Manuscript Challenge

I have been pouring over images ever since the Manuscript Challenge glove was dropped.  The rules are simple, but specific and can be found here: http://indemejarecristi.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/i-challenge-you/.

There is also an active Facebook Group found here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/the.manuscript.challange/

 My mind was filled with extravagant ideas such as Lysbeth van Duvenvoorde (one of my favorite portraits).

Her outfit has so many wonderful details. As I broke down her outfit into individual elements, I realized that this would be an immense undertaking with only a year to complete.

With the all the other projects on my list (medieval and modern) I decided to be realistic and not set myself up for failure.  I'm keeping her in my back pocket, someday her outfit will be mine!

In search of a more realistic, but equally interesting image, I found myself again looking at one of my favorites.

The Marriage of Philip, the Duke of Burgundy, and Margaret of Flanders from Chroniques de France ou de St Denis contains a wonderful variety of garment styles for both men and women.  I have used it as reference many times when teaching and discussing sleeves styles, in particular.  The women on the right in the blue dress seemed to jump off the page.  I also recently purchased some lovely navy blue wool, so that may have influenced my choice. :-)

I also have been thinking about padded roll headdresses.  They are so prevalent in images of this time, but I rarely seen them recreated in a style that I like.  It has nothing to do with the quality of the reproductions, it's just that they look kind of frumpy and out of place to me (my modern sensibilities shining through). And the thought of wearing one myself has always been… not very exciting. 

With this fair blue lady as my inspiration,  I have resolved to give padded rolls a fair chance! 

Open Hood

Some days, I don't feel like wearing a veil. I just don't.

When looking at images of women from the late 14th and early 15th centuries,  I see many wearing open style hoods.  This style seemed a perfect option to wear during the summer instead of a veil. 

Detail of February (right) and July (left), Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry.

I saw Edyth Miller's wonderful interpretation of this style and decided to try one for myself.  Edyth used the tutorial from LiaThornegge for her patterning, but I decided to start with my existing hood pattern.

I used a trial and error process to find the ideal shape. I cut out my classic hood pattern and pinned the pieces together.  I stood  in front of a mirror and adjusted the side gores, edges around the face, and center back seam in order to achieve the look of the hood that is seen in illuminations.  What I ended up with is a hood that has a shorter and less voluminous cape and an opening around the face that is longer so it can be folded back. 

Left: Classic Hood pattern          Right: Open Hood pattern

I designed the hood with a long tail similar to the image below.

Detail of Bible Historiale de Jean de Berry, folio 290r. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des Manuscrits, Français 20090

I decided to make this hood a single layer of linen to keep it as light weight as possible since I would be wearing it during the summer and its main purpose is to keep the sun off my face instead of a straw hat or veil.  I finished all the seams in black silk to hide the raw edges on the inside. I used the selvage edge for around the face so there wouldn't be a hemmed edge.

I used running stitches for the seams (outlined in red for visibility).

This hood is very comfortable to wear. I pin it to my St. Brigitta cap and it stays put very nicely and keeps the sun off my face. The edges don't flare as much as in the illuminations, but it it was lined or made of a stiffer fabric it would hold a shape better.

After I finished, I found this image of an open hood with buttons! 

Boccaccio: Decameron c.1414-1419 Manuscript (Pal. lat. 1989), Biblioteca Apostolica, Vatican, Image courtesy of the Web Gallery of Art.

Pattens after Pennsic

I made a pair of pattens last year.  I wore them a couple times last summer, but they really had their work cut out for them this Pennsic War.   

The weather over the week varied widely and there was a lot of walking on gravel, grass, mud, and pavement. 

Pattens in pristine condition, March 2013

Pattens after 1 week of Pennsic, August 2014

The nails on the hinge of the right foot started to pull out and I did lose one nail (red arrow in photo above).  I think it might be due to the tacks being too short, but I originally chose that length since I was worried longer nails would cause the wood to split.  I also noticed small cracks have developed along the edge of the wood where the tacks are located. We will see if additional wear causes the cracks to expand.

Closeup of right foot.

Bottom of patten with small cracks developing.

I also felt the leather strap around my ankle is stretching a bit, but it didn't affect my walking. The leather strip around the sides of the pattens also stretched, especially around the hinge area, but it had no impact on my walking, either.

I am planning on replacing the missing nail with one that is a bit longer to see if that holds the hinge in place.  If it works well, I may decide to replace additional nails.

Shortly after I made these pattens, I was speaking with someone (I just can't remember who!) and they pointed out that the London finds had been worn and the wood base would have been thicker on new pattens.  This observation seems painfully obvious now, but hindsight is 20/20!  If I have more problems with the wooden bases, I will replace them with a thicker wood to more accurately replicate new pattens, which will also allow me to use longer nails to hold the leather.

Overall,  I am very pleased with how they held up! Having limited leather and woodworking experience, I was curious to see how they lasted with a real workout. I call this a success! 

Baronial Hoods

A few months ago I made hoods for friends that were invested as Baron and Baroness of their local SCA group.  Hoods are one of my favorite go-to accessories to make an outfit complete -- and warm, too!

I made 2 black linen hoods, one with a long liripipe, one without.  The baronial arms are a felt applique livery badge.

The pattern I use for all my hoods originally came from Cynthia Virtue's website, How to be a Hoodlum.  I have used this basic pattern over the years, altering it as needed for size and style. 

Below is how I arranged the pattern pieces for the hood without a liripipe.  

This is how the triangular gore fits with the main hood piece.  I always end up making the gore extra long, but I'd rather trim it than cut it too short. 

I appliqued the Baronial arms to a round felt base by couching around the pieces with matching thread.  I also used couching to secure the badge to the hood.

Some of my earlier hoods had the gore set too far forward, but I adjusted where I set them and am pleased with the results - directly over the shoulders!

How To: Silk Facings

I include silk facings on almost all my garments. They are attractive, comfortable, and easy to make!

I use silk facings around neck openings, on buttonhole facings, and to bind armhole seams. I actually find it easier to create a neckline with a silk facing than without.  The facing helps conceal less than beautiful edges and seam allowances cut too small by you know who… :-)

I use this sample when teaching so the scale is enlarged, but you can see the two rows of running stitch along the top edge and the row of hem stitch on the bottom.

The basic idea of a facing is adding extra material to the edges of a small portion of a garment that serves as a lining.  In the 14th and 15th centuries (and modernly), facings are seen around necklines, wrist openings, and used to strengthen buttonholes. Modernly, facings can be the same fabric as the main garment or a contrasting fabric, but the example I use as inspiration for all my medieval facings is silk.

The image below is an extant piece excavated in London (Baynard's Castle site) and can be seen in the Museum of London's book, Textiles and Clothing: 1150-1450 (Crowfoot, Pritchard, and Staniland, Plate 2) .   This example is a fragment of a wool garment with a silk facing  5 mm wide. That is tiny! The facings I have made are about twice that size on average. 

Silk facing on wool, identified as part of a neck opening. 2nd quarter of the 14th century.
  Medieval Finds from Excavations in London : 4 Textiles and Clothing 1150-1450, Plate 2.

When purchasing fabric for facings, I look for a tabby woven silk that is white or off white. You want it to be light weight (so when you fold the edges over it doesn't add bulk), but not too transparent.  Depending on how many garments you make and the size of the facings, one yard of good silk can last a long time so feel free to spend a bit more on a silk that will be sturdy. I've used the same one yard of silk for many garments over several years and just recently had to buy more. 

Although necks and armholes are curved, cut the silk pieces straight along the grain.  This may seem counter intuitive,  but in the extant example above, the facing is cut on the straight of the grain and then worked around the curve to fit the opening.  All you need is a rectangle of silk that is a little longer than the opening you are facing (don't forget to add seam allowance to your measurements - been there, done that...).  Cutting the silk on the straight of the grain is why a small piece of silk will last for many garments - there is hardly any waste!

Working the silk around a curved edge isn't as difficult as it sounds - I just securely pin the facing in place and work slowly, adjusting as needed while I sew. Ironing the seam allowances over before pinning is a huge help when positioning the silk on the garment.

Each facing will need at least two rows of stitches (three is even better). One row of hem stitch along the bottom (inner) edge and one or two rows of running stitch along the top (outer) edge.

This is a neckline of one of my dresses.  It is red wool, lined in white linen with white silk facings. Forgive the pink tinge! Although I pre-washed the wool, it still bled onto the silk. Whoops!

This is a sleeve from the same dress (yikes! more pink!) showing the position of a facing for buttonholes. Notice how the facing is over the sleeve hem on the left. 

Want to have those cute cloth buttons to go along with your new silk facing? Check out how to make cloth buttons here.

That's all there is to it!  You can even add them to parts of completed garments to spruce them up!  Have fun!

Referenced Works:

Elisabeth Crowfoot, Frances Pritchard, and Kay Staniland, Medieval Finds from Excavations in London : 4 Textiles and Clothing 1150-1450, (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press) 2002.

How to Make a Fingerloop Lace

I need to make several laces for a project I'm working on - more on that soon - so I thought I would share how I make a basic fingerlooped lace.  I've included a bit of history on fingerloop braids followed by a tutorial to help guide you in making your own.  

Extant fingerloop braids can bee seen in artifacts from excavations from London as well as the on strings of reliquary purses. 

Fingerloop braids of 10 loops (left) and 14 loops (right), 13th and 14th centuries.
Although these examples are more than 5 loops, several examples have been found from the excavations in London made of 5 loops, all dated to the 14th century. 
Museum of London: Textiles and Clothing, pg139

Reliquary purse with multi-colored fingerloop cord, Italy, 15th century.
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage #10069247, © KIK-IRPA, Brussels

I use a round lace made of 5 loops for the majority of my needs.  I find that this style is easy to learn, easy to execute, versatile, and strong. I make my laces of silk and they withstand a great deal of pressure in my fitted dresses.   The only lace I have broken - so far - was one I accidentally left in a dress and then ran it through the washing machine.  The spin cycle was too much and it broke in half. :-( 

The downside of using finger loops to make a lace is you need to complete the lace in one sitting.  If you put the loops down, they get mixed up easily.  I suppose you could create a rig to keep the loops from getting  tangled,  but I haven't found a good solution (if you have let me know!).   

This style of lace is described in a 15th century braiding manual (Directions for making many sorts of laces - MS Harley 2320) as a 'Lace common round of 5 bows.'  When originally researching this pattern, I found several places online that have the original wording and good translations including: Wire'n String, Silkwerk, and Fingerloop.org. 

I have included the transcription of the pattern I use from Wire'n String in this post for comparison, but if you are interested in more information about medieval fingerloop patterns, I highly recommend the above sites. 

For to make a round lace of v bowys: Do v bowys on þy fyngres as þu dedyst in þe brode lace. Þen schal A ryght take þorow B and C of þe same hond þe bowe C of þe lyfte hond reuersyd. Þen lowe þy lyfte bowys. Þen schal A lyft take þorow B and C of þe same hond þe bowe C of þe ryȝth hond reuerced. Þen lowe þy ryȝth bowys, & begyn aȝen.

I used trial and error to find my formula to determine the length of my loops.  I double the measurement of my desired finished length and then add the measurement of my finished braid on again for waste and to allow for shrinkage from braiding. It works out to:

Finished length of lace = A
(A x 2) + A = length of thread for one loop

For this lace my calculations are (in inches):
Finished length of lace = 14
14 x 2 = 28 + 14 = 42 inches for one loop

Cut 5 lengths of thread from using the above formula and form 5 loops.  Line them up and tie a knot in one end:

Then tie the loops around a dowel (like a table leg or chair). I use a piece of basic cotton cord to affix the loops to the table:

For this pattern, take one loop each on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fingers on your left hand and the 2nd and 3rd fingers on your right hand:

Sometimes untangling the loops is a but difficult, but if you can't get it perfect don't worry. I rarely get them all perfectly arranged, but once you get going the pattern will work out and you can retie the beginning when you are finished if needed to clean it up.

To work the pattern passing the 1st finger of your right hand through the loops on the other fingers of your right hand, grab the bottom half of the bottom loop on your left hand:

You now have 3 loops on your right hand and 2 on your left:

Move the loops on your left hand down so they  are on the 2nd and 3rd fingers. This will be the mirror image of your original starting position.  After each pass, I swing my hands outward to create tension in the braid.  Repeat the above step with your left hand until you reach your desired length. 

Remain watchful for mischievous helpers!

The finished product:

Once you have your lace, you can add metal aiglets to the ends.  These make it easy to feed the lace through eyelets. I purchased these aiglets from Historic Enterprises and they have a small hole so you can sew the aiglets to the lace. Shhh, I have been known to use a drop of Krazy glue to keep the lace from pulling out!

.

This lace was a prototype for my current project. I decided it turned out too thin, so I either will use a thicker thread or try doubling up the loops.  

Fabric Buttons

One aspect of 14th century clothing that immediately comes to mind is - buttons. Lots of them. Buttons on the fronts of garments, on sleeves, on collars, on hoods... the list goes on and on.  Here is a little back story on fabric buttons and how I make them. Enjoy!

Buttons of various materials were used throughout the medieval period, but the cost rises quickly when they are metal or precious materials, both then and now. Buttons from the 14th and 15th centuries can be seen on effigies, in illuminations, and have been found in multiple archaeological excavations.

Isabel de Malyns, with buttons on the front of her dress and sleeves, 1385. 
Courtesy of the Medieval Combat Society

Man with buttons on the front of his garment, late 14th century. 
Grand Chronique de France, British Library, Royal 20 C VII, f. 22v

Buttons on a sleeve from excavations in London, 2nd quarter of the 14th century. 
Museum of London: Textiles and Clothing, Plate 1

Buttons from excavations in Greenland with concentric rows of stitches.  Some buttons found in London also have the same treatment.  Herjolfsnæs Churchyard, possibly 1380-1530. Else Østergård, Woven into the Earth, p170

The most cost effective way to add miles of buttons to your clothing is making them from fabric.  You can make lots of these little round balls from only a small amount of scrap material.

'Self-stuffed' buttons are the easiest to make and I find they are suitable for the majority of situations.   With a bit of practice, creating fabric buttons is quick and easy. They can be made of any material: linen, wool, or silk.

Here is how I make my fabric buttons.  Good luck and have fun!

Cut a circle of fabric (finding the right size circle to start with can take some trial and error).  Sew a row of running stitches around the circle.  Placing your row of stitches closer to the edge is useful if your fabric is very thick:

Gently pull the thread to draw the circle in and push the edges of the circle into the center "bag" that forms with your finger:

Here is the button with the edges about half tucked in:

Work your way around the circle until all the edges are gathered inside:

Close up the button with several stitches across the bottom:

While closing the button, you may need to work it with your fingers into a round ball. That's it!

Now that you have a button, how do you attach it to your garment? 

Glad you asked!

 Bring your thread up through the edge of your garment:

Pass the thread through near the base of the button and back into the garment to form 'loops.'  Sew as many as you need to make the button secure. You will want to pull the threads tighter than in the image below:

Wrap the thread around the stitches several times. This creates a shank for the button:

Tie off the end and you are done!

Repeat until you have as many buttons as you desire!

(If you are as in love with Pinterest as I am, you may like this photo montage of the process)