Flemish Partlet

September – December 2016

A Flemish peasant’s partlet. The pattern was developed from Hunnisett’s version in Period Costume for Stage & Screen, with the CB cut on the fold, and the neck undarted. Since I lengthened it considerably to cover the bust, the CF has a bit of curve. The partlet is made from a double layer of 3.5 oz. linen. An 85″ long strip of linen selvage forms the ruffle, the pleats made with 1/4″ long stitches. Each pleat is sewn to both fabric and lining (it’s stroke gathered). This ruffle won’t form the figure-eight shapes you see without starching. But that’s ok: this is a low-maintenance partlet. Unstarched ruffs are perhaps shown in Pieter Aertsen’s Two Women Cooking.

Joachim Beuckelaer, 1569: detail from Kitchen Piece, with Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary in the background
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Joachim Beuckelaer, 1567: detail from Market Peasants
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Unstarched Ruffs; Pieter Aertsen, 1562: detail from Two Women Cooking
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm