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Dress Accessories
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Made for my Elevation, Canterbury Faire, February 2008 I love shoulder cloaks of the late sixteenth century. I can spend hours looking at them, so of course I jumped at the chance to make one for my elevation. The cloak is made in a half circle, with some shaping around the neck. I chose to shave the lower front edges to ensure a flat hem when the cloak is worn around both shoulders. Green cotton velveteen was used for the outer fabric, while the cloak is lined in dark green linen. The 1cm wide fringing that follows the hem and centre front edges is multiple layers of that same linen, stitched into the edge seam, trimmed and then frayed to create a plush fringe. The collar is stiffened at the centre back (with some ancient boning in place of an iron strip) as mentioned in Patterns of Fashion and then edged with metal thread cord. The decorations, applied evenly around the hem, are gold appliques in the form of laurel wreaths and fleur de lys. An additional laurel wreath applique is positioned over the left side of the heart. The extant garments that most influenced this cloak
are:
Completed March 2008 It turns out that embroidered and pearled voided velvet just doesn't suit every occasion. Who knew? So with that and the left over fake fur in mind, I made myself a new, less posh muff. This muff deviates from period practice as it can be turned inside out to suit fashions from different countries. (For example French and English muffs have their fur on the inside while Germany appears to prefer fur on the outside.) By undoing the four thread covered buttons along the bottom edge, I can turn the muff inside out to suit whichever fashion I am wearing. Honey coloured fake fur was used because it was on hand, and inky blue-black wool was picked because it worked well with the fur. The muff is interlined with some hideous pink and purple plaid wool and a layer of "compressed wool" (what they call compressed dacron these days) to provide body. All the layers were carefully tacked together before the edges of the wool and fur were turned over and stitched in place. Having experienced winter events in Darton, this muff was made specifically for May Crown. Only leftovers from other projects were used in this creation.
Completed June 2007 The outer shell of this muff is burgundy voided velvet that has been backed with gold shot silk. The velvet pattern has been further decorated with gold thread embroidery (stem stich) and beading (pearls), techniques which have also served to secure the delicate velvet to the silk and sturdy backing fabric. The use of additional surface decoration, particularly pearl beading, is seen in the portrait of Elizabeth Verney, although the amount of decoration here was limited by the stock of pearls of a suitable size on hand. Following the examples of the above portrait, and the 1572 London map, this hand warmer has a fur lining that is also used to "bind" the hand openings. Honey coloured fur was chosen as it best accentuated the velvet and silk combination used for the outer shell of the muff. The lack of availability of real fur in a suitable colour lead me to use fake fur. I have also made a cord that allows the muff to be suspended from my neck or belt when not in use, as seen in the afore mentioned London map. This cord is removable to allow greater versatility. This accessory was made with Mid-Winter Coronation (2007) in mind and
was inspired by a number of different late 16th Century portraits, but
most particularly the following English sources:
Completed March 2007 Made of bone and silver toned metal, this paternoster is based on an image found online. The 16th century patermoster is also discussed on Chris Laning's Paternoster Blog, where it is described as probably being of Mexican origin. I thought that such a morbid piece made in 'New Spain' seemed a suitable paternoster for Isabel Maria. The skull beads are made of bone and were purchased locally. Sadly
these skulls are not as
Originally made for the Beowulf Event, October 2004 (right) This poor belt was rather abused in my most recent house shift, and consequently fell apart in my hands while unpacking. I have subsequently used that as the cue to remodel the belt as I had been planning. The plaques were originally butted against one another and held in position by jump rings (see right). This proved unsuitable as the torque placed on the rings by the way the belt follows the pointed waist continually opened the jump rings and caused the belt to break. I have since separated the plaques with a large pearl rather than jump rings and the shape of the belt is actually better controlled resulting in a much more secure cintura. While the original version fastened with narrow black cotton tape tied at the back of the waist, the positive experience with wider ribbon ensured that 1" wide black ribbon was used here
Completed for Rowany Festival, April 2006 A jewelled belt to complete the red Spanish Tourney gown. The point is an inexpensive brooch, while the silver 'plaques' are from a group of bracelets I managed to purchase in bulk during a jewellery sale. The pearls are the last of my Estrella hoard, while the red beads were purchased for a viking necklace, and the silver beads were purchased specifically for this project. The findings above are stitched to a sturdy base of shaped canvas reinforced with petersham and covered with white bias binding. After attaching the findings I covered the back with another layer of white bias binding. Lacking a decent clasp that could take the weight of this fairly hefty belt, it ties in back using inch wide white ribbon. (And just in case anyone is concerned about the colour of the belt, I did run this past a member of the Order of the Chivalry before completing it. It was deemed "spekky", and otherwise OK.)
Completed for shopping at Estrella, March
2000 This pouch has proved itself to be almost the ideal shopping companion as it holds a huge amount of ‘stuff’ and doesn’t complain if you spend an hour looking at jewellery. Constructed from fine black corduroy with white cotton lining, it uses a drawstring closure and was based on one in Meistern Christian’s collection. The strap is made of stamped leather and has a buckle that allows the pouch to be worn at variable positions depending on the belt or gown it is worn with. Sir Vitale made the strap specifically for this pouch, and it attaches using a D-ring stitched to the back of the pouch.
Completed some time in 1998 A fully lined linen pouch designed to sit just below knee level. It is most often worn discretely, hanging off my belt under my surcoat or overgown. Using a hand lucetted drawstring that I made myself, this pouch is highly functional, and based on a selection of period images. This is a pouch I like to remove before dancing, particularly if it contains coins or merry merry milk maids is on the cards. |
Late 16th Century
Shoulder Cloak
Another Late 16th Century Fur Lined Hand
Warmer
Late 16th Century Fur Lined Hand Warmer
Paternoster
Late 16th Century Spanish Belt or 'cintura'
Late 16th Century Spanish Belt or 'cintura'
Early 16th Century
German Pouch
Gothic
Pouch
