F.55 Skirt of Cloth for a woman.

To make a skirt for a woman, which is 1 1/6 ells (38 1/2 inches) long all the way round [? a semi-circle], from a piece of cloth 2 ells (66 inches) long and 2 ells (66 inches) wide, cut the main part of the skirt along the fold. allow 1/3 ell (11 inches) and 2 finger's breadths (dedos0 for the curve of the ease (galente), which is marked out above the waistline, and for the curve of the hemline. Thus the skirt will be fully rounded. Cut half the piecing (camas) next to the waistline. Cut the other from the remaining length of fabric [made up of two halves]; it will have a seam and small extra-piece (pieca). Note That by allowing 1/3 ell (11 inches) and 2 finger's breadths for the curve of the ease, the waistline of this skirt will be 1 1/4 ell (41 1/4 inches) wide which should be sufficient. From the curved off-cuts (despuntadura) and from the cloth left as cabbage (medios) cut the waist-band which will have to be trimmed with another fabric as no cloth will be left for trimmings.

Skirt: Manteo. a semi-circular intermediate skirt, also called a faldellin. It had a waist-band and was sometimes reversible, open in front or worn inside out (de vuelta). It was worn over the basic undergarment, the shift, and under the outer skirt (vasquina), kirtle, or saya, petticoat or skirt with bodice. (bernis 1962 pp. 96, 107).
Minsheu: 'Manteo, also a garment that woman weare next thire smocke downe to the foote in winter'.
Waist-band: (daxa)m Ninsheu: 'wastband', also 'fazas de piernas, garters to garter the legs with, fazas de calcas panes of hose'.

Cutting examples
	First fold the fabric in half width wise. Then from the right hand side cut the main piece of the skirt
	next along the selvage to the left of the waistline cut the first piecing
	Cut the remaining from the fabric that is left.
	Sew the two piecing together on the two sides marked B
	Sew the piecing to the main body piece on the sides marked A

Since modern fabric does not come in 2 ells (66 inches) width. We must find out how much fabric we need at 55 inches (1 2/3 ells). Luckily Alcega himself provides us a table to calculate the needed fabric. Looking at f.1a chapter II in Alcega's book, we see that given length in 2 ells (66 inches) with a width of 2 ells (66 inches), the equivalent length in 1 2/3 ells (55 inches) is 2 1/2 ells (82.1/2 inches) in length. So if your buying 60inch wide fabric 2 1/3 yards is more then enough fabric.

To make the skirt first I need to know the radius of the waistline. I know from Alcega's pattern the circumference of the waistline is 41.25 inches, so with a little geometry we know that diameter times Pi equals circumference. Since the pattern is a semi circle, we could double the 41.25 and divide by pi for the diameter. then divide it by 2 to get the radius. Or simply simplify the equation but just taking the 41.25 divided by pi for 13.13 inches (round up to a 1/4). If you choice to increase the circumference of the waistline. simply divide that by pi to get the radius of the waistline.

First, take your fabric and fold it in half width wise. Measure at least 11 inches from left edge, and mark the center point of the circle for waistline and hem to be based off of. Once the waistline is draw, add the length of the skirt to the radius of the waistline to draw the hem line. for the pattern we add 38 1/2 to the 13 1/8 inches. For a hem line that is 51 5/8 inches from the center point of the semi circle. There is no back seam, The back of the skirt is laid on the fold, and the front of the semi circles will have to be pieced together from the cuttings of the fabric.

From the foot notes There seems to be several options to put the skirting into the waist-band. The simplest would be to leave the front open, and then the waist-band could either then overlap and button closed or strip of fabric could be added so that after overlapping it can be tied together tight in the back. Another option would be to sew the front together and leave a six inch opening at the top, then set into a waist band that would then overlap and and be fitted to the the wearer and then either button closed of use hook and eyes.

This pattern should fit a wide range of people since you can adjust the size of the waist band. though if you happen to find yourself needing more room in the waist band or someone that is taller and you still want the length to reach at least there ankles. The pattern is simple to modify. Just take two measurements, the persons waist and there out-seam. Then add atleast 6 inches or more depending on how much overlap in the front you want. then divide that number by PI to give you the radius of the waist-line. then add the outseam measurement to it for the radius of the hem, feel free to round the numbers. Three yards of fabric should be plenty if your making a larger version. another benifit of buying three yards of the bare minimum need, is that you can skip the piecing of the A and B parts and just piece in the one larger piece to finish your half circle.

Front View	Side View	Black View

Copyrighted 2008. all artwork is original. original English translation taken from tailor pattern book.