What the apprentice wore- Kirtle completed

The kirtle has been completed and just needs a good pressing.

Front of garment

Inside of garment

 

What the apprentice wore- Pad Stitching part 2

…”Nor wear any silk lace or guard upon her gown, kirtle, waistcoat or petticoat, or any other garments, safe only a cape of velvet; nor any fardingal at all, either little or great, nor any body or sleeves of wire, whalebone or with any other stiffing, saving canvass or buckram only.” [1]

Pad stitching back panel- Notice the stitches are bigger and further apart. I don’t need as much support in the back.

Completed right side

[1] Some account of the Worshipful company of grocers of the city of London- BY BARON HEATH (John Benjamin Heath)

 

What the apprentice wore- Pad Stitching

…”Nor wear any silk lace or guard upon her gown, kirtle, waistcoat or petticoat, or any other garments, safe only a cape of velvet; nor any fardingal at all, either little or great, nor any body or sleeves of wire, whalebone or with any other stiffing, saving canvass or buckram only.“[1]

Lack of bodies that have boning, reed or whalebone cuts down on the number of things that can be used to create breast support. Fortunately, canvas and buckram are fairly stiff and can be pad stitched. For this project I am using linen canvas. Smaller stitches provide greater support. I was dubious that this was going to work. But it has produced a layer that is much stronger with the pad stitching. And after a couple dozen stitches, I finally started getting the hang of it. Guidleines helped immensely.  I have one of 4 front panels completed. It took about 2 hours.

Basted with guidelines

Back side (which is actually the front as you sew it)

Front side- this will be next to the shift.

 

What the apprentice wore- Coif

“That none should wear on her head any lawn, cambrick, tiffany, velvet lawn, or white silk wires, either in any kerchief, koyfe, crest cloth, or shaddow, nor any linnen cloth therein, saving such linen cloth only, as should not exceed 5s. the ell, nor any lace or edging upon the same or any part thereof“… [1]

English ell is equal to 5⁄4 yard, or 1 ell= 1.25 yards.

£1 = 20 shillings (s)
1s = 12 pence/penny (d)

Measuring Worth [2], calculates a 16th century £1 = £199.10 in 2014 values. In US dollars £1 = $1.57, or $321.54 to £1 in the 16th century. [2] This mean a female would be restricted to linen that is under 5s per ell or modernly, $62.22 per 1.25 yards.

Linen used in this project retails for $9.75. It is a nice medium weight linen, with an even weave. It performs well in a work environment and holds up well under repeated laundering. I am using a basic woman’s coif pattern as seen in extant examples.
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O251169/coif-unknown/

Here is the completed coif and forehead cloth.

The edges have been left unadorned as per the requirement:
“nor any lawne, velvet, tiffany, cobweblawne, nor white silk cipres at all, other than about their neck or otherwise ; nor any linnen cloth but of the price of 5s. the ell, or lace or edging whatsoever, but plain hem and one stitch “[1]

[1] Some account of the Worshipful company of grocers of the city of London- BY BARON HEATH  (John Benjamin Heath)
[2] Lawrence H. Officer and Samuel H. Williamson, “Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1270 to Present,” MeasuringWorth, 2015. http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/relativevalue.php

 

What the apprentice wore

As part of my A&S path, I am trying to put together a proper clothing kit for “Alesone.” She is a Grocer’s apprentice in 16th century London, England. There are a number of statutes she would be bound to follow, from class to trade for what she would be allowed to wear.  I am starting this dress diary to track the progress of her apprentice clothing. Let’s begin with what restrictions were placed upon her. https://sugarwricht.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/apprentices/.

And as with the other diaries, we begin with the intended design.This is a blue kirtle with a dark gray over dress. Starched whites complete the outfit. This represents a middle class English woman, appropriate to time, place, and station.

Design based upon the illustration by Lucas de Heere, Drawing of Four Citizen’s Wives, from his manuscript Corte Beschryuinghe van Engheland, Schotland, ende Irland, c.1574 located here.

 

Reminder

Just a reminder that all of my confectionery work has been moved to it’s own blog. All my conserves, syrups, paste, persona and science experiments relating to confections can be found at http://sugarwricht.wordpress.com.

 

“Period” shoes

I have Charcot Marie Tooth (CMT), which I’ve had all my life. I have had a number of surgeries to stablize my feet, that make finding shoes difficult. I wear skateboard shoes pretty much all day, every day. Finding shoes for late period SCA is even harder. I’ve tried many different types of shoes, all with limited success. I am a reasonably good costumer, but often get comments on how my shoes detract from the over all appearance of my clothes.  I am also a sword fighter.  I need close toed shoes with reasonable arch support in order to fence on grass and uneven surfaces.

On the Elizabethan costuming FB group, someone posted a link for how to modify a pair of loafers into a period-esq latchet shoe. Loafers generally do not pass the CMT shoe flex test, so I needed something with a bit less flex. I modified a pair of black/black vans to simulate a latchet shoe. Rather than experiment on a new pair of shoes, I took a pair of Era that I had a hard time wearing on the list (don’t mind the pennsic that is still on the shoes). They are black with black soles and laces. Only equipment needed was a black sharpie, sharp fabric scissors and a little bit of fray check.

I cut along the seam line to create the open shape of the latchet.

I had pressure points on my foot with the full tongue, so the tongue was cut into an hourglass shape.

This is the final result. Fray check the seam and use a black sharpie to blacken the red logo on the back of the shoe.

On my feet:

So far they don’t hurt and they will pass a 2-3 foot rule. I’m calling this a win as I can also fence in them. Now that I know they work, I can get the Atwood flavor of van and do the same treatment as these work best for my feet.  And I will have time to break them in for the upcoming war/fence all the things season.

Original instructions on this site https://sites.google.com/site/stbrigidshearth/pennywisepeasantloafers?hc_location=ufi

 

Bhakail Investiture 2013

Course 1
Salat 20: Cucumber salad (V, GF)
Salat 15: Asparagus salad (V, GF)
Crab 15: English pie with crab (GF option available)
Lamb 26: Lamb with sage and cherry (GF)
Soup 46: New cheese soup (V, GF)
Rye bread, butter (V)

Course 2
Pottage 107: Raspberry soup(V, GF)
Pottage 13: Peas and barley(V)
Beef 45: Roasted beef with horseradish (GF)
Fish Pie 3: Salmon in Rye bread (GF option available)
Rice 175 : Hedgehogs (V, GF, Nut free option available)
Many colored chicken

Course 3
Pastry 3- Fried cherries (V, GF option available)
Tart 8: Apricot tart (V, GF option available)
Pastry 63- Waffles

On the table
Marzipan- (V, GF)
Sugar paste Salamanders- (V, GF)
Comfits

Source material Ein new Kuchbuch 1581, M.Marxen Rumpolt/ Churf. Meintzischen.
Digitized original manuscript- http://diglib.hab.de/wdb.php?dir=drucke/2-3-oec-2f
Nutzungsbedingungen für Online-Angebote der Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel

Transliteration and Translation,by Ranvaig Weaver mka Sharon Palmer, copyright 2013

Modern recipe conversion, Wendy Marques, 2013

 

Bhakail Yule 2013

Long over due menu from Yule.

Tart of Bry	V	Brie cheese, sugar, egg, ginger, saffron, salt, crust
Cold Sage Chicken	Dg	chicken, parsley, ginger, sage, cinnamon, saffron, grains of paradise, egg, cloves, vinegar, bread
Meat Stew	Dg	beef, red wine, onion, raisin, almond, clove, pepper, ginger, mace, sage, rosemary, thyme, bread
Sallad	VDG	almonds, raisins, figs, olives, capers, currants, sugar, oil, vinegar, oranges, lemons, sage, spinach, lettuce, cucumber
Sliced Cheese	G
Course the Second:
Pies of Paris	Dg	beef, pork, red wine, stock, currants, dates, salt, ginger, sugar, pie crust
Galentyne	Dg	pork, cloves,onions, mace, lard, bread, stock, vinegar, pepper, cinnamon, salt
Asparagus	VDG	vinegar, asparagus, salt pepper
Rice of Genoa	VDG	rice, salt, stock, saffron
Buttered Worts	VG	Brussels sprouts, salt, pepper, butter
Custard	Vg	egg, cream, sugar, wheat
Course the Third:
Allos of Beef	DG	beef, sage, thyme, onion, suet (if available), salt, pepper
Chyches	VDG	chickpeas, garlic, oil, pepper, cloves, saffron, salt
Peas Royal	VDG	peas, stock, almond milk, saffron, sugar, salt
Stewed Mutton	DG	lamb, parsley, onion, wine, vinegar, pepper, cinnamon, salt, water
Eggs in Moonshine	VDG	egg, sugar, rosewater
Snowe	VG	apple, cream, sugar, rosewater, rosemary
Course the Fourth:
Brawn	DG	pork, nutmeg, white wine, ginger, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves
Blancmange	vG	rice, almond milk, chicken, salt, almond, sugar
Smothered Rabbits	Dg	rabbit, onion, currant, bread, salt, pepper, salt, vinegar
Applemuse	VG	apple, rosewater, sugar, butter, cinnamon
Poached Eggs		(ingredients forthcoming)
Rysmole	VDG	rice flour, almond, salt, sugar, ginger
Course the Fifth:
Salmon Roasted in Sauce	DG	salmon, onion, red wine, cinnamon, vinegar, salt, ginger
Chekins Farcied	DG	chicken, egg, currants, pork, parsley, sage, thyme
Gourdes in Potage	vDG	squash, onions, stock, pork, salt, sugar, cinnamon, ginger
Cabbage		cabbage, onion, cinnamon, leeks, stock
Wardons in syrup	VDG	pears, red wine, cinnamon, sugar, ginger, vinegar
Scraped Chese with Sugar	VG	Hard cheese, sugar
Course the Sixth:
Mallard	gD	duck, oil, onion, stock, wine, clove, mace, pepper, cinnamon, bread, vinegar, ginger, salt
Red Dere	GD	venison, salt, pepper, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme
Tart of Cheese	Vg	cheese, egg, cream, butter, sugar
Fumentry	VD	whole wheat, egg, almond, stock
Spinach Fritters	V	spinach, bread, egg, cinnamon, ginger, butter, sugar
Candied Citrus Peels	vGD	orange, lemon, sugar, water
Final Course (for all):
Jelly Hippocras	VDG	grape juice, sugar, clove, ginger, cinnamon, clove, coriander, salt, gelatin
Marchpane	VG	almond, sugar, rosewater, rice paper
Muscadines	VDG	rosewater, egg white, sugar, lemon, gum tragacanth, mint
Comfits	VDG	sugar, rosewater, anise seeds
Cinnamon Sticks	VDG	rosewater, egg white, sugar, lemon, gum tragacanth, cinnamon
Bread	VD	flour, water, salt, yeast

Well that was interesting. WP pulled the all the HTML formatting over from the Yule site. Thank you to Lord Reijnier Verplanck, original coder/webmaster of Bhakail’s Yule site, which still has the menu in it’s original format. http://bhakail.eastkingdom.org/yule/

 

Snow White completed

24 hours and we went from fabric to finished. Dress was constructed of silk, lined with linen. Special thanks to everyone who worked on this with me Amy (mid), Holly (mid), Eleanor (Calontir), and Patresha (mid). This is our interpretation of what Snow White would have actually worn.

Kleid (dress)
Gollar (dickie)
Goldhaube (hat)
Belt
Hose
Stock (underdress/skirt)
Hemd
Churz (apron)
Tallerbaret

We started with silk from my business trip to Thailand. We had the option of doing wool, but thought the silk would be richer in color/sheen. We ended up using gold, blue, crimson and white. We had the option to go with brighter, crayola color pallet, but chose jewel tones.

Collar and protege belt. The crescent is the EK order for service, the bear is my protege mark.

The goldhaube, 6 sheep “pearls” for CB and “royal arson” for a motto.

Sleeve construction

Here is the completed top

Getting ready

24 hours later, we had a dress