Another Typical Tudor Smock, mid-16th century

So I apparently never posted one project from last summer: a second Typical Tudor smock, this one all hand-sewn to use the 'hem each piece then whip-stitch the seams together' method. And because my older smocks were suffering catastrophic seam failure all through the first weekend of Faire.

The place where this method shines.

Compared to run-and-fell seaming, this method takes about 50% more sewing per seam (since both sides of each seam is getting finished individually before they're even joined). However, it makes the square gussets fit beautifully with no weird lumps or bulk where the felled finishes of the gusset overlaps with the sleeve and body seams. Other benefits include most of the project being very portable (the sleeves and gusset pieces fit very easily in my to-go work bag, so that most of the hemming could be done in odd minutes), and very easy repairs (since the seams under stress can be replaced without compromising the edge finish).

Managed to photograph this smock before wearing it on the last day of the event.