulders.
The sleeve head is gathered into the armscye, and the bottom of each sleeve is whipped to 1 cm cuffs. At either end of each cuff is a hand-bound eyelet created by an awl and reinforced by strong cotton thread. A string through the eyelets allows the wearer to cinch in the cuff in order to position the sleeve at the desired section of the arm.
The cartridge pleats are marked in three rows at 5 mm intervals, excepting the side gores, which are marked at 3 mm intervals.
A short section of loosely gathered lace is attached to each sleeve cuff. Each raw edge of the lace is carefully double folded and neatly whipstitched down to prevent fraying.
The bottom hem of the shift is folded over twice and whipstitched to enclose the raw edges. One of the only machine-sewed seams, connecting the body of the shift to a side gore, is visible.
