Renegade Nell - Tumblr Posts
Nell slapping Charles' hand away when he reaches for a handshake as she's leaving his prison cell is never not funny. She's being all professional and then just "no, fuck u bitch"
Nell's Shirt Recreation
Alright, being a Renegade Nell fan and a historical fashion fan has unsurprisingly led me down the rabbit hole of their costuming. So, I'm recreating Nell's shirt best I can, cause gender envy :D
I'm also gonna try document my progress as I love to infodump and a few people on the renegade nell discord server have asked me to lmao. This post is gonna be about planning, drafting and cutting!
Planning:
Above is my collection of screenshots (and gifs u can find if you search #sewing reference on my blog) from a rewatch of the show, with notes about construction details. I am so sorry about my handwriting, but if anyone is curious about anything they can't read please ask and I will happily provide.
The rundown though, is that it's a classic 18th century men's shirt, which you can find countless tutorials for if you want to make one that isn't so specifically Nell's.
There are a number of key details to note that are specific to this shirt however. The sizing of the shirt is a bit abnormal to the brief research I've done, with Nell's gussets (the triangle under the arm that allows movement) being a bit larger than what's to be expected, as well as the length being extremely long compared to other men's shirts. Eg:
(Credit indigomood for the gif, my phone couldn't handle searching for it in gifs so I had to download it)
Which, would make sense for a shirt she's taken from her late husband, but the sleeves are so fitted perfectly to her arm length, that I'm gonna just chalk these up as a mix of design choices for the comfort of Lousia when filming and giving the illusion of an oversized shirt.
Also, the cuffs and collar have a simple embroidery edging to them which I love. They have most likely been done on a modern machine, but we can cut Tom Pye some slack with the rest of the amazing work he's done. It looks like a zigzag stitch, with a straight stitch running on the side closest to the edge.
Also also, if anyone has seen Bernadette Banners pirate shirt tutorial, the sleeves and collar have less fabric and as a result less gathering. It's also mostly situated at the very tops of the shoulder, rather than all around the arms eye.
Alrightly onto the pattern drafting:
The Pattern:
The first image is a not-to-scale sketch up of all the pattern pieces, with my estimation of measurements (with about 1cm seam allowance idk I learnt to sew without a sewing machine and this project isn't very fussy) for each piece, as well as some short notes for how I got some of the measurements. The second image is just a guide/plan of how to lay each piece out on my fabric with minimal waste, and will be different for each person if yall attempt this.
I'm ngl, I snatched Bernadette's pattern as a base, cause I've made that shirt before. The measurements also are a weird mix of the guides given in Bernadette's video, a great informative comment on the video by musikkfreaken342, and a general taking measurements of my own body (which is a similar body type to Nell's) and seeing how they compare to the photo references. I wish I could give more guidance here but I'm ngl I went based on vibes for most of this.
*Note: despite how long Nell's shirt appears to be in that Billy intro scene, I'm going to run on the assumption that the length was for actor comfort, and will be cutting mine shorter.
Also, ignore the neck slit lining/reinforcement for now. Idk how I'm doing that yet... so yeah.
Alright!! Moving onto actually cutting out the fabric!
Cutting the Fabric:
Historically these shirts are made from linen (and sometimes cotton I think?). Great material: looks great, breaths easy, whips sweat away from the skin to protect your outer layers.
I've personally chosen a lightweight linen/rayon blend, cause it's soft and I don't have the money for full linen. Def recommend a lightweight linen if possible for these shirts, it just works out nicer and comfier.
However, with linen comes the challenges of cutting everything out straight. As you may have noticed, all our pattern pieces are rectangles, and it's very important to cut these as straight as possible for the shirt to drape properly. As such, I've used a method called drawing threads, where you pull one thread out to make a guide to cut along.
You can skip the next few photos if you are not actually interested in sewing techniques and just want to see Nell's shirt.
First measure your piece. I've placed pins in where I want to cut.
From there, I have cut a little notch, and separated out a thread.
Here comes the tedious task of pulling on the thread until you end up with a gap in the weave! The thread will break on you countless times and you have to be patient I'm so sorry.
You then cut along that line to end up with perfectly rectangular pieces. I also recommend doing each piece either individually or in small groups.
Okay end of needless tutorial about cutting linen!!!
At the end of this whole process, I've ended up with all my pieces :D
The collar slit reinforcement piece is just a scrap piece of fabric rn. Like I said idk what I'm doing for that yet.
Thats what I have for now! I'm lowkey planning on sewing most of this by hand, cause I'm that sort of person, so it might be a moment before I have a substantial update for if anyone is actually a fraction of the interested in this as I am sjfjskf.
I love renegade nell there are so many women and I love them all every time there's a woman on screen I'm like oh my god not to be a lesbian but oh my god
every day i wake up and think about how renegade nell really gave us everything. an authentic sister trio (the rep i need). a main female lead whose story does not revolve around romance, EVEN THOUGH nell is canonically a widow. funky gender happenings that fulfill my deepest fantasies of being a queer time traveler. THE COSTUMES!!!! a sapphic kiss. comedy. men in wigs. faerie magic. louisa harland. accurate (as far as I can tell) depictions of class and what it meant in the 1700s. petty theft. a banger soundtrack. ass-kicking. witchcraft. amazing acting. emotional complexity.
You guys aren’t posting enough about Renegade Nell, (A.K.A; the Nick Mohammed fairy show.)
Let it be known throughout this hellsite that I, bigfatbreak1, was the first to post Renegade Nell fanart. Live, laugh, love Billy (the) Blind.
Fae and Fate (Renegade Nell fic)
Summary: A look into Billy Blind’s mind leading up to his decision to introduce himself, and a slight variation on the scene itself.
Notes: Dipping my toes into the fandom with a little character study thing. Some canon dialogue, some lines tweaked or added. Technically more canon adjacent with the main difference being that Billy is slightly less stupid and slightly more fae, but events continue in roughly the same way.
AO3 link
Billy Blind knew two things: that humans were fragile but wonderful creatures, and that he had magic they didn’t. His powers came from light, from laughter and love, from all that was good and right. He could imbue a chosen human with strength and agility beyond their wildest dreams— but only for protection, never for personal gain. He could change his size and appearance, become invisible or intangible at will. He could see brief glimpses into the future— warnings of approaching danger or a sense that someone would do great things— but his past was lost to him.
Sometimes he’d hear a whisper of song, a long-forgotten tune that tugged at his heartstrings and filled him with longing. Something beyond mortal senses, something that was no longer his. Mushroom circles reminded him of a home he could scarcely remember; a doorway locked and barred, unable to be seen but there all the same.
When Billy first set eyes on Nell Jackson, he knew with every fiber of his being that fate had brought them together for a reason. She would be his human, his chosen vessel, his connection to the mortal realm. She was strong, stronger than she knew— not only in body, but in heart and spirit and mind. She stood up for herself and others.
It didn’t take long for Billy to realize she was maddeningly unpredictable as well. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, no, it kept things exciting! But still, it meant he had to adapt. He couldn’t make a proper deal, no, she jumped straight into danger before he could consider saying a word, and well now he had to protect her, didn’t he? So he did. That time, and the next, and the next, and blimey did she end up in danger rather often!
~*~
Billy watched from a distance as Nell returned home. She should be safe now, theoretically, but he still didn’t want to leave her. There was more to the story, their tale was not yet complete.
He learned that she had family, two younger sisters and a father. Everyone in town suspected she had died in the war with her husband. If Billy hadn’t intervened, she likely would have. Wars were terrible things. The local lord’s son had been wreaking havoc on her home town— which meant she wasn’t safe here after all and she still needed Billy’s protection. All the more reason to stay, at least a little while longer.
Billy respectfully did not watch as Nell went through her wardrobe transformation, but still he kept an ear out just in case. The sisters were catching up with each other; the subject moved to Nell’s late husband.
“I do miss him a bit. Except I don’t think he’s left me, even if he is dead,” Nell said. “It’s like today, I got held up by these highwaymen. And one of them hit me. And it’s like… I don’t know, something happens to me inside and… you should see me. I’m untouchable.”
Oh no. No, no, no! That wasn’t what he meant! Billy didn’t even know her late husband— or if he did he couldn’t remember. Perhaps the man’s death had somehow drawn Billy to her, but even if so, they weren’t the same person. Billy most certainly was no ghost, he was a fairy. Keeping up this ruse would be a lie. That wasn’t right.
He had to tell her the truth, somehow. When the time was right.
~*~
Billy watched as Nell made a fool of herself, wincing as that lord’s son threw her around like a sack of potatoes. But there were rules. She started it. She could stand to take a few punches. She had to learn a lesson in caution; throwing herself recklessly into danger expecting him to save her wouldn’t do. He wouldn’t always bail her out of situations she willingly got herself into. His powers were a special gift, not something to be wasted on petty quarrels.
There was a limit.
If her life was threatened, he could step in. If the lives of those she cared about were threatened, he could step in. If she was in danger of permanent injury, he could step in.
The whip was danger enough. One lash he let slip, seeing it would barely graze her cheek.
Then he shrunk into a speck of light and dove into her, filling her lungs and veins with his power. It was invigorating, disorienting, fulfilling. Time slowed around them. He felt her every move, her every emotion. They were one.
Her righteous fury filled him as his powers fueled her. A dangerous thing, that. But she got her revenge, and he protected her.
As soon as it was clear she and her family were safe, he withdrew and flew off, giving her some space and taking some time to think.
~*~
Now, the question was how? How could he reveal himself and get her to listen to a word he said?
He could try passing as a human. A simple glamor. The right size and shape as a normal man, nothing out of the ordinary. Say how he wanted to help, ask her opinion on magic, ease her into the reveal. That sort of thing.
But then again she had a habit of attacking anyone who frightened her or even looked at her the wrong way. That might be an issue.
He could try writing a note, explaining everything in detail and leaving no room for misinterpretation.
Except he knew she couldn’t read, and anyone who did read it would think it madness. Humans generally had difficulty believing in anything magical in nature, which was the whole problem to begin with.
Or he could just show up as himself and hope for the best. Put precautions in place so she wouldn’t hurt herself trying to fight him. Sometimes the simplest solution was most effective.
Right. Billy had to reveal himself. It had gone on long enough. He waited until they were alone in the middle of the night, less likely to be overheard.
“Nell. Nelly,” he whispered. When she barely acknowledged him, he shouted, “Nelly Jackson!” There, finally she moved!
“D-don’t scream,” he warned, then internally kicked himself. That was a foolish thing to start with. But he continued, “You need to look up.”
She opened her eyes, scanning the room, until finally she looked straight at him, eyes wide in shock. She saw him! Good. This was good.
“Oh, I’ve been racking my brains trying to figure out the best way to introduce myself without giving you a shock, Nelly Jackson,” Billy said. “Frankly, there isn’t one! Of course, it isn’t absolutely necessary that I should introduce myself.”
He stood on the beam, doing his best to appear more confident. “But in your case, I had a sneaking suspicion it might crop up sooner rather than later.” He flew towards her, slowly and cautiously.
Of course she immediately drew a pistol on him. Luckily he had prepared for that.
“So three things. One, I’m on your side. Two, that is not loaded.” He pointed to the gun. “And three, it won’t have any effect on me even if it was, for I am non-corporeal!” He did a little bow for effect.
“What do you mean you’re on my side?” Nell demanded. She didn’t lower the gun.
Clearly, words weren’t enough. Billy sighed. “Look at me,” he said, making sure she made eye contact before diving in and briefly sharing his powers. Just long enough for her to feel and acknowledge it, assuage her fears.
Then he flew out again and did a flip in midair. “I protect you!”
Nell stared at him, still wary, still holding the gun. “Why?”
“Because you are a very special person, Nell Jackson, and we will do great things together,” he said, believing every word and hoping she would too.
“You don’t know a damn thing about me.”
“I do, actually,” Billy countered. “I’ve been watching you. And I have the gift of foresight, a strong intuition and an excellent judge of character.”
Nell scoffed. “Watching me, have you?”
“A bit hard to protect you if I’m not around, yeah? I know you have a good heart, you’re brave, you stand up for the right things. Those are all good signs.”
“I didn’t ask you to protect me.”
“No, you didn’t. But you like it, don’t you? The power. I heard you boasting about being untouchable— and that’s not entirely true.”
Ah, there, now he truly had her attention! She wavered, more curious than wary now. Good. “Feels untouchable, that power,” she said. “There some catch?”
Billy nodded. “The more immediate point is this: I can only protect you, Nelly Jackson. I will not take part in random acts of violence.” He landed on the pistol and walked across it.
She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Like earlier this evening,” Billy clarified.
“What? He’s a bully! He’s an arrogant lout, and he hurts people,” Nell protested.
“Be that as it may, he didn’t start anything. You did.”
“No, he was gonna!”
Billy shook his head. “Ain’t the point. It was an unnecessary risk, egging him on like that. You knew he’d lash out, and you expected me to enhance your abilities. You can’t rely on it, Nelly. My powers are a gift. I chose to give them to you, and I can choose when not to.”
“No, wait. You mean you let him whoop me about and you could have stopped it?!”
“I did stop it.”
“Not sooner!” Nell shouted. “Like when he was grinding my face in the mud!”
A knock on the door interrupted them. Thank goodness! Something to distract her from her anger. This was not going to plan. Not at all.
Nell glanced at the door, then back at him. “Who sent you? Where are you from? Look at you. What are you dressed as?”
That was a lot of questions. Most of which he hadn’t the foggiest clue of. And that last one was just plain insulting. He liked his clothes, thank you very much.
Before he could reply, the knock continued. Nell shot him a warning look and a “wait right there” and went to answer it. After a few steps, she paused and glanced back at him. “What’s your name? I mean, do you got one?”
It was time to give his name, to complete the bond and give himself fully. This was his best chance, a way to save this mess of a conversation. He took a breath and smiled.
“Yeah. Billy. Billy Blind. It’s truly a pleasure to meet you, Nell Jackson, and I look forward to what we can achieve together.” There, done! He felt a warmth in his chest as the bond sealed. He was her fairy, and she was his human. It was all official now, even if they took a roundabout route to get there.
“I’ll catch you later.” With a wink and a clap, he turned into a spark and flew off before she could ask any further questions.
Nell Shirt Recreation: Finishing Details
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Final update on this project. Yay for gender euphoric renegade nell shirt finally in my possession.
The tl;dr:
The Embroidery
Nell's Shirt has a cute little embroidered detail around the collar, neckline and cuffs. I'm ngl it is a bit hard to find any detailed and good quality shots that show exactly what it is, but my best guess is either just a plain zigzag stitch or a zigzag with a straight stitch on the outside edge. It's also done in blue thread.
From what I could see also, I believe it's done by machine with normal thread, rather than by hand or with embroidery thread.
I did some test swatches on my failed cuff pieces to test out different settings, but ultimately I ended up doing just a zigzag stitch. I also used a specific decorative zigzag stitch, rather than the usual type as that was making my fabric bunch up instead of laying flat, and I don't know enough about machine sewing to know how to fix that issue.
There's nothing crazy to note about this step, but this is what my collar and cuffs look like. It's nowhere near perfect, my machine sewing skills are very lacking, but I'm happy enough with it.
To get it so close to the edges on the cuffs, instead of doing a back and forth stitch to lock it in place, I just left the thread strands long, tied them in a knot and hid them inside the cuff.
Collar Button
Once you've done your embroidery stitch, find where you want the button to be. It's placed about halfway down the front neck opening on Nell's shirt, and I've done the same.
Her shirt seems to close with a loop rather than a buttonhole. You can do this in anyway you want, by including one in the seam when you do the lining or attaching it afterwards. I'm not sure what is specifically done on Nell's actual shirt, so I went for an option easiest for me.
I just followed this image I found on google as a guide:
After you've done that, you should end up with something that looks like this :D
Also taking a moment to appreciate the pretty shell buttons I finally got to use after finding them in a thrift shop like 3 years ago.
Cuff Buttons
Originally I was going to do the same method as I've done for the collar, however because I ended up making my sleeves slightly too long, I wanted my cuffs to sit more snuggle on my hands/wrists so that the extra length would just become poof. So if you want authenticity, and didn't make the same mistake I did, do the same as above.
Otherwise, I started with buttonholes. I'm not sure what this process looks like for machine done buttonholes, but I measured out the size of my button, and then used a seam ripper to cut my button hole. Keep the pins in place while you do this will also prevent you ripping your holes too big.
From there, I just did a very dense blanket stitch all around the outside of the hole to secure it.
Using this hole to mark out where the button should sit, I then sewed on my button to the other edge.
And with that you have a finished shirt!!!
i'm losing my mind over the parallels between the trotters and the blanchfords (+amadin). all three children growing up together in the same place, with a father but without a mother. they all viciously care about one another (see nell with george when she's shot, sofia with her brother, amadin with sofia). but at the same time they are wildly different people. actually, the entire season can be read as a juxtaposition of the trotters and the blanchefords.
whereas nell voluntarily leaves her family in her late teens, amadin joins the family against his will as a child. the love-hate sofia feels for thomas is shown by her disapproval of his general behaviour (even disgust at times), but the fact that she later saves his life proves her love. nell loves george from the beginning on, despite not even knowing her. and while nell acquires power by chance without asking for it, sofia craves power at any cost and goes against her own morals to come by it.
the family dynamics of the blanchefords are characterised by power imbalances: amadin being a servant to his "siblings"/the people he grew up with. thomas being a bully to everyone in his life. the misogyny that sofia experiences. a cold, distant father with high (and specific) expectations of his children.
the trotters are shown as a warm family with loving dynamics. nell is not ostracised for wearing male clothing, and when she returns home her father almost immediately accepts her back. george is shown to be able to move around freely and play what she likes. both sam and roxy have to work hard, but that almost puts them in equal positions? neither of them own the tavern, it belongs to the blanchfords. and roxy being harassed by thomas is a different kind of misogyny than what sofia experiences.
and what is the underlying reason for their differences? what is established right on with the blanchfords living in a manor and the trotters running a tavern?
class.
the reason lord blancheford assures a strict upbringing of his children is because his son has to one day continue the legacy. there is a lot at stake because the family already has a lot of socioeconomic power. thomas is the way he is because he is an extremely privileged boy, who was taught (directly or indirectly) that his life is worth more than others. and the reason why sofia has this thirst for power is not just because she is a woman living under patriarchy but also because she is a rich woman, which makes land ownership something that is in reach but kept from her solely because she is a woman. and amadin is literally bought into the family (there's another aspect there concerning colonialism, but i'm not the right person to dissect that).
the two families are like two sides of the same coin. in contrast to the trotters, the blancheford family is extremely privileged but ultimately cold and twisted in their dynamics. and it all comes down to class difference.
"Where do you stand on petty theft?" "Fond of it" I'm obsessed with these bitches.
renegade nell got cancelled yk what that means! *cries*
I can't sleep so reposting photos courtesy of Ben Taylor (source)
+ a bonus from Jake's instagram story
"i'm so normal about this piece of media" i say, fresh from consuming it for the 5th time this month
