HSM21 Challenge 9: closures - from hook and eye to lacing

 When I wore my green 16th century gown in the autumn for a photoshoot with Dalarnas museum, well I could only look down on the original closure and realize it didn't work anymore. The original was made from two long strips of fabric with hooks and eyes that I had sewn on. It didn't work for several reasons. 

1. it was really fiddly to get all the hooks and eyes together, I almost always needed help to get into the dress. When I made it I had also miscalculated, so there were too many hooks, and it was uneven.

2. some years of struggling with the hooks and eyes had also made the stitches that held the strips to the dress itself starting to become undone.

3. I had struggled also because I have gained quite a lot of weight since I first made the dress and the hooks and eyes where under a lot of strain to keep the dress closed.

Another reason why I wasn't happy with it was because of how I had sewn the border of orange fabric over the closure. It was floppy, and it simply didn't look good. Since I came from an 18th century sewing background I had closed it with pins, but since I made it I have developed my skills in 16th century sewing quite a lot.

For the evening outside I knew that I wanted to wear my mustard kirtle under the gown. The gown is made to fit over my very tight, almost corsetlike undergown though, I knew that that was simply no way that I would be able to close the green dress, while wearing warm underwear and a good quality wool kirtle. I finally had a really big incentive to actually replace the hooks and eyes.

Above is the original strip with hooks and eyes. It has come loose from the bottom. Hooks and eyes were used in the time period, but if I were to use them again I would use bigger and sturdier ones, or get hold of replicas. I would also sew them on so that the hooks and eyes alternated.

I basically had one day to fix the closure. I cut out two strips of heavy, felted wool that I had at hand. I folded them double and used that as the lacing strip. This wool is a lot heavier than the green of the dress, but I wanted to have something that would really hold the lacing. I also made sure to make the lacing strip a bit wider, so that would help me increase the width of the whole dress. The lacing holes are not my most beautiful ones, but I am happy that I can now make a set of lacing holes in a day. They are made for spiral lacing, and there are 3 cm between each hole, but since they cross over to the other side it's only 1,5 cm to the next hole on the other side. This is just about the biggest distance I can have between the lacing holes. I will see if it works, but I might go back and make new lacing strips with less distance between the holes. That's the beauty of lacing strips though, they are easy to replace and you don't need to redo the whole dress.

The orange border down the front was removed and I sewed the lacing strips on with small backstitches. 

Thankfully I still had scraps of the orange fabric so I cut out new borders for the front and sewed them on over the lacing strips. The borders and the lacing strips are also stitched together with some stitches just out to the border from every lacing hole. When lacing the lace is treaded between the holes, where there is an opening between the lacing strip and the orange border.

This is what the new opening looks like. For the original orange border I had made an angled seam between the border of the neckline and the border going down the front. For this new closure I simply just but the border up to the top of the neckline, leaving a straight seam between them. This is something that is seen in original paintings, even if it's more common that the neckline border goes over the front borders. 

So why did I go for lacing instead of adding new hooks and eyes? Two reasons. 

I have gained weight and it's a lot more comfortable and easier to adjust the lacing. Sometimes I want it looser sometimes tighter. This also allows me to use different kirtles under the gown, with the hooks and eyes I could only wear it with my tightest kirtle, which is also the least historically correct kirtle. 

It's also so much easier and faster to close a dress with lacing, compared to hooks and eyes. I have really good trick for lacing that I'm happy to share, because I have never seen anyone do it like this.

I use a u pin, that you usually have in your hair. Put the lace at the bend of the pin.

And then simply pull the pin through the lacing holes. The u-pin is long and rigid enough that it's easy to tread. If there is a small lacing hole it's just a matter of squeezing the u-pin so it gets thin enough to get through. It doesn't have any sharp ends, unlike a needle, so it doesn't snag on any fabrics. 

With the help of a u-pin I can easly lace myself up in a gown, much faster than when I have tried to fiddle with hooks and eyes.

Just the facts

What the item is: amset of lacing strips
How it fits the challenge: I switched out one kind of closure (hooks and eyes) for another one (lacing with handmade lacing holes) Giving new life to a dress that was getting too tight and worn out around the old closure.
Material: 20x30 cm of felted wool
Pattern: no pattern,  just two long pieces of fabric folded double.
Year: 16th century
Notions: waxed linen thread
How historically accurate is it? 90% (much better than when it was closed with modern hooks and eyes)
Hours to complete: 6 
First worn: For an evening outdoors January 23rd
Total cost: this was made from scraps, so even if buying new probably not more than $5.

HSM21: Challenge 6 on your head - a 17th century hood

 For our little get together outside yesterday I wanted to have something on my head to keep warm. My 16th century wulsthaube and hood are made of linen, and linen does nothing to keep you warm. I really wanted to make something from wool. Without any source for 16th century wool headwear I decided to go for 17th century. This was not an event where historical accuracy was important, so I'd rather be warm than correct. One day I am going to make 17th century clothes as well, so I might as well start.

In Dutch paintings from the middle of the 17th century one can find quite a few black hoods, especially for winterwear.

Old woman reading, by Rembrandt

Winter by Hollar

The black hood also shows up on women in the series of townscriers of London, from the second half of the 17th century.

I have not done a lot of indepent research on the black hoods, so I recommend reading the Costume Historian's Women's hoods 1600-1690. Nicole Kipar also had a great site with resources for the middle of the 17th century, and that is where I found the inspiration for my pattern. Even if I didn't use it exactly.

What I could pick up from a quick glance is that the hood was worn as outerwear. It is possibly a regional fashion for the Netherlands and England, rather than a general European fashion. It is always black. In the middle of the 17th century it was not a very fashionable thing, mostly worn by older women and lower class women. The painting by Rembrandt shows that the hood could be lined with fur. For many of the black and white drawings it's hard to see if the hood is lined or not. I get a sense that they are lined, but since I did not have any dark, suitable fabrics available I decided to do an unlined hood.

My pattern was very much decided by the piece of fabric I had. It was the last remnant of fabric from when I made my Enfys Nest cape. It's a black felted wool. _The top is placed on fold. The width is 48 cm, this was pretty long but since _I was going to wear it over my wulsthaube I exaggerated it a bit. The short backside is 25 cm, and then I cut the fabric in an angle. After I had a straight angle I recut it a bit to get the little point of fabric. I would have preferred to have the point be a bit longer, but that was where my fabric ended.

For yesterday I simply gathered the back and wore the hood with unfinished edges. I felt that it worked really well though, so today I took away the gathering and redid the hood with better finished.

I hemmed everything except the back. I did a single fold and then added a dark grey wool thread as a filler thread. I do not know if this was a technique that was used in the 17th century, but I felt that it's much prettier than just the single fold. Sewing with black thread on black fabric was not fun, it felt like I had to sew more by touch than by eye, so it took the whole day to do the hems.

This is the full piece, with three edges hemmed, but the short backside is unhemmed.

The back was gathered. For all sewing I use black, waxed linen thread.

I gathered the back as much as I could and tied the gathering threads together, this made the back form a loop, with a tiny opening in the middle.

To close the opening I sewed it shut, under the gathering thread.

The finshed hood stays in place even if I don't tie it under the chin. The head is wearing my wulsthaube under the hood.

Back of the hood

Profile view

The straps are just long enough to tie under the chin. It would have been better if they had been just a bit longer.

This is what the hood looked like when I wore it, without the finished edges. 

What the item is: a 17th century winter hood
How it fits the challenge: It's a hood to wear as outerwear to protect against the weather

Material: ca 1 m of black felted wool
Pattern: My own, with inspiration from Nicole Kipar's patterns of 17th century hoods
Year: mid 17th century
Notions: grey wool yarn and black linen thread
How historically accurate is it? 75% The pattern is there, I'm just not sure if the hood should have bene lined or not, and if a filler thread would have been used when hemming.

Hours to complete: 4
First worn: Yesterday for an evening outside in historical wear with some friends
Total cost: Everything from stash, but the fabric would have cost around $10.

Surviving winter in 16th century clothing (kind of)

 Before the pandemic there were a lot of plans for events in the winter of 2020-2021. They have been cancelled, so even if I had planned to make clothes for winter, I never really got to it. Well this weekend I had the chance to spend an evening with some friends outdoors, and we wanted to do it in 16th century garb. It's January, and even if it's a mild winter it still means temperatures around freezing and snow on the ground.

When I got dressed I actually got so warm that I almost panicked. I wanted to go outside as fast as possible before overheating. These photos are from when I got back home, and here I was also in a hurry to get undressed as quick as possible since it was so warm to wear it all inside. The lightning in my apartment is also dreadful. But still I hope it can give some idea of what I wore outside. I can also say that I was really warm the whole evening.

The outermost layer was my furlined cape, a wool loose hood and leather mittens. The hood is not a 16th century pattern. It's a type of hood that is common on Dutch paintings from the middle of the 17th century, and it's also seen in the lower classes in England in the second half of the 17th century. I asked in a facebook group for 16th century reenactment if anyone had seen hoods like this, and apparently there is one in Drei Schnittbücher, which means second half of the 16th century and in the southern German-speaking areas. I wanted to wear it, even if I can't find any sources for it. The thing is when it's cold and windy, linen is not a good option. If linen gets wet it actually cools you down, which can be really nice on a hot summer day, but here I wanted a wool outer layer to protect from the wind and the cold. I will continue to search for outer hoods from the 16th century, but for comfort's sake I have this 17th century hood on. The mittens I'm wearing are also modern mittens, but they look very similar to historical mittens.

The main layer is my green wool dress, since it's the only longsleeved wool gown that I have at the moment. I was in a real hurry, because I was so warm, when I got dressed that I missed several lacing holes when I was lacing up, that's why it's so uneven at the front. The sleeves are really tight, so it was a struggle to get dressed, but once I had wriggled into them they are really nice. I do think  I will try to enlarge them though, so I don't have to struggle quite as much. The tight cuffs are good, because that means that no cold get inside the sleeves. On the head I'm wearing a linen hood and wulsthaube. 

The last of the historical layers was my highnecked shift and mustard kirtle. When I undressed I noticed that the lacing had come undone at the bottom, normally it's laced fully closed. My cuffs had also come undone when I wriggled to get into the sleeves of the green dress. Also under my hood and wulsthaube I have my hair plaited and wrapped around my head.

The bottom layer was a fully modern set of warm undergarments, a longsleeved top and leggings. I'm not wearing a bra, the kirtle gives me all the support I need and a better historical silhouette. Over the leggings I'm also wearing a pair of loose three quarter length yogapants, tucked into the hose. More layers are good. I am wearing my sewn hose that goes up to the knee. The least historical part is that I'm wearing a pair of modern snowboots. They are hardly visible under the skirts. I don't have any proper historical boots or shoes that I can wear a pair of hose in. For a historical event I would propbably wear a pair of more neutral boots, but this was just a nice evening with friends and then I really wanted to stay warm and dry. 

The important thing when wearing clothes in low temperatures is to have many layers, and keep your feet warm and dry. For even better historical winterwear I would switch out as much of the linen as possible. I am already planning a new dress that I will not line at all with linen, but just use wool. I should probably switch the linen shift for a thin wool underdress as well. Until there are a lot omre events taking place in the winter I'm not sure that I want to invest in that though. These clothes kept me really warm the whole evening. The one body part that got a bit colder than the rest was my lower arms. I should probably look into making a 16th century jacket to get more arm protection.

I found some inspiration

 As I mentioned in my posts about costume plans for the year I have had problem finding inspiration. I have really enjoyed my cross stitch embroidery, but I can't keep doing neck decorations and cuffs, I simply don't need so many shifts. I started thinking about needing a larger embroidery project, that could be something different, and then inspiration struck.

I found this portrait. It's from Philadelphia Museum of Art, but you can't link direktly to their image so I had to go via pinterest. It's attributed to the artist Martin Schaffner, who was active in Ulm, and it's dated to around 1520. Now Ulm is in Baden-Würtemberg so a lot further south than the areas that I prefer to take inspiration from, but this whole outfit fits well with the quite generic early 1520's fashion that I like. It has a rounded neckline instead of squre, the sleeves are quite wide (that would set it apart from my green long-sleeved gown), the shift has embroidery both at the neckline and cuffs. I really like the burgundy guard around the neck and sleeve openings. Even if I'm not a huge fan of brown I had planned to make a brown, or at least more somber, gown in the future so it fits there as well. What's really special is that embroidery on her hood, but that is also something I would really like to make. And by now I have so many wulsthaubes so if I feel that the embroidery is a bit too strange for Sweden, I can wear something else. 

I don't have a specifik deadline for the project, I don't really need a new shift, gown or hood, but that is also what I enjoy. I can now have a goal so that I have something to plan, but I can do it when I feel for it. It's even possible that I won't even get started on this until next year.

Another embroidery thing I started thinking about is the jedi librarian. A jedi librarian has a geometric pattern to the obi and tabards. I have had a hard time finding a fabric with a pattern that I like, but if I decide to embroider the pattern, then I can decide it by myself.

Jocasta Nu is the most famous jedi librarian.

Embroidery for a new shift

 At the moment I don't a lot of inspiration for anything big, but at the same time I have spent a lot of time in the sofa watching TV, and I want something to do with my hands. Earlier in the autumn I started an embroidery to make a shift for my 1520s courtgown. I soon realized that I wouldn't be able to finish it before my deadline, and I had to concentrate on the gown and hood. Well this weekend I decided to finish the embroidery. I don't have a deadline for this shift, so I will take it as project in my own time, trying to just enjoy the process without having to stress so much.

For this embroidery I used gold coloured filament silk. I bought it from DeVere yarns since I find their selection of both thicknesses and colours of silk is the best that I have seen. I really hope there won't be too many problems with shipping now after Brexit if I want to order from them again. I ordered ther nr 12 thread, but that was too fine. I have to use four strands instead of two for the thread to cover the fabric. Using double the amount of strands also brings double the amount of tangling. Another thing I realized is how much harder on the eyes it is to work with the light gold coloured thread, compared to the black silk I used for the remake of my 16th century shift. While I could do the embroidery with just my eyes in black, for this embroidery I'm using the kind of magnifying glass you can hang around your neck. That works really well though, even if I feel a bit like a very old lady when using it.

The pattern is from a 1526 patternbook from Augsburg, and it is available here. I thought the heart pattern was really cute, and it was fun to work something less geometrical compared to the blackwork I did in December.

Historical Sew Monthly 2021

 The HSM will continue in 2021. The overall theme for this year is "fiction" and if you can you should try and connect the project to either a fictional character or a persona. This will be a bit of problem for me when it comes to my 16th century costuming, since I try to base that more on "real" people than on fiction. On the other hand the 1796 project is smack in the right period for anything Jane Austen inspired, or the Scarlet Pimpernel which I adored as child. It's also the time period when my all time favorite opera - The Magic Flute, was done, and right now I'm thinking that it would be so much fun to be able to recreate a costume connected to the Magic Flute. 

January: Joy: Create an item that brings you joy, or that epitomises the joy you find in historical costuming.

This is very open, so I will probably save this for when I have a hard time coming up with something.

February: The Roaring 20s: Make something from the 20s (any century) or that somehow incorporates a number in the 20s.

This sounds like a good fit for my new 1520s gown.

March: Small is beautiful: Little things can make a big difference to the finished look. Make something small but perfect (bonus points if it exclusively uses materials purchased from a small business)

No idea

April: The Costumer’s New Look: Give an old costume a new look, either by creating a new accessory or piece which expands or changes the aesthetic and use of an outfit, re-fashioning something into a costume item, or re-making an old costume.

No idea

May: Purple: Make an item in any shade of purple.

I cleared out my stash of purple fabrics for two of the 2020 challenges, but I will see if I have some scraps left to do anything.

June: On Your Head: Create an item you wear on your head.

For the 1796 ball I will need something to wear on my head, and I really like 1790s turbans. I don't really feel a need for any new 16th century headwear.

July: Like a Melody: Make something inspired by music.

If I'm going to a ball, I guess that can be done as inspired by music.

August: Cite Your Sources: We’re always a fan of research in the HSM, but this time it’s the centre of the challenge. Create something that requires research to get it right. Be thoughtful in your choice and use of research sources, and (of course) be sure to share your research sources along with your make!

No idea

September: Closures: This one is all about how you fasten a garment. Try a new type of closure you’ve never done (time to tackle dog-legged plackets, hand-sewn eyelets or pinning yourself in?) or make something where the focus is on the fastenings.

No idea

October: Orange: It’s the final colour to be covered by a colour challenge! Make something orange.

I have a lot of scraps of orange/gold silk velvet both from princess Daisy and the courtgown project, something small from that.

November: Zero Waste: Make something that creates zero waste. You could either sew a garment like a shift that uses clever geometry to use all the fabric, re-make an old costuming item to extend its life, or create something entirely from re-used materials.

No idea

December: All the World’s a Stage: Make something inspired by theatre, opera, or the modern stage: films & tv.

If I'm going to do anything related to the Magic Flute, this will be the challenge for that.

Costume plans 2021

 After all the looking back at 2020 it's time to look forward to 2021. As of writing I don't really have any big plans ahead. The more I get into recreating history, and not just doing the costuming, I get more and more into things that I need to be comfortable in a camp. That will probably affect my costuming, since I'm hoping that the outdoor medieval events will resume this year. For cosplay I will probably just push the 2020 projects into 2021, and see if I get inspiration for them.

Historical costuming

I have material for a new 1520s gown. This would be a simple gown suitable for the local middle.

A wool nightgown. I need something to sleep in at camp without freezing.

A simple shift. All my current 16th century shifts have a lot of smocking and embroidery. I want to make a tighter shift that doesn't get so bulky under the gown, and with a simple shift I could start to make more partlets and other details to go over it.

A pair of hose. I have my red pair, but that was really just a test version. The seams are too bulky to fit in medieval shoes, so I would like to make a new pair with neater seams.

Finishing the court gown project. I still have the cape to finish for the court gown, I have also cut out pieces for an embroidered shift for it, so I should try and finish those.

A 1796 ballgown - with stays and petticoats. On September 4th there will be a ball set in 1796, but the same organizers that had the 1762 ball that I attended with my Lady Poe gown. That ball was so much fun that I really want to go to this one. I really need to update my late 18th century wardrobe, since all the stays and gowns have shrunk mysteriously. I hope to be able to use my late 18th century stays, so I don't have to make new ones, and can concentrate on the more fun outer pieces. At the moment I'm thinking about using my favorite opera The Magic Flute as inspiration, since it premiered in 1791.

I have been looking around for fashion plates and extant gowns, and I want to do something similar to this. A simple white gown, an open robe and a turban. 

This portrait by Louis Gauffier is also really beautiful

Cosplay projects

I will see what events will happen. I want to finish the Daisy project that I started last year, a princessy Days and not the winter Daisy, and after that it's probably the jedi librarian that will be my priority.

The half-finished Daisy costume.

Favorite photos of 2020

Even without events I had the chance to get in costume a few times, and here are my favorite photos of 2020.

Three trips up to the Ingvara Viking camp during the summer were the best escape from the rest of 2020 during the summer. Also I finally photos of my Viking garb. 

It was magical to be able to take tea in the salon of Hildasholm, on the original furniture and china of the Munthe family.

Swedish summer light is magic, this is quite late in the evening. I love how the yellow and red colours pop out, without any filters.

It's so great to see the result of what a professional photographer can create
Photo by Johan Falkenström

This is my absolute favorite photo of the whole year!
Photo by Johan Falkenström

The mine is a great background, but especially in a bright orange gown. Of course I take every chance I can to go to work like this.

This photoshoot made me think it was fun to dress as trossfrau again. Hopefully the exhibition with the photo will be able to open some time in 2021 (it should have opened in 2020)

HSM 2020 review

 As I mentioned in some of my earlier posts, I finished all the HSM challenges this year, even if I feel that many of them were pretty small things. I was also greatly helped by the change of format, that allowed us to do the challenges any time during the year, instead of a specific month. Here's a review of all the the things I did for the HSM in 2020. 

Challenge 1 - Time travel

Create an item that works for more than one historical era, or that can be used for both historical costuming, and modern wear. It could be an apron that could do 1770s or 1860s in a pinch, a shift that can work under many decades of fashion, or a historical cape you also wear everyday, etc.

A simple white neckerchief

 Challenge 2 - re-use

Use thrifted materials or old garments or bedlinen to make a new garment. Mend, re-shape or re-trim an existing garment to prolong its life.

I used an old pillow to make a stomacher, and a fake 16th century shift was turned into a more accurate 18th century chemise.

Challenge 3 - green

Make something in a shade or shades of green. If you can also make it ‘green’ in the figurative sense, even better!

An Elizabethan sweetbag with goldwork

Challenge 4 - local

Support your local industry and your local history by making something that (as much as possible) uses materials made locally, or purchased from local suppliers, or that features a garment specific to your part of the world.

An 1890's blouse

Challenge 5 - basic

Make a garment that can be used for many occasions (like a shift, or the classic ‘Regency white dress’), or a simple accessory that will help you stretch the use of an already existing garment.

The basic item for any 1920´s wardrobe is a one-hour-dress

Challenge 6 - it's only natural

Make something inspired by nature, or use natural fibres and materials in a way that stretches your usual practice (e.g. natural dyeing, using cane instead of plastic whalebone for corsets/stays etc.). Or challenge yourself and do both!

 

An ealry 16th century wulsthaube, stuffed with wool

 Challenge 7 - no buy

Make something without buying anything. Whether it’s finishing off a UFO, using up scraps of fabric from earlier challenges in the year, sewing entirely from stash, or finding the perfect project for those small balls of yarn, this is your opportunity to get creative without acquiring more stuff.

Edwardian underwear

Challenge 8 - Celebration

Make something for a specific historical celebration, make something generally celebration worthy, make something that celebrates a historical hero, or just make something that celebrates some new skills you’ve learned.

The 1520 court gown

Challenge 9 - sewing secret

Hide something in your sewing, whether it is an almost invisible mend, a make-do or unexpected material, a secret pocket, a false fastening or front, or a concealed message (such as a political or moral allegiance).

The 1916 skirt

Challenge 10 - get crafty

Make use of your own skills or learn a new one to make something from scratch rather than buy material. The possibilities for learning and applying new skills and techniques are endless. Lace, pleated self-fabric trim, knotted fly trim, embroidery, dyeing, knitting your own corset laces, hand painting your own fabric…

Medieval cloth buttons

Challenge 11 - go green glow up

Be environmentally friendly and celebrate how your making skills have ‘glowed-up’ as you’ve used and practiced them by taking apart an early make of yours that no-longer represents your making skills, and re-making it so you’d be proud to use it. It can be as elaborate as a total re-make, or as simple as getting the ribbons or buttons you didn’t have time to source at first. You could even take something from a challenge made earlier in the year, and fix the tiny things you weren’t totally happy with.

 

The updated late 1520's shift

Challenge 12 - community 

 It is the season of giving. Create an item that honours or supports the communities around you, whether Real Life or online

A fur-lined cape

 And here are what I thought about some of the projects.

Most surprising project - I never thought that I would make anything 1920's.

Hardest challenge - Local. I had to go to the only fairly local fabric store and do several rounds around it before I found a fabric that I could use. When I had the fabric I could decide on the project. It's a great fabric store if you want jersey fabrics or new curtains, not so much for historical sewing.

The challenge I learnt the most from - It's only natural. It was fascinating to go all the way from a bag of raw an dirty wool to a finished wulsthaube.

The cheat - I still think my challenge 2 entry was a stretch. In hindsight I would have put my petticoat from the no-buy challenge there instead.

The thing I would never have done without the HSM - I would probably not have updated the 1520s shift, instead I would have stopped using it and made a totally new one instead.