Clever Hacks

15 minute cure to the “donwannas”

I’m feeling a bit medievally blocked. All I want to do is knit (which I totally am doing) and my costuming stuff has kind of fallen by the wayside. I had a serious think about this and I came up with a couple of reasons: – all of the projects at the top of my costuming todo list are production…

Continue Reading

16th Century

Schamloten schaube for Helga

Helga has asked me to fit her and then construct a new German boy short coat for her modeled after a garment worn by his Grace Duke Hauoc. I am by no means an expert in German or German clothing terms used in the middle ages. That said, as best I can tell this would be called a “schamloten schaube”…

Continue Reading

16th Century, Accessories, Antwerpen

Halscleet – Antwerpen white linen partlet

Antwerpen White linen partlet started May 12, 2018. Finished June 9, 2018. Special thanks to Aleit Pietersdochter over at The New Cut who is working on documenting 16th century Dutch costuming terms and dug up the terms “Halscleet”/”Halsdouck”/”halscleer” which seem to be the proper name for this white linen partlet. Single layer of white linen for the body of the…

Continue Reading

Tayloring

Tailoring Manuals

Ausberg/Innsbruck (Austria) 1544/68 Hans Nidermayr, the younger of Innsbruck, 1544/68, Innsbruck, Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum F.B. 4240. (Poland) Polish Tailor’s Cutting Guide from Germany, Breslau 1567, AC 1992.243.1. (link) (Italy) 1570 The Milanese Tailor’s Handbook, written in the 1570s, (Amazon)(link) Seville (Spain) 1588 manuscript of Diego de Freyle, Geometria y Traca Para el Oficio de los Sastres, Seville, 1588. (Link to…

Continue Reading

16th Century, Antwerpen

Rust Antwerpen Market Gown

Rust linen Antwerpen gown started May 16, 2018. First wearing May 27, 2018. In October 2019 I removed the yellow fake kirtle bodice and added rings inside the waist band so that the center front of the gown can stay up.  I need a new dress. Well a whole new wardrobe, but one thing at a time. Last year I…

Continue Reading

Clever Hacks, Stitches & Seams

Voodoo Magic with Eyelets

My first YouTube video. Be gentle. Machine done eyelets on a Janome 6600 using an Elna eyelet plate. The Janome will do eyelets.. but it sews a circle. It’s not actually holding threads open or reinforcing the hole. In order to use the Janome eyelet you have to piece the fabric and you end up with raw thread sticking out.…

Continue Reading

16th Century, Antwerpen

Antwerpen gown epiphany

I’ve had this thing that I’ve been kicking around for a while. I’m working on my Antwerpen gown and I’ve been kind of stuck trying to figure out what was going on with the front of the dress under the laces. This is the same thing that puzzled me when I made Cranach/Saxony style dresses(here and here). There’s {something} under…

Continue Reading

SCA

The bar

At Beltane, on Friday night I phoned it in… hard. We set up camp, headed off site for dinner, returned to site, put the child to bed and then I decided I wanted to spend a little while sitting by the fire. This last year I lost 65 lbs and gave away most of my dresses. I currently own two…

Continue Reading

Knitting

Frankenhat

Started on 4/24/2018. Finished 5/10/2018. Pattern: Frankenhat (Scholar’s Cap+Knitted coif cap) Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Worsted black medium 100% wool US$6.99 from Jo-Anne’s Needles: Clover 7″ US sz 8 (5 mm) double pointed bamboo needles Accessories: 3 knitting markers, 1 knitting counter, knitting point protectors (I used 7-8 normally) Total: $7 Tonight I finished knitting my second knitting project, Frankenhat.…

Continue Reading