Medieval – Fashion Through Herstory

(HSM 12/2017) A fur trimmed Burgundy Burgundian Gown – Photoshoot

Published on May 5, 2018May 7, 2018 by fashionthrougherstory2 Comments

Once my Burgundian gown (finally) was finished, I decided to take some nice wintery photos of it.
But since being pregnant (and feeling “fat – not yet baby belly”) and constantly tired, combined with the planing it takes to get these shoots together, had the snow melted by the time.

The good thing about this dress is that even though I did’n know about the coming baby when I started the gown (last fall) there was no problem what so ever, of fitting in it 🙂
We even got some nice “maternity” photos.

photo: Elin Evaldsdotter

(HSM 12/2017) A fur trimmed Burgundy Burgundian Gown

Published on May 2, 2018May 1, 2018 by fashionthrougherstory3 Comments

This gown been long over due (originally planed to enter it to the HSM 2017 nr 12), and since starting it (in early september 2017) I had some serious down time in energy and sewing time.

But this spring I decided I really wanted it finished and of the UFO-pile, so here it is.

Ever since I made my sister her Burgundian gown, I knew I wanted one of my own, so when the challenge “Animal” came my way through the “Historical sew Monthly 2017”, I immediately started plotting my gown.

I used a Burgundy (dark-red/brownish) colored cotton satin, that I got for a steal on a fabric sale about a year ago.

The 5 m I had, was just enough to piece out dress and additional skirt gores.

Since this was to be a quick and “un-necessary” project, made in a not historical accurate fabric I decided to stitch it all on my sewing-machine.

So that’s what I did, overlocking the edges and everything.

I think I spent the whole of 1 hour stitching it together, adding the sleeves and asking my boyfriend to mark the hem.

But then I got stuck – on the fur trimings.

After some searching, both for inspirational pictures and in the fabric stores, I decided on a dark brown faux “wolf” fur, that would work nice with the red and browns in the gown.

But by the time I got the fur into my sewing-room, I realized it would take some serious planing to get it done.
Having a 1,5 year old kid around meant I needed to find at least a couple of hours of un-interrupted sewing/cutting time…
Yeah, good luck with that.

So there I was, trying to find both the energy, inspiration and time to finish the dress.
Neddles to say the gown went into my UFO pile for a few months.

I dug it out to finish only this past weeks, so that I could wear it on a dance recital late april.
The dance recital didn’t happened, but the dress got finished, so I count it a win anyway.

Against my better judgement I decided to cut the fur like it was a regular fabric – which it clearly is not!
I spent a few hours cursing my lazy as for not bothering to cut the pieces one by one from the backside of the fabric (like I should have), thous ending up with hairs and fur bits EVERYWHERE.Can you say – werewolf 😉

Attaching the fur went pretty easy, only the fur was so thick I had a bit trouble seeing my needle when I hand stitched it on.There is a needle attached to that tread, I promise…

The work payed of, and the effect of the dark fur against the burgundy of the gown is striking.

Testing the almost finished gown to see how it looks.

I’m so happy I stuck to it, and managed to finish it, even though I will probably find fury bits in my sewing-room (and the rest of our apartment) for a few years time…Finally finished

Finished Pictures:

The facts:

What: a 1450s Medieval “Burgundian” gown.

Pattern: Self drafted based on pattern from “The Medieval Tailor assistant”

Fabric: 5 m of cotton sateen and 2 m of faux fur

Notion: Thread

Time: 10 hours (of sewing time)

Cost: About 50 Sek for the fabric and 200 Sek for the fur so about 20Usd total.

Final thoughts: I really like this type of gown. It looks so elegant and beautiful, and since it doesn’t require any particular fitting I can wear it both with and without the baby bump.
Dressed and ready for some photos.

Söderköpings Medieval Fair 2017

Published on September 21, 2017 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

It’s almost been a month since the yearly Medieval fair in Söderköping, and I just now gotten round to post about it, but better late then never right:-).

I’ve been attending this fair with my sister for a few years now (2014, 2015, 2016) and this year was no exception, only this year I didn’t joined the dance recital, but instead had my hand full taking care of my 1 year old son.

As always I had a bit of a trouble deciding on what to wear, but finally settled on the Elizabeth I dress l made last year.

My sister borrowed my red renaissance kirtle.

And baby Charlie wore the Henry VIII coat from last year, pared with an old red velvet hat to match.

I promised my fiancé I wouldn’t dress him to weird, and in my defence I can only say I (partially) held that promise. Besides from the coat and hat (which he needed for head covering), he wears a regular gray long sleeved t-shirt and pants pared with his autumn boots.

*Disclaimer: This post will be full of cute (faceless) “Henry VII” baby pics – so consider yourself warned;-)

**I’m sorry about the “Floating ruff”, but the partlet was simply to hot to wear, and I’ve forgotten to bring my necklace and/or black-worked smock, so I figured it was better then nothing…

We begun the day by touring the market place.
And I got a beautiful feather fan, and a book about medieval clothing that I’ve never seen before.

Then we walked the 500m or so to the camp and Medieval playground.
There was a lot of “follow the toddler” happening.

Then we meet up with the dancing team and baby C got introduced to the whole gang for te first time.

My sister joined the dancing

And me and C watched(At least for a little while), then he was of agin… I do think we made for quite a sight.
Lots of people commented on how cute he looked, and some even wanted our picture.

After the dancing we went to get some food, and encountered the knights on our way to the restaurant.After lunch we stopped to take a break and to play a bit in the parks playground. The slide is by far his favourite.
The we did even more exploring the townHa ha, I love that my sister tries to play with him and how he’s much more interesting in the gravel:-D Trying to get some nice photos together… It’s harder then you’d think
Before we headed home we took another round of the market and listened to some music, Met a knight of the crusades and looked at some more pretty things (that we didn’t buy). Renaissance ladies.
It was such a fun day, and a perfect “first event” for C (who was in the best of moods during the day, and then slept the whole car ride home). What more could you wish for 🙂

Shirts for a Gentleman

Published on February 9, 2017 by fashionthrougherstory2 Comments

Last fall, right before I hit the wall sewing wise I’d taken on one of my rare commissions (I don’t usually sew for others unless its totally on my terms).
But when my wonderful dancing master Sievert asked me if I could help him update his historical shirts I couldn’t say no.

He needed both a new medieval and a new regency shirt to use on our dance recitals.

So I got some nice cotton (I know linnen would be more accurate but I was to make them on machine anyway. And they needed to be easy to wash and care for), made some quick pattern calculations and cut the rectangles needed for both the shirts.

Then I stopped, put my head in the sand and closed my eyes to everything sewing/historical (because pregnancy can do that to you)

More then 10 months later (after the birth of my son, and then some), I was once more ready to tackle the shamefully late commission.

So after one intense week of sewing in between feedings, I managed to sew and deliver both shirts.

The process went pretty fast and straight forward except one little hiccup –
While putting the last hand on and pressing the Medievals shirt I noticed the seam allowance on the outside on one of the sleeves.

Meaning i’ve put it in inside out.

Crap!

So it was on to un-picking the french felled seam (with hand finishing:-( )

I then turned the sleeve outside- in and re-attached it, pressed and once more used tiny hand stitches to fell the seam.

There done!

Or, wait a second…

NOOOOoooo!!!

I done the exact same mistake AGAIN!

Some of you might remember that I’ve done this before (on my Borgia chemise les then a month before).

How is it even possible that I didn’t learn?
By now I tossed the damned thing into the corner and went to sleep, debating with myself if I could leave it like that.
Of course I couldn’t – It was a commission piece after all.

So bring back the seam ripper.

The only trouble was that these folded french seams needs really small seam allowance to look good, and the only way to achieve that is by trimming it after you stitched the first seam. This practice, and the fact I’ve done it wrong not one, but twice, meant that I cut of about 1,5 cm on the left shoulder compared to the right. Making the whole garment a bit of.

Once the sleeve was re-set, a third time, I quickly finished and packed the shirt away, out of sight.

The finished medieval shirt:

The final result after all the re-stitching.

Sleeve with ties

Then it was time to get cracking on the Regency shirt.

This time I didn’t do the same mistake (Hurray!), and the shirt was finished in a few days.

The finished Regency shirt:

Metal buttons on a standing collar.

The two shirts now at their new home.Lets hope he gets a lot of wear out of them.

2016 in Review

Published on January 2, 2017 by fashionthrougherstory2 Comments

2016 is one of those years we will always remember for it’s tragic events, raising lack of humanity/ compassion for the most vulnerable in our society (and world).

But for me, 2016 will always be one of the mot important years in my life – it’s the year my son was born.

Thus a big change in my priority’s (and time/energy) leaving my sewing somewhat on the backwater.
And taking into account that I had a 6 months hiatus from sewing last winter(Oct 2015 – April 2016) there is a miracle I managed anything at all. But I did actually finish a few items both before and after my delivery in June.

And here they are:

1790s printed Roundgown:

Viscose 1790s Roundgown (both with and without baby-bump)

Regency Petticoat

Babyclothes:
Modern:
Jackets, bodys, pants, hats and rompers several of each.

Historical:
A hat and shirt for a newborn

Halloween:
Henry VIII Costume

Menswear:
(not yet posted about)

Medieval shirt:

Regency Shirt:

1950s turquoise viscose dress:

1450s Italian Gown:

1400s Chemise

1450s Italian Court Gown

1550s Elizabethan gown:

Brocade gown

Quilted petticoat

I’ve also finished a few minor projects like, hemming skirts/pants, sewing curtains/pillows, adjusting dresses etc.

And as always I have a few things on their way which I didn’t manged to finish before the new year (but which hopefully will be completed in he following months).

Al in all I think I did pretty well with my 3 mayor project, which all has been on my wishlist for quite some time.

Medieval Fair Söderköping 2016

Published on October 17, 2016 by fashionthrougherstory1 Comment

A few days after I finished my “Borgia dress” it was time for it’s first outing – To the yearly medieval fair in Söderköping.

This year I had a hard time deciding whether or not I should go, and if I did, then in what way would I attend.
Because of the new baby…
The first thing I needed to decide was If I should go at all, and should I then take him with me?
And If I took him, should I breastfeed or give him the bottle (this is the million dollar question when it comes to clothing decision), and would it be better to wear something old and easy to wash (because, baby spit) instead of my new princess gown?

I had three dresses that I could wear to the event:

1. Italian renaissance
Pros:
New dress!
Never worn
Soo pretty

Cons:
“Booberella”
Difficult to wash and thous breastfeed in
Never worn….

2. Medieval Cote
Pros:
Comfortable and opportunity to wear a whimple
Perfect for the Fairs time period
Easy to breastfeed in
Well tested and trusted

Cons:
Thick wool = super hot
Difficult to wash
Worn a lot

3. Tudor Peasant sidan-sol Pros:
Easy to wear
Easy to wash and to breastfeed in
Cons:
Simple on the verge to boring

In the end the choosing was made easy by my boyfriend insisting he take the baby for the day and I go alone (well not alone, my sister was to come to).
This was to be the longest time away from Charlie I ever been, so lets just say I was les then focused when dressing in my gown (New Borgia gown for the win, because – New dress :-)) and kissing my boys goodbye.

The familiar scenery of Söderköping.

We meet up with the dance team and participated in the show (with only a handful of on-lookers)

I really need to do something about that neckline (or work a bit more on my posture)…

Ha ha, love this picture.
Some people do take the dancing a lot more serious 😀

After the dance recital me and my sister took a walk around the market.

Mmmm fabric….

We also took a few minutes to take some pictures by the big church (while trying our best to ignore the other visitors taking our picture).

Medieval selfie 🙂

Before heading hoe we did a pit-stop at the fabulous fabric store, where I got lots and lots of cute baby fabrics.

Traveling with Baby – Medieval baby sling

Published on August 24, 2016August 24, 2016 by fashionthrougherstory3 Comments

For the easiest entry to HSM ever, I started looking into ways to travel with my little one.

Before the use of strollers and the intricate baby carriers that’s becoming more and more popular, people (read women) used the easiest way of tugging their baby’s along – a fabric “sling”.

I will not go into the use of slings and ways to travel with baby’s in past times, since others do it so much better, like Som när det begav sig (link in Swedish). A simple google search will also give you the history from (more or les reliable) sites – most of which sell modern baby carriers and shawls.

The construction of my baby sling/shawl was to make a rectangle 3 x 1m and hem the edges.
I then tied it around my body (under one arm and over the other shoulder) and placed my baby in it.

And that’s that.

And since I sewed it by machine it actually took longer getting dressed for the photoshoot then it did making the sling.

Photos:

Photo: Maria Petersson
(I only let go of my hands for a second)

The Challenge: Nr 6 2016 – Travel

What: A baby sling

Year: 1500-1600s

Material: 3,5 m of ivory cotton

Pattern: None – I just cut a rectangle 1 x 3,5 m and hemmed it.

Notions: Thread.

How historically accurate is it? The fabric should probably be linen or wool, but since this was meant as a first try I think it would do. the machine stitching are on the other hand not at all accurate. 6/10

Hours to complete: 10 minutes

First worn: Beginning august for photos, but will maybe be used late August for a Medieval fair.

Total cost: 100 Sek (16 Usd)

Final thoughts This was such a cheat. It was way to easy and fast to really count, bu since I did have my baby (!) in June I think I can give myself a break.

Monochrome Medieval baby undies

Published on August 18, 2016 by fashionthrougherstory7 Comments

Last fall when I took a break from sewing I also quit he HSM mid run.
But now it’s time to jump on the bandwagon (halfway through) again.
I have been sewing a few things that would fit the previous challenges this year (read all about them here) but lets start with July (since that the first one I managed o finish within the time frame of he month).

The theme for this HSM 2016 nr 7 was Monochrome, and I was eager to test my hand at some historic baby clothes.

Using my newly bought book “The Tudor Child” for the patterns for basic baby gear.

The Pattern for the shirt is fairly simple.

I cut the fabric in my favorite cotton/linen blend, and started by hemming the piece as stated in the instructions.

The folding pattern for the shirt.

Then I whip-stitched the hemmed edges together.
.

Once the shirt was finished (it all went surprisingly fast considering I did it all by hand with a sleeping/feeding/squirming newborn in my arms) I moved on to the biggin/hat.

The pieces cut from the same cotton/linen blend.

Hemmed pieces. I decided to ad ties to help keep the bigging on my baby’s head.

I did a slight miscalculation drafting the pattern making the center piece to long. Ops…
But really, it was just to cut it of.

I also realized I messed up stitching the shirt.
The center is supposed to be open to get easy access for the baby, and since they are supposed to be swaddled (Yeah, No, that’s not going to happen with my baby) the opening would be completely covered in other fabric. so in the end I think this way was better for me.

The finished pieces:

The Challenge: Nr 7 2016 – Monochrome

What: A shirt and bigging/hat for a newborn baby.

Year: About 1500-1600

Material: 0,5 m Linen/cotton blend.

Pattern: baby swaddling Shirt and Bigging from “The Tudor Child”.

Notions: Thread

How historically accurate is it? Pretty good. The pattern and sewing methods are good (except the mistake of stitching the shirt front closed). The fabric should be linen, but since I have difficulty finding a soft linen I think the 50/50 cotton blend I use are quite legit. About 8/10

Hours to complete: 4 (3 for the shirt and 1 for the bigging)

First worn: Beginning August for photos. Was meant to be worn late August for a Medieval fair, but I’m not sure anymore (see “Final thoughts”)

Total cost: 50 Sek (8 Usd)

Final Thoughts: It was really fun making these pieces. They came together so fats and the fabric was a joy working with. Unfortunately the Shirt ended up way to small for my fast growing baby – well guess I just have to make another one…

Söderköping’s Medieval Fair 2015

Published on September 1, 2015 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

This weekend it was once again time for the annual medieval fair called “Söderköpings Gästabud”.
And just like last year I talked my sister into going with me, to watch and help with the dance recital.

And of course she needed something to wear…
So after a week of intensive sewing we were finally ready for the fair.

Sis and me in our Medieval garb:
Blue Burgundian (24 hour) dress, and g reen wool cotiehardie .

Once at Söderköping we hurried to find the rest of the dance team to get some last minute practice before we were to perform.

My sister also got to partake in the dancing (even though she only watched the performance once before, (a task she performed perfectly, of course).“OMG – how I’m I to keep my hats on while dancing?”

Medieval dancing…

Othilia and Maria (sis) catches their breath after the performance.

Since we then had a 3 hour break until next dance-performance, me, Clara and Maria headed of on our own.

First stop, “Jofotex fabrics” – the by far best fabric store in our area.“Price the lords for fabrics”

You could clearly see the influence the Medieval fair had on the store (and the well dressed clientele), with special prices on wool, linens, and everything slightly medieval. And the staff didn’t even bug an eye at our walking in in costumes.
A for effort but some what lower scores for historical accuracy…

Once again out of the store, somewhat poorer, (I bought some lovely ivory lace and fabric for a new skirt to my 17th century bodice) we headed back to the market to see everything. We found:

Knights practicing their fencing.

Maria and Clara listening to lovely music.

Knights and horses.

And a coffin…

The town of Söderköping really is the perfect place for this kind of events, with the rivers, cobblestones and old houses it looks so beautiful.

I managed to get some pic of the new gown:

The market place lay beside the old church in the middle of the city.

There was lots of great things to shop for any historic/fabric nerd:Natural Furs

Colored furs – note the leopard and zebra colored ones.

Ribbon bonanza

Linen fabrics

Silk and velvet

And of course rows and rows of lovely wool.

Then we returned to the place for or next dance performance just in time to enjoy a great band playing medieval music.

Karin and Dan relaxing in the grass enjoying the music.

Sis in a sea of dress.

I didn’t get any pics of the dancing itself (since both me and my photographer was dancing), but it went really well and we had lots of folks looking and clapping.

Afterwards we had some final chat before it was time to say goodbye for this time.

The musicians Lena and Eric and dance master Sievert.

Maud and Othilia having a cozy moment.

Karin and Solveig both looking great in their dresses and headwear.

And that’s all folks…

(24 hours) Burgundian Medieval Gown

Published on August 30, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory9 Comments

Last Saturday evening I came to chat with my sister about the upcoming Medieval fair, where I was to have a dance performance this weekend.
I asked if she wanted to come along, and since she doesn’t have any medieval clothes, if I should try to make her some…

Of course she wanted – So said and done.

I made a quick calculation of how much time I would have for this project – with deadline in 6 days wear of 5 was workdays and the only whole day was Sunday – where all the fabric stores are closed. And no I didn’t had anything suitable in my stash.
This was going to be a though one, but I knew that with some planing (and boyfriend away at work most of the nights) I could do this.

And this is how it went:

Saturday evening/night:
I sent her some picks of various medieval gowns that would be easy to make even without to much time and fittings.
She selected a model – The 15th century Burgundian dress, and sent me her measurements.
Picture from “The Medieval Tailor Assistant”

My quick sketch including calculations on time, fabric and money.

(Consultation = 1 hour)

Sunday morning:
I drafted the pattern for the dress based on “The Medieval Tailor Assistant” and her measurements.
Then I cut and made a mock-up.
I also drafted and made a pattern test for the typical Burgundian “flower pot” headwear. I tried the mock-up on myself to see if there was any obvious problems.

(Pattern (1) & Mock-up (1,5) = 2,5 hours)

Monday:
I meet with my sister after work to try the mock-up – which fitted her really good.
Just some minor alterations like shortening the sleeves, raising the under arm seam and ad more width to the skirt and it would be perfect.

Then we went to the store to pick out her fabric.
Due to lack of both time and funds we decided on some cheaper cotton twill in a lovely teal blue color, combined with purple for the stomacher and white fake fur collar – from my stash.
The dress should probably be made in lovely thin wool or heavy silk brocade to look it’s very best, but I’m convinced no one will notice our small budget, and if it men the dress is done in time and looks nice I think it’s the best choice to make.
the selected fabric

Once home again I immediately started to pin the pattern to the fabric for the cutting.
measuring the biggest possible size of the gores

Then I begun the daunting task of pinning all the (huge) pieces together.The back pieces pinned together.

And finished the night by hand sewing the base of the Burgundian Hening in front of the TV.

(Fitting (0,5) + Fabric shopping (1) + Cutting (1) + pinning/sewing (2) = 5 hours)

Tuesday:
When I got home from work on Thursday I immediately started to sew the dress together, pinning and pressing as I went.
The time flied and by the end of the night I had a pretty decent looking dress (thank good for sewing machines and sergers)
The basic dress stitched together

Once the night fell I once more seated myself in my favorite couch to put some more work into the hat.
Adding bias-tape round the edges and covering it with glued on batting.

(Sewing dress together (2) + Hat (2) = 4 hours)

Wednesday:
On Wednesday I focused on getting the collar done to get the dress as finished as possible for the final fitting on Thursday.
I sewed the collar to the neckline and carefully pinned the fur pieces on top, attaching the by hand.

Then I finished the cuffs and attached the sleeves.

I also started covering the hat with black fake silk.

(collar (2) + hat (1) = 3 hours)

Thursday:
I meet with my sister once more to try the almost finished dress, and to determent the length of the skirt.
I love the look of this whole outfit

Once my sister left, I got to work on cutting the hem.
I really wanted to make it by hand, but time was running out and I still had the head-dress to finish so I took the easy (fast) way out and machine stitched it.

(Fitting (0,5) + hemming (0,5) + hat (2) = 4 hours)

Friday:
With the dress finished I got to work on the hat, adding the front “loop” and the lining. I finished by attaching a sheer veil (my 18th century fichu) at the top.

The I steamed the whole outfit, and put it on my dress-form for some nice pictures “finished”.

(Finishing = 3 Hours)

Saturday:
I re-pressed and packed all her garments, dressed in my cotiehardie and traveled to the fair – leaving home 08.00 pm.

More Pics from the Event and photoshoot is in the works.

(pressing, packing and dressing = 0,5 hours)

(Summary: 1 + 2,5 + 5 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 0.5 = 24 hours)

The Finished Hat:

The Finished Dress:

The facts:

What: a 15th century Burgundian gown and hat.

Pattern: I drafted my own using “The Medieval Tailor Assistant” as a guide and my modern bodice templates as a base.
For the hat I refereed to lots of picture sources online this being the main one.

Fabric & Notions: 4 m of teal cotton twill, 0,3m purple cotton twill for the stomacher, 0,3m white fake fur, and thread.
For the hat I used 0,3m black fake silk, 0,3m buckram, pieces of batting, cotton scraps for lining, 0,5m polyester chiffon for the veil (I used my 18th century fichu), 1m of millinery wire and thread.

Time: 24 hours including fittings and millinery-work.

Cost: About 300Sek (48usd) although some of teh material came from my stash so we didn’t pay that much up front.

Final thoughts: I’m so happy with how it came out, And I think my sister also loves it – at least she looked quite happy and confident at the event yesterday…
The only thing that may need some fixing is to lengthen the sleeves about 1 cm, which I in my hurry to finish cut to short – ops.
But the worst thing is – Now I have to buy some nice wool (or brocade silk, oh my) to make myself one of these gowns….