“Sew 17th century Challenge” – Fur Shawl

The next thing to be made after the skirt, cuffs and coifs (not exactly but I’m twisting the order of things in my attempt to postpone the unpreventable showing of the bodice) was the fur shawl .

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I drafted the shawl pattern using the bodice pieces as a guide.IMG_7404Drafting from the bodice neckline

The only tricky part about the pattern was trying to get the scale right.IMG_7408

I tried the paper pattern over my bodice mock-up.  IMG_7417(Spoiler alert 1 . bodice mock-up)

When I was happy with the size I cut the piece in my favorite faux fur fabric
(previously used in my brown velvet cape and 19th century fur hat)
IMG_7419I also used some leftover linen for interlining and a small piece of lightly brow woolIMG_7418

I started by basting the linen to the fur to get a bit more stability.IMG_7424

Then I pinned and stitched the wool to the fur by hand.
IMG_7429 IMG_7428

Trying the almost finished shawl on my dresform. IMG_7452(Spoiler alert 2 – bodice foundation)

The last thing to do was to make some ties form scraps of the skirt material.

The finished shawl:
IMG_7865

IMG_7862

IMG_7861
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IMG_7864

The facts:

What: A faux fur shawl, which work for pretty much every era from 1500-1950s

Pattern: I drafted my own using my bodice neckline as a guide.

Fabric & Notions: 20 cm faux fur, 20 cm linen for interning, 20 cm soft wool for lining, thread, hook and eyes and scraps of fabric for ties.

How historical accurate: Not really. Its pretty obvious the fur is fake, but I did look at originals to copie and used materials (except the fur) and construction techniques. Maybe 5/10

Time: 3 hours – completely hand stitched.

Cost: Nothing, since everything came from stash scraps.

Final Thoughts: I love how simple and fast the whole process went an dhow extremely versatile the shawl is.
It will fit almost anybody in any given timeperiod. Such a perfect garment/accessorie.

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