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The challange

Dec30

I have gotten myself an apprentice. :)
Well, actually it was about two months ago and I should have mentioned it earlier – but better late than never!
This is an SCA thing – Masters and Mistresses of the Order of the Laurel take apprentices and my first one is known by the name Baroness Eva Grelsdotter and she is absolutley brilliant!
She has two blogs – Evas Thoughts – and One Year and Thousand Eggs.
So one day we were chatting on Facebook and she says: You have to make me read more of my books!
And that was when I had to admit that I myself have a pretty extensive library and I have perhaps only read 10% of it…
GAHHHH!!! The SHAME!!!!

So we decided to make it a challange. During the next year we will read 6 of our books from start to END!
Now you might say 6 books, wow that’s little.
We first thought about making it 12 – one book per month.
Then we considered this little thing called life.
Reading 12 of our books would mean very little time to read anything else and also limit the amount of time we have for projects.
We are both pretty busy people, both with our day jobs and with our hobby, so we wanted to leave a bit of space for other things.
Like sewing, readin fiction, runing or being part of event crews and such things.

So here goes – the 6 books I will read from start to end during 2012! (Most of them I have read about 10 pages in – but I really need to get to that END!)
Working Women in Renaissance Germany by Merry E. Wiesner.
Women, Armies and Warfare in Early Modern Europe by John A. Lynn II
The Good Wife’s Guide translation by Gina L. Greco & Christine M. Rose
Kläderna och människan i medeltidens Sverige och Norge by Eva I Andersson
Medieval Textiles and Clothing 1
Medieval Textiles and Clothing 6

There! Now you all know and now I HAVE to do it!
I will ofcourse write something about the books here on the blog once I finnish them.

Who knew that getting an apprentice actually would put ME to work!?

A chain find

Nov1

Sometimes when I have a bit of spare time and nothing special to do I make searches in the Bildindex and just go through pictures of all sorts. And the sometimes on strange searches you hit the jack pot and find a really interesting picture!
A while back I found this picture of a chain:

Kette der Armbrustschützen.

And it looks remarkably much like the chains in for instance a lot of Cranach paintings, like theese two by Lucas Cranach the Elder:

The chain is from the Rathaus (City hall) in Schmalkalden, a small city in the region called Thüringen. The closest bigger cities would be Erfurt and Kassel.
I have had many discussions with people on what theese chains were made of. Were they metal? Gilded leather?
A close up of the chain also found in the bildindex led me to believe it could be a metal chain.

Close up of the chain.

However, the information provided in the bildindex did not say anything about the materials and I have tried to contact the Rathaus in Schmalkalden with no result this far. But I will not give up since I find this chain very interesting!
And I hope this will help some fellow artisans interested in German 16:th century clothing and jewelry.

How to make a Stuchlein – a looooong post!

Apr3

NOTE: This is a 4 page post due to editing problems in WordPress…

First of all: this is my version of how to make the German 16:th century hat called stuchlein.
There are no extant examples – the only thing we can do is guess how it was made and this is my take on how to recreate this headwear to make it look as in the woodcuts and paintings.

There are many varieties of this hat – different regions had different fashions and the decorations varried depending on how wealthy the womans family was and if the stuchlein was ment for every day use or for special occasions.
The stuchlein was the headwear of married women. And it also stated that the woman was no longer a virgin. If a woman lost her virginity – the norm was that sje has to cover her hair. This way the stuchlein and the schleier (veil) could become a stigma if the woman had lost her virginity ouside of marrige. ( The article ”Haubendämmerung” by Jutta Zander-Seidel, 2010).

The stuchlein was made of at least 3 parts – sometimes even 4.
First you wore a linnen cap. This way you protected the wulsthaube – the second part of this headwear – from getting dirty from your hairs oils and dirt. The wulsthaube was a cap with a stuffed roll attatched to it to get the volume at the vack of the head that is typical for the stuchlein. The stuffed roll was either sewn to a cap or laced to it – there are different takes on this and it is quite possible that both ways of construction existed.
After that you wore a cover that could either be just a schleier (veil) or a decorated or richely decorated cap. The veil often had a long tail that was either wrapped under the chin and then fastened at the side of the headwear with a pin, or the long tail could be wrapped around the wearers arm.
The decorated caps could be decorated with different trims making up a pattern of stripes and they could also be embellished with jewels. If the ouer cap was decorated with jewels and expensive embroideries – the women often wore a very thin veil on top of it so that the decorations could be seen through the light fabric but at the same time the valuable decoratoons were protected.

Here are some pictures that shows some stuchleins that have inspired me to this project.

Pages: 1 2 3 4

Award – and why it has been quiet

Mar27

A few weeks ago, I got this award from my friend that writes the blog One Year and Thousand Eggs.
I will now answer the questions and forward the award.

1. When did you start your blog?
The first entry was made 12:th of August 2010.

2. What is it about?
It is about costume history and the textile projects I make to use in the SCA and about the research I do to find out more about the different items I try to reconstruct. I mainly do German 16:th century, but I dabble in viking things and soon also 14:th century. It is possible that I will also post some things abou calligraphy and illumination since that is another thing I really enjoy.
3. What are the differences between this blog than others?
I am not sure that there is a big difference between my blog and other textile history blogs – and I am fine with that. I do try to think a bit outside just the textile angle and think about who would have worn this item, what would their life have been, who would have made it and such things. In my eyes it is easy to reconstruct the item, but a lot harder to put oneself in the shoes of the historic person wearing the items. The context of the modern world makes it hard to picture how life would have been 500 years ago. But to be able to reconstruct an item so that it is practical for the persom who would have worn it, is impossible without understanding at least some bits of that persons life. Would she cook over an open fire? Would she walk long distances? Would she have someone to help her get dressed?
4. Why did you started it?
I wanted to share my knowledge and make myself document all the things I do. Before this blog I kept my knowledge in my head – not really writing it down. This way I gather my sources for my teaching and at the same time I get feedback from others that enjoy researching the same kind of things. I am a big fan of constructive critisism and whenever anyone gives me a new angle on things or hint about a new source I fet very excited!
5. What would you like to chance in your blog?
I wish I had time to do more posts. And I am still trying to work out how WordPress works. I am not really a computer wizzard. ;)
And the award goes for these 5 gorgeus blogs:

Cristina’s ramblings

Lia’s projects

In deme Jare Cristi

Eva’s journal

Racaire’s Embroidery & Needlework

Now to why it has been so quiet here.
The 7:th of March I went through shoulder surgery and my left arm is in a slin 24/7 for 6 weeks.
I am using this time to read up on a class I am planing to teach at Double Wars at the end of May.
But I am hoping to be able to post on some sort of project very soon!

About being good at everything

Oct17

Since I am planing to do some extensive embroidery on the cranach dress I am currently gathering information and materials for, I started reading up on medieval/renaissance embroidery a bit more. And even though this has been said about fivehundred times and even if I have been aware about this before – it is not in the modern human beings nature to picture different parts of a costume as seperate pieces of work.
We want to be able to do them ALL and ofcourse – with perfect result.
It is hard to remember that for instance the fur lining of something was not made by the tailor. And that the embroidered decorations were the work of someone else aswell.
Or 5 someone elses in some cases…
When we do our reconstructions, we want to do what perhaps 4 different masters made together – but we want to make it even better than they did back in the days.
Now, isn’t that slightly insulting to the skills of the old time masters?
Or actually – isn’t that WAY to much preasure to put on oneself?!
To make a master embroiderer or embroideress you had to be aprenticed for at least 8 years according to the regulations for Paris embroiderers drawn up and aproved 1303. (Medieval craftsmen, Embroiderers, Kay Stanland, Tne Brittish Museum Press, Page 13.)
You were not allowed to work after sunset and you were not allowed to work on any fast days or holidays.
Now, we can omit all that, but the fact remains: This was their day job and they worked really hard to gain the skills of a Master or Mistress.
We do not pressume to emidiately have the same skills as a Saville Row Tailor theese days.
We do not think that by just liking and having an interest for architecture we would be able to draw and build our own house with a perfect result – on our first try.
But when it comes to recreating medieval or renaissance cotumes – we sometimes tend to think that we can achive what it took masters YEARS to achieve – in just a few weekends.
So, what I am trying to say is that we should sometimes give ourselves a break.
And be good enough.
Do really good for a first try.
And dare to admit that we might not be able to be a Master tailor, Master embroiderer, a Master goldsmith and a Master weaver at the same time

 

The making of new peers

Oct8

Last weekend two of my friends were elevated to two different orders within the SCA.
Countess Mariana was elevated to the Order of the Laurel in Atenveldt and for that occasion I had sent some words and a pair of needlebound mittens.

Naale bound mittens out of wool with embroidered laurels. The mittens are made of the same colours as Marianas personal arms.

Continue reading →

New Stüchlein – teaser!

Sep30

I have been very busy lately, but to show you a bit of what is to come I will post a picture of my new stüchlein that I finished this morning!
In a week or so I will be able to post something longer about this project with my theories and research material.
For now I can tell you that the outer part of the headwear is made out of a nice thin linen, the black stripes are a vintage silk trim and the golden one is a vintage metal thread vestment trim.
More on the contruction to come and more pictures from all angles too!

My new German 16:th century headwear!

Bling my medallion

Sep27

When I was elevated to the Order of the Pelican within the SCA, two of my dear friends took me medallion shoping at Pennsic. The medallion used for my ceremony was awesome in the sense of lineage – but was not something to be used on a regular basis.
They ended up getting 2 medallions for me – one heavy made out of bronze and onw from Raymonds Quiet Press.
The latter I have never used, but for some reason I knew it was important.
Today I know why.
After studying the Kleinodienbuch der Herzogin Anna von Bayern 1552-1555 I knew why I had wanted that medallion!
Now – what is to come is NOT a very historically correct process – but sometimes I allow myself to use modern techniques to achieve a correct look for German 16:th century accessories.
With some glass pearls, some brass pins, jewelry making components and superglue (GAH!) I blinged my medallion!
The chain still needs to be shortened and I will need to put a clasp on.
But this is the result of just one hours work!

My newely blinged Pelican medallion.

How to start a new project

Aug14

We all have our different rutines and thoughts about how to start a new project.
For years I have been doing things backwards. I have read up on the project – but I haven’t done the written documentation.
And sometimes I have had to back track my work when writing the documentation months after the project is done.
Not a very good way to do it.

So to motivate myself to do it the right way this time I did some project shopping.
And now I am not talking about materials for the dress or anything like that.
No I went and got myself some inspirational research supplies.
There is nothing like a nice notebook, a brand new pen that will not fail you half way through the research and a folder to save all the prints from the project!
Now this might seam trivial and unnecessary – but it works for me.
Just like some new sneakers can be a motivation to start exercising again.

So tonight when I get home I will put all the prints of inspirational pictures and patterns from Anna Neuper’s modelbuch that I copied in the folder.
And tomorrow I will  put the new notebook and pen to use!