Oh January, where have you gone?

Wow. January kinda came and went, didn't it?

Pregnancy is really kicking my butt this time around. Apparently, I got off easy when I was pregnant the first time around - I didn't have morning sickness or rapid mood swings (until later), and though I had a few crummy days, they were few and far between. This time, not so much. So everything has pretty much been on hold.

My black linen dress is sewn together but it's missing sleeves, a hem and a neckline. I had hoped to have it done for the event this weekend, but that's barely a remote possibility at this point. I can wear my nice teal wool instead, though, so it's not too big of a deal.

Owen has a new late period outfit which we can't wait to show off. If he goes to the event this weekend, you can bet there will be plenty of photos to share.

So, the bottom line is: I'm still here, but until pregnancy starts to agree with me, I think I'd rather just sit here on the couch.

St. Birgitta's Coif - in 15 minutes!

Do you remember when I created a St. Birgitta's coif almost a year ago? Then decided it was a bust? Then said I was going to try again, but never did?

Ah-ha! 'Never' ends today, my friends!

Now, here's my disclaimer. The following is not necessarily the correct way to create a St. Birgitta's coif, but it is effective. And SUPER easy. In fact, I created this in about 15 minutes with only 4 steps. (Plus an extra step, but more on that later.) If you'd like to create a more accurate St. Birgitta's coif, I suggest you start with C.L. Dahl & I. Sturtewagen's article, The Cap of St. Birgitta, in Medieval Clothing and Textiles vol. IV, pp. 99-129. Or visit Medieval Silkwork for a brief introduction.

Alright. Disclaimer over. Now onto my version. Here- I drew you a picture:

I used linen that I had. It doesn't take much- two-ply, about 8"-10" wide and 12" x 14" tall, depending on the size of your head and how much hair you have.

Step One: Cut two pieces with a curve for the curve of your crown. The rest should be straight (pretty much a rectangle with a curve cut out of the corner.)

Step two: Sew along the top, curve and back, joining the two sides and creating a center seam. Then fold over the front hem and stitch into place.

Extra step: Finish the center seam- whichever method you prefer- to prevent fraying and provide a finished look.

Step Three: Fold the bottom edge up (and tucked under) to create a casing along the bottom. It doesn't have to be very wide, just enough for your ribbon.

Step Four: Feed your ribbon through the casing, bunching the bottom of the coif up, then sew the ends of the ribbon together. You can create a linen "ribbon", or use a manufactured ribbon. I still had the original linen tie from my old St. Birgitta's coif, so I used that.

Here's the finished coif:

I decided to go ahead and do this mainly because it's just makes sense to have it. It's very practical, especially because it can be used by itself or under another headdress. I haven't seen it too commonly in 15th century Northern Europe images, but there is evidence it was still worn. Most likely we don't see it too often because it was under the more common headdress. In fact, here's a great 15th century picture that shows a SBC tossed to the ground along with a red open hood.

Good stuff.

Quick Update

I don't have much time at the moment, but I wanted to jump in and give you a quick update on my progress with the black dress and to share some news.

I have sewn the initial seams on the dress (sides, back and bottom of front), and did a quick try-on last night. It feels like one of the seams is off (the right side), and there is a significant amount that needs to come out of the chest area. Other than that, it's looking good. I cut it really long, so it's hard to see at this point how it hangs. The weight of the two linens is good though- just right for chilly events. I made the font opening for the lacing really long because....

I'm expecting another baby! I am due with my second child sometime in September (my doctor will confirm the due date when I see him on Wed). So that's another summer pregnancy for me, but I think I'm a bit better prepared for it this time around. And with all I've learned about garb over the past year, I think I'll look better this time around too!

Game Plan

I got the pattern for my dress from my mom yesterday, and I've got all the materials for it ready to go.  So here's the plan:

1. Layout black and lavender linen together (one on top of the other).

2. Place pattern pieces and cut out sections.

3. Sew sections together (all seam allowances on the inside instead of encased between the layers).

4. Try on and adjust as needed.  I know from the teal dress that changes around the bust and along the lower back are needed.

5. Keep track of all adjustments and alter pattern as needed.

6. Re-sew seams as needed.

7. Flat-fell seam allowance on the inside to end up with black stripes on the lavender.  Why, you ask? In the end, I believe that this method will be easier to deal with, and I won't get a shifting of the inner layer and outer layer the way I do on my teal dress.  I have also seen this done by some other costumers, and do not mind the result.

8. Make some marks around the neckline of the dress to follow for hand embroidery.  I have two shades of purple and a dark gray pearl cotton for this.  I want it to be subtle and simple.  I haven't found a pattern yet, so that needs to happen before I get to this step.

9. Punch lacing holes and stitch eyelets.  I'll use my black silk thread for this.

10. Create black fingerloop braid lace.

11. Wear new black linen dress to Candlemas in February!

I'll also probably try to fit in the creation of a new 15th century headdress, 'cuz you know I don't have enough of those....

Wow. It's almost a New Year.

Sorry I've been gone so long! The mundane things I had on my plate have actually taken more time and energy than I expected. I don't want to talk too much about it (I try to keep my mundane life separate from my SCA life), but if you're interested in what I've been up to, you can click here.

We skipped the event last weekend, so I've got no event news to share. I've got a couple of ideas for classes brewing, and I've got a plan to get my class notes and documentation online over the course of the next few months. I have some great step-by-step photos taken by my friend Lillian of all my veil styles that I'm eager to get together and show off.

Next on my plate, however, is the black linen dress. I'll be starting that immediately after Christmas (and my birthday- I turn the big 3-0 on the 26th!).

So, for the moment, I'm still laying low, but great things are ahead!

P.S. I just jumped over to this post on Racaire's blog- What a great idea! What an inspiration!

Outfit information

Sorry it took me a while to get back to you all about the sources for my 15th century outfit from the last post. In fact, after this post, I'll be quiet for a bit. We're entering the slower event season for this area, so I'm going to be taking a break from the SCA for the rest of this month as well as next month. I've got some mundane things that have been piling up that I need to focus on for a while. But I still have some projects to work on before the next event, so when I get started on those I'll check back in.

So, I wanted to share with you some of the bits and pieces I used to come up with my finished 15th century working class outfit. Most of research started by looking at completed outfits by other folks, and getting an idea of what I thought I might like. These included:
Marie Chantel Cadieux's front laced kirtle and
Matilda La Zouche's short-sleeve kirtle

Then in October of last year, I attended a day of lectures by medieval fashion historian Robin Netherton. In her lecture on the Gothic Fitted Dress, she made mention of the fact that the open front variety is not seen on most women- only those in distress or on girls. Her information was both informative and inspirational. The best thing that I took away was the confirmation that the underdress made a huge difference. Under my lovely teal wool is a slightly less lovely underdress doing the job of keeping myself in place.

Robin had great information about the fitting method, but it was Tasha Kelly McGann's Le Cotte Simple site and Charlotte Johnson's Costly Thy Habit that I found really valuable.

I was also interested in Marie Chatel Cadieux's open hoods. Looking for further information, I discovered Lia de Thornegge's open hood, and decided to make one. Marie did such a great job pulling images together, so I won't worry about adding any here.

As far as period sources for the dress goes, the 1432 manuscript of Le Decameron is a great source, as well as the dresses listed under "Kirtles" on Hope Greenberg's 15th Century Dress page.

I used a million other sources along the way, including other recreations and random finds of period images, but these are the things that got me started.

I'll be making another fitted dress next, a black linen dress with a lavender lining. There are a few minor adjustments I need to make, but overall I now have a dress pattern that works much better than my previous dresses and make a huge difference in making me feel that I am doing more to be authentic.

So, enjoy the autumn, and I'll "see" you again in December!

Hooray Garb!

I am proud to present to you my completed 15th century working-class outfit- I love it!


I'm standing a little odd in the middle picture, so I look kind of uneven, but the side and back views definitely make up for it. I love the side view!

I started the day without a bra, which is how the fitted dress is supposed to be, but by the time we got to the event, the "support" aspect of the dress had ultimately failed. I have very large and heavy breasts- I'm a DDD cup size (which is just a nicer way of saying "a size F"), and the fact is that very little in this world can keep them properly defying gravity and in place. Luckily, I had the foresight to throw my bra into my hatbox. So the photos above are of me with the bra on. I felt much better after I put it on (yesterday was the first time in a very long time that I went out into public without a bra, so I was really self-conscious about it.) Unlike my other dresses, my fitted dress and bra worked together to create a comfortable and flattering shape. I don't think of it as a compromise- I just needed to find what worked for me. The fitted dress will need a small amount of additional tailoring to account for how much the linen/cotton stretched as it warmed up, but I look at the whole thing as a pretty great success.

The teal dress is wonderful. It was well worth the cost of the fabric. Yesterday was a chilly day, and the dress was the perfect weight. I was wearing 6 layers (with one of those layers being both the third layer in the chest of the fitted dress and my bloomers covering my lower body from my waist to my knees.) I was also wearing my knit knee-high socks. My only problem was that the fitted dress and the wool dress are both short sleeved, and the pin-on linen sleeves (which I borrowed from mom) were only barely heavy enough, and there was a little gap at the back of my arms.


In addition to my dress, I was able to also make a mini-houppelande for Owen out of some burgundy corduroy. I think it ended up a little too short, or maybe a little too wide, but he looked really handsome. I made some pseudo-hose out of the gold knit cotton I ended up using to make a scarf for myself, but they were a little too small, so he wore a pair of blue pajama pants. Dearg made him a new belt, recycling the belt tip and buckle from the belt Dearg made for him when he was a newborn.

I even made a fake chaperone out of the scraps from my teal wool. He hates hats, so he didn't really wear it, but it was very cute when it was on his head! For the majority of the day, he looked like the photo on the right above- a perfect little gentleman.

My open hood is also perfect. It fits perfectly, looks perfect, was the perfect accessory, etc. I loved wearing it all day- all the hard work was worth it!

The only problem I had with it was that I didn't make the best choice for what to wear under it. I chose to wear my cut-off shirt sleeve, which I normally wear under my veils as my "head underwear". I think I need a new sleeve, though, because it stretched quicker than normal yesterday and it kept slipping back. I had adjusted the whole thing shortly before this photo was taken, and I put the sleeve too far down, but this photo was better to show it than the one we took right after it, after I readjusted it so the sleeve was in the right place. I think the back of the hood kept popping up, but I can use a small pin the keep that in place in the future.

I'll post more about the open hood in the next day or so, as well as more information about the inspiration and sources I used for the items of my outfit, but for now I'm glad all that hard work is over and I have great garb specific to my period and flattering to my frame.