Making A Fichu

Hello all,

In this episode of TAOBP we will be covering how to make a fichu. For those of you who have no idea what this is, a fichu is another word for a modesty cloth. Now I decided I wanted to go with 2 different styles just in case I wanna change it up. So we'll actually be making two fichus today. Let's being shall we?

For the first one I'm starting with a long piece of wool that's 60" long, and 30" wide. I'm going to cut the piece in half and sew them back together longways. So it'll look like this:

I pretty much just folded it in half and cut it there. Now, having two even pieces, I'm going to reconnect them. This step could be totally taken out if you have a square piece of fabric and you just cut up the middle and hem it back. However you want to do it is fine, this 'pattern' will give you a square back instead of a triangle like the next one. My fichu may be wider or thinner than yours, or longer or shorter. It all depends on your preference and body type. As a rather busty patron myself, my cloth has to come down low enough to meet in the middle and cover all my lady bits while not bunching at the sides and back of my neck, and still hanging down low enough in the back to cover the top of my stays. I also have wide, manly shoulders, and a thyroid problem so my neck is a bit thicker. This has to be taken into consideration when choosing the width and length. You don't want to end up with a tiny modesty cloth that doesn't cover what it's meant to. In colonial standards it was improper to have anything lower than 4-5" below the hollow of your neck to be showing. You shoulders would have been covered by your shift, but the modesty cloth would have swung along the lining of your stays to also cover most of your collar bone.

So now we're connected, hem everything so it's beautiful (I'll be going over the seams by hand but you can leave it this way if you want) and you're done!

Now the next one can be done one of two ways. You can cut on the fold so you have a single piece, or you can cut two of the pattern and sew it up the middle. Either way you end up with a triangle and dangley bits. Here's what I'm using:

For this one I decided to make it out of a blue linen/poly blend. Polyester is probably the most un-period fabric of all the period-looking options and I cannot stress enough how much you shouldn't use it. BUT this is a modesty cloth. If I were making a  petticoat, shift, stays, anything that you can't take off without staying decent, I would be using cotton, linen, or a cotton/linen blend. Wool is good for petticoats, and if your persona is Scottish, like Maeve, you can also use flannel. "But Bethany, why does it matter?" you ask. Well, polyester does not breathe. Like at all. So if you happen to find yourself in a field with no shade and it's 90 degrees out, you might get a little air from the linen or cotton in the blend, but not much. I just happened to find this in the scrap bin and decided I liked the color. I have a piece of pink as well that I may use this pattern for. As Captain Barbossa says, it's more of a guideline than a rule.

Once you've got everything cut out, hem it back, just like before.  If you want to add frillies or lace be my guest. With a middle class persona I tend to lean more towards the work friendly options. One of these days I'll make a full Lady's kit with a fancy gown and stomacher and lots of lace, but for now we're just gonna stick with the standard.

You may or may not have noticed that I make my own patterns. This is because I often make more than one of something, either for my best friend, Katy, who also occasionally participates in living history - and majestically has mostly the same measurements as I do -, as display pieces, or just because I like to have more than one of practically everything. Having my own patterns made from heavy drawing paper (80 lbs) lets me adjust them to my preferences, and I don't have to worry about that delicate, super thin pattern paper. Seriously, who actually likes that stuff. Anyway, it's also a plus because tracing them onto the fabric holds for better lines as I usually use soap or a pencil. Here's basically what they should look like when they're done. Yours will be beautiful and hemmed unlike my blue one. I wanted to get this out to you guys as soon as possible.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the crazy. See you next time.