I decided to make a new partlet with the handkerchief weight linen I purchased recently. This was my second foray into using this fabric, the first being a little handkerchief. Searching for inspiration, I found a portrait of a Florentine Noblewoman located at the San Diego Muesum of Art. The style was perfect for the pattern I have, Margo Anderson’s free partlet pattern, and I wanted to try out the whitework embroidery.
I handstitched the partlet, using polyester thread (oh my!) because that’s all I owned. I have since remedied the thread situation for my next project. I followed the instructions of this GREAT tutorial on sewing a rolled hem and successfully hemmed the edges of the partlet. I then used a french seam for the shoulder seam, gathered the ruffle and put the collar together, all according to Margo’s instructions. My first trial showed that the partlet did not sit open as in the above portrait, so I cut off an inch from the front opening and re-hemmed those sides. A slight adjustment to the shoulder seam angle and I had the look I wanted.
I reached out to my teacher, Vienna de la Mer, for help with the embroidery pattern. She drafted a simple pattern similar to the inspiration portrait for my first embroidery project. For the past two days, I have been hard at work on the embroidery and have completed almost TWO lines of the many, many lines required.
