Photo by Vilhelm Lich (Edward Hauschild)

After I completed Project Flammen, I realised that I was having some issues – one, I couldn’t blouse the chiton without showing my ankles (a problem, especially given the overall modesty of the Vestals), and two, it just seemed far too wide.

So, I had to make a bit of a calculated risk.  Do I cut it apart, and start over, or do keep things as is?

I cut it apart, which was easy (it always is), and after having a few moments of “I’m not so sure about this,” I cut the fold, hemmed my new top and bottom, sewed everything back together, and the length was much closer to what I was wanting.

54″ fabric is my friend.  And bonus, the ensemble looks closer to the statuary that I used as visual references.  (Note about this, and using other art: artists are going to make some decisions that won’t make a bit of sense to those reconstructing clothing.  There are lots of artistic ideals that are just not going to physically work, and I won’t get started on different physical ideals of our earlier counterparts.)

That being said, I’m much happier with this, and it was completed before I taught my class at Calontir’s Clothiers’ Seminar last weekend.  My handout is here, if you wanted something to get some ideas for your own Vestal ensemble.