Linen, Silk, and Wool, oh my!

a gentle lady's journey into the medieval past

chatter, video

Planning A Late Elizabethan Capsule Wardrobe & Deciding What Not to Wear [Backdated]

This video is the introduction to a long-term, open ended project I’m about to start, all about making capsule wardrobe that can fit within the 1590s through the 1620s range, with a primarily English focus on styling. My goal is to get a base outfit made by sometime this summer, and then add pieces to it here and there as I go. Step one is to finally wash my linen so I can get started on a new shift.

Patterns & Books:

Margo Anderson Patterns: https://margospatterns.com/

-Seventeenth Century Women’s Dress Patterns Book one: https://a.co/d/7r6ZOjR

-Seventeenth Century Women’s Dress Patterns Book Two: https://a.co/d/11Uw2jl

-Patterns of Fashion: https://shop.theschoolofhistoricaldress.org.uk/product-category/books/?v=7885444af42e

-The Tudor Tailor: https://a.co/d/38eOwHb OR https://www.etsy.com/listing/113261389/the-tudor-tailor-reconstructing-16th

tutorial, video

Making a Medieval Ring Purse in Leather [Backdated]

Today I’m making a medieval ring/hoop style purse! I’m using some lovely soft green leather from my stash, that came from a store that sadly closed down a few years ago. Here are the rest of my tools and materials:

Period Patterns #93, Bags, Purses, and Pouches, view XXIX
6″ macrame hoop
2 wood beads
Leather/Glovers needle
size 22 tapestry needle
Coats Extra Strong Upholstery Thread, 100% Nylon
Elmers No-Wrinkle Rubber Cement
sewing clips
lighter
rotary cutter
X-acto knife
scissors
chalk
various rulers
self-healing cutting mat
tracing paper
masking tape

brocade, tablet weaving, tutorial, video

Medieval Brocade Tablet Weaving

This past weekend was CoSy, or the Costube Symposium, four days of videos on a huge range of subjects either directly about costuming and recreating material culture, or about the costuming community as it currently stands. I released the above video, a tutorial about how to basic brocade tablet weaving, and I also participated in a couple of live panels, one of which is also hosted on my channel, which was a round table of plus-sized costumers and how we navigate our hobby.

chatter

What an 18 months….

Is it any surprise that I didn’t do any blogging since the pandemic hit? Probably not.

But!

That doesn’t mean I\’ve been inactive. In fact, I’ve done quite a few things, and I really need to catch up with it all over here.

The biggest new thing would be that I started a YouTube channel! It covers all of my costuming and material culture creating, not just SCA work, but I have been on a medieval kick lately, so that\’s what most of my recent videos have been on, and I have a few more planned for the near future that also fall under the SCA time period umbrella.

my channel

my SCA/medieval video playlist

I think my favorite of the videos I’ve posted for it so far, and what I was very excited to receive, is the video for my Award of Arms, which I received just about a year ago in August via Ethereal Court. And because it was presented virtually, I could just clip that part out of the full video and toss it up on my channel, along with the unboxing of my scroll once it was mailed to me!

chatter, video

Reworking My Kirtle to Make it Wearable Again [Backdated]

Hello everyone! Today I’m taking a kirtle I made in 2015 and remaking the sleeves so that I can wear it again!

I’m also sharing my Costume Renewal Challenge with the sewing world at large! It’s for everyone, costumers, cosplayers, and everyday sewing, and for every form of social media as well, not just YouTube. Basically, go into your costume closet, find that one thing you really like but doesn’t quite fit anymore for whatever reason, be it weight changes, mistakes in patterning or sewing, or anything else, and fix or alter it so you can wear it again. The redone costume should still be recognizably the old one, so taking one thing apart and making something completely different for it doesn’t count. If you do make a video for this, send me the link over on Instagram and I’ll add you to the playlist!

chatter, video

Making a Simple Late 15thC cap, with my Costube 21 Q&A! [Backdated]

Hey everyone! Today I’m answering the Costube 21 Questions, and making a simple late 15th century cap!

Here’s a bit more info for the cap, if you want to give this style a try yourself:
main piece: 21″x13″ / 53cmx34cm PLUS HEMS
two ties: 17″x3″ / 43cmx7.5cm PLUS HEMS
measurements are approximate
My linen is a medium weight, so I used 3/8″ or 1cm for my double turned hems, but a finer fabric could take a narrower hem.
Hem all the edges, attach the straps diagonally out at the corners on one of the long sides. Gather the center 9″ / 23cm of that same long edge, then sew the back seam shut from the center of the gathers down to about 1″ / 2.5cm before where the straps attach. And that’s it!
To wear, put the cap on and cross the straps over in the back. Bring them around to the top of your head and either tie in a decorative knot, or wrap them around each other and tuck the ends in.