to dye or not to dye...help me answer my question

[abendgules]

So I'm back to puttering with the Elizabethan gown 3Rs project.

Petticoat was fixed over the summer - taken apart, re-pleated onto a narrower band as cartridge pleats. A bit lopsided (more pleats on one side than the other! whoops) but noone will see it under my skirt.

Bodice: I've recut the neckline so it's square, and trimmed the lower back so it fits correctly. The sleeves have come off so I can reshape them into padded rolls. Some of the bones came out, as the neckline was straightened out. I've bought lacing tape so I can lace the bodice to the skirt, rather than using hooks.

As suggested by lacedwaist  I'm aiming for a middleclass outfit, c. 1580s or so: bodice, skirt, petticoats & foreparts, smock, probably detachable sleeves.

My big concern is the colour of the bodice and skirt. It's nagging at me. At one time I wouldn't have cared, but I'm growing more crotchety in my (SCA) old age.

I have a vague memory that in the 16th c, dark blue was either impossibly expensive, or deadly cheap, and suitable only for servants - too cheap for a middleclass woman. Does anyone else remember?

So I'm debating dyeing it. I can get machine-wash Dylon in a couple of shades of dark brown, and the colour stripper for pre-treating coloured things.
The trouble is that I'm not confident that the Dylon will 'stick'.

My past efforts at washing-machine dyeing have had good results, but they faded, particularly if you sweated into them. A bodice will definitely see some sweat, and I don't want it to stain my chemises.

Has anyone had good results with dyeing finished garments w/ Dylon? How well did it keep?

OTOH - can anyone clarify the business of the status of dark blue as a wearable late 16th c colour? I don't want to keep working on it  - adding sleeves and guards - only to decide that I want it in another colour. Now (after I've finished raw edges) is the time to decide...

Lia? Hedwig? other 16th c. mavins? any thoughts or references?

Comments

[liadethornegge.livejournal.com]

From what I understand it, woad produces blue, which was cheaply available for everyone in the period. But Woad blue is not very light fast, so fades quickly. The intense blue would be more expensive to produce. I think that you may be thinking about lapis blue on illuminations - where blue was used in the very fancy books of hours because patrons could afford it and wanted to flaunt it. There it was used more than in real life to show it off.

But blue is certainly a viable colour for middle class English I'd think. I'm not a dye expert, or even amateur, so I can't speak to detailed facts about processes and dyestuffs.

But you can also think of it in terms of the second-hand clothing trade that was thriving at the time. You may not have afforded the best blues that were hideously expensive as new cloth, but you're retro-fitting the gown already - you could have bought it as a second-hand item in period and thus get a slightly bleached out version of the fine expensive blue.

Well, that's my random thought process of the entire thing. And definitely make sure that the skirt is firmly attached to the bodice in some manner. Lacing it in place works if you don't stitch it on.