Jester Fully Realized

by Chloe Arvin

Last month I shared how I designed a costume for the Ren Faire — now I’d like to show you how I made it!

Pattern planning!

I began by planning out my pattern pieces. I researched a ton of doublet patterns, looking at the difference in shape between the various pattern pieces. Most doublet patterns were a more masculine fit, so I also referenced a stays pattern I already had and adjusted those pattern pieces to resemble the doublets I’d seen. Parchment paper is a wonderful stand-in for pattern paper! I drafted my pieces and made a mock-up out of a thrifted bedsheet to ensure the fit worked. Supposedly you should always make a mock-up, but I typically only do that when I draft the pattern myself. Whoops! 

Will it fit??

Before I cut anything, I laid everything out to make sure I had enough fabric for the full outfit. It would be awful to run out part-way through! Most of my fabric would’ve been impossible to source. The accent colors were remnants from Joann's (rip), the green was a thrifted tablecloth, and the pink was leftover fabric from a previous project. If things were dire, I could purchase more of the pink, but everything else was finite. 

I jotted down my game plan on paper. I thought through how I intended to assemble my garment and essentially made my own pattern instructions to follow -- it can be a bit of a brain puzzle picturing everything in pieces and inside out! It's super handy to think things through before you get started. It can be really tempting to get right to the fun stuff, but a little forethought goes a long way.

I also made myself a visual check-list for cutting out my pattern pieces — I couldn’t afford any mistakes with my limited fabric! The initial cuts are pretty daunting, because there’s no fusing that material back together. You can sew it, sure, but you lose seam allowance and have an ugly seam where there shouldn’t be one!

With my pieces cut, I began the assembly process. I must stress the importance of ironing throughout the sewing process. Pressing your seams will make everything look so much more professional. It seams (LOL) like a hassle, but I promise you it’s worth it!

I began with assembling the doublet, but the further I got, the less I liked the fit. It wasn’t fitting like my mock-up; small things like the angle of the shoulder seams became bigger problems than I thought for the overall fit. I always run into problems I can’t predict and enjoy figuring out solutions, but each adjustment didn’t get me any closer to what I envisioned. So after taking careful inventory of my remaining fabric, I decided to restart the doublet. I reworked my pattern pieces, closely comparing them to the mock-up and my stays pattern, and made a few adjustments. I knew I wouldn’t have a third chance — this would be it. I was even unsure of if I’d have enough for the hood and shoes, but I refused to settle for the poor fit of the first doublet. 

Doublet (v2) wip

The new doublet was fitting much better, but I ran into a few more problems. My actual fabric was much stiffer than my mock-up fabric — my mobility was super limited, especially around my shoulders! I didn’t want to be uncomfortable wearing it, so I got thinking. I remembered a technique I learned sewing a simple chemise. Oftentimes gussets were sewn into the underarms to improve arm mobility — this could help my shoulder stiffness! 

The gussets greatly improved my arm’s up & down mobility, but my motion was still limited pulling my arms forward. The back needed more give. The answer for this lied with all the historic doublets I had researched in the design stage — slashed fabric designs allowed a lot more movement and flex of the fit. If I slashed the back and filled in the gap with some accent fabric, it would work with the design of the garment while adding functionality. Cutting up the back of my nearly finished doublet was daunting, but once I incorporated that fix, my mobility was perfect!

Hooray for arm mobility!

From there I assembled the pants, which included several firsts. I had never sewn pants in general — the crotch always confused and intimidated me, and skirts suited my historical costume-y desires just fine. I had never done button holes, either. Plenty of grommets, but no button holes! And with those in mind, it should come as no surprise this was my first time sewing a button fly. And my first pockets! Thank goodness for YouTube tutorials! Turns out it wasn’t that difficult after all, the pants assembly was fairly straightforward after I took a minute to wrap my head around it. 

That's pants!

Once my two major pieces were complete, I was able to relax. Even if I ran out of time for the hood or shoes, I still had enough of a costume! I freehanded a mock-up for the shoes. Since I had plenty of the bedsheet left, I was ready to go through several iterations, but it turns out I got it on the first try! I thrifted a pair of sneakers that suited my needs perfectly, and would be super comfortable to walk around in all day. From there, cutting and assembling the pieces was pretty quick. A little hot-glue (thank you Ellie!!) and I was ready to go! 

Pre-shoe shoes

The hood was also remarkably simple, only 4 pieces of fabric to assemble. Yes, the bells were noisy, but isn't jingling half the fun? 

Is this Assassin's Creed?

After struggling through 2 doublets, I was worried I’d run into more issues, but everything came together! I finished up my final hand-sewn details the day before Ren Faire. It's always so wonderful to receive garb compliments when you made it yourself! I got to experience a lot of firsts assembling it, plus it was a very comfortable outfit to walk around in for hours. Success!