Parti-coloured blue and pink dress

I kept thinking of this as my medieval party frock. It definitely feels like something one might wear on a festival day rather than whilst doing the messy chores around the manor. 

The image I based my dress on:

It is from a manuscript dated to 1410, but my reenactor friends say this style was popular in the 1370s. I like to imagine an elderly monk, drawing on his memory of court fashion from his youth for styling his illuminations.

This dress came together petty fast so I don't have any 'making of' photos but I was really pleased to come up with a dress that fits whilst basically not knowing what I was doing.

I was enchanted with the idea of a 'six panel' dress which some friends told me was more historically accurate and more easy to alter the dress later if I changed size ... but in the end it looked like I had just reinvented the princess seam, only worse as it came out on the mock-up looking pretty pointy in the bust area. 

I made three mock ups in soft, thin cotton which hung very differently from this medium-weight cotton-that-is-supposed-to-look-like-linen. 

What I learned: I am not a draper, I am a pattern person. Also always do mock ups in a similar weight fabric.

I can do cloth buttons though.

Front view

Back view

See the cloth buttons! I hand embroidered the gold lines on the cuffs and neckline. I plan to do the hem when I am sure I like the length - after I dance in it at least once.

a spare button on the underside of the hem JUST IN CASE. And because I can. ;)

Cloth buttons on the other side. 

My sweet husband took this photo and taught me how to put the images together in paint!