Introduction
I'm afraid this is another case of do as I say, not as I do. The costume notes recommend making the skirt part of the kirtle out of a long rectangle of fabric. As will be obvious from the yellow kirtle diary that's not how I tend to do it. I have my reasons for that, which I've explained a little there. But the method in the costume notes is certainly the simplest, so that's what this guide will talk you through.
The pattern
The pattern couldn't be easier. The skirt part of your kirtle is simply a rectangle. The proportions of this are relatively flexible, and will depend in part on how much fabric you have and how wide it is. Generally, fuller skirts swirl and flow better but have more of a tendency to get in fires, mud or cow shit. So if you're a herder you should probably have a less full skirt than if you're a seamstress.
As a good rule of thumb, though, a rectangle of about three metres long is in the right ballpark. You can get away with two and a bit if you're skinny, and four is not too much if you really feel like going for it. I tend to use twice my fabric width, because then all I have to do is cut off two strips of the right length and sew them together. I'm a big fan of easy.
The length of the skirt, again, is somewhat variable. It should be longer than your petticoat. The visible petticoat look is as much of a no-no as a thong showing over low-rise jeans in my book, and about as attractive. Somewhere between the point where ankle socks stop when you've pulled them up properly, and where your ankle actually is, is about right. If you're very posh then you're looking at a skirt that just skims the floor. Me, I'm a mud-magnet, so I reckon that would be a really bad idea.
Cutting out
Cut your rectangle. The principle for laying this out on the fabric is absolutely identical to that for the petticoat, so I'm not going to repeat myself. As ever, it's a balance between placing the seams where they won't be too obnoxious, and saving yourself work.
Unlike the petticoat, however, this sucker needs to be lined. The lining will be visible when you kirtle up, so make sure it's a colour you like. Cut out an identical rectangle of your linen lining. Linen tends to come in narrower bolt-widths than wool, so you may need to put an extra strip in to make things the same size. That's fine; it's not a problem if the seams don't match up.
Starting sewing
We're back to the sort of line-drawings I used in the shift notes. Really hope they're making sense! Lie the wool on the linen, right sides together, and sew the red edges together. That's one long side and two short. That can be done with the machine, if you're practical, or using back-stitch if, like me, you're prone to dewy-eyed romantic moments of doing it just like they did back then. Either way, when you're done sewing take the pins out, fold the thing right side out and iron it. The purpose of the ironing is to get the seam to sit nicely on the edge of the skirt, where it belongs, rather than lurking grumpily somewhere inside it.
So you're orientated, the long edge you've sewn is the one you'll be joining to the bodice. The unsewn one will become the hem, down at the bottom of the skirt.
Pleating
Right now, your skirt is shaped to fit someone with a three metre waist. I'm going to assume you don't have that! The next stage is to pleat it down to fit. I'll talk through that but, how precisely you'll need to line up skirt to bodice will depend on how you intend to get in and out of the thing, so I'd suggest having a quick read on to that bit first.
You can either use knife pleats or box pleats for this, again, much like the petticoat. There's a good description of both here which I'd recommend reading. If you choose to use knife pleats, by the way, you can choose to run them pointing either forward or back. Either way, you'll end up with a box pleat at the centre back where the two sides of pleating meet. The pleats can extend all the way around the bodice, or you can leave the front part period and flat. The former is perfectly period, but I don't think I've seen anyone at Kentwell actually do it. After all, who wants to make their tummy look any fatter than absolutely neccessary?
Like the petticoat, the size of these is fairly flexible. The pleats on the yellow kirtle are, I would guess, about two and a half inches big. That's about an inch and a half in each fold. This is purely an aesthetic thing - you can make your pleats as big or as small as you like. Small are more awkward to fold and sew, generally. For knife pleats, somewhere between one and three inches is probably a reasonable range.
The trick to getting this to look decent is to make sure things are even. This, by the way, always takes me about three times pinning and unpinning before I get it right, so don't be despondent if you're swearing at it. I start at the centre back. I stick a pin in the bottom edge of the bodice at the centre back, and another one in the centre of the long, sewn side of the skirt. I then lie the skirt on top of the bodice, wool sides together, with the sewn edge of the skirt lining up with the bottom edge of the bodice. I pin those two marks firmly together. No matter how much I mess around with the pleats on the rest of it, that point shouldn't shift.
Next, I work my way round, pinning pleats into place. I measure these by eye, and try to keep them all the same size. If I start to run out of skirt, it's not a problem, because I want a flat, unpleated bit at the front of this, anyway. I carry on pinning skirt to bodice until either the skirt edge and the bodice edge line up perfectly, or I've got about eight inches skirt over-hanging. Which of those I want depends on how I've decided to close the thing, and that's covered later.
Once all the pleats are where they should be, I whip stitch them into place. You're having to work through lots of layers of fabric, which is awkward at best. So I normally do this in two passes. First I whipstitch the bits of the pleat nearest the bodice to it. That means I can take out the pins, so my knuckles aren't in quite as much danger when I do the second pass, sewing the remaining pleat bits together. It's important that this seam is strong; I use a fairly tough linen thread and lots of stitches.
Closing the skirt
Method one
The first method is easy. When pinning the skirt onto the bodice, pin it so that the short edge of the skirt lines up with the lacing edge of the bodice.
Next, whip stitch the skirt lining together using small, strong stitches. Leave an opening about eight inches long at the top of this slit
Finally, ladder stitch the wool together, again leaving the top part of the seam open. This opening is what enables you to get the thing on and off.
Reinforce this opening by sewing over it, as it's a weak spot that could potentially rip.
The advantage of this method is that it's straight-forward to do. The disadvantages are two-fold. Firstly, it leaves a seam running down the front of the skirt, which isn't ideal aesthetically. Secondly, the opening tends to gape, revealing the petticoat underneath. Given you'll always be wearing an apron over the thing, neither of these are overwhelming problems, but it's worth knowing about before you start.
Method two
This method has the great advantage of avoiding both the gaping slit at the top of the skirt, and the seam down the front. It's more awkward to sew, however.
If you wish to use this method, you'll need to whipstitch/ladder stitch the two short edges of the skirt together before pinning it onto the bodice. Pin the pleats to the bodice in much the same manner as I've illustrated above, being mindful to tuck the seam(s) somewhere unobtrusive. Make sure there's enough excess skirt protruding beyond the bodice edge to form the pleat.
Once the skirt's sewn on, put the kirtle on and lace it tight. Fold the front so it's positioned correctly, and mark where the hooks and eyes need to go. Then take the thing off and sew them into place. I find it very difficult to keep the bodice front taut with just hooks and eyes, so tend to end up securing it with a pin or two, as well.
Finishing off
Next, hang the kirtle up for a few days. The purpose of this is to allow it to stretch before it's hemmed, rather than stretching and distorting afterwards. Check the hem is level. It may be a fraction too long at the front, because at the back it has to curve over both your bum and the petticoat pleats, shortening it slightly. Pin and sew the hem. You're done!
On to finishing touches.