A proper winter gollar

 Winter is coming, and I need something to wear with my 16th century clothes. I decided to make a longer gollar, than my short red one. I wanted a gollar, or cape, that covered the whole upper body, and I wanted to line it with fur to make it really warm and cozy. I started to look around auction sites and second hand stores for some old furcoats that I could use for lining. I don't mind wearing fur if it's old or antique, but I don't want to buy new fur and encourage the fur industry. I didn't find anything, but I still needed the cape, so I decided to start with it anyway. For the wool outside I picked a new melton wool, which is lately felted. It's from Medeltidsmode. The fabric arrived, I cut it out, and then I forgot that I had made a bid on a mink coat on an auction site and got really surprised when I got the mail that I had won the auction. I got it dirt cheap.

The pattern for the cape is fairly simple, I have gotten it from Marlein. It's a half circle for the back piece, and the front is basically a quarter circle cut in half, so you get two 8th of a circle. There is an opening in the seam between the fronts and the back piece, so you can stick your hands out through it. 

To reuse a furcoat isn't totally easy. First I had to remove the two layers of lining, and then cut it up into pieces that were as large as possible, basically most of the fronts and the back piece. I decided to use the largest pieces of fur for the front, where they might be visible. And tht is what you can see in the photo above. 

Then I got a lot of small pieces and scraps. I was worried that there wouldn't be enough fur to line the whole cape. But I put everything out and from what I can see there should be enough fur to fully line it. I still haven't cut up the sleeves, I'm first of all planning on using them for the collar, and then as reserve pieces if I can't cover the whole inside of the cape. If you are taller than me, or want a longer cape, you might need two furcoats or a furcoat and some extra pieces. 

I started with attaching the front pieces and then the biggest pieces in the back. I'm using silk thread, and big stitchies, to make as little strucural damage to the fur as possible. I sew the pieces on by hand, and I pull the thread through part of the wool, but not all the way to the other side. The seams are not toally invisible, but the there is no thread visible on the front. This would probably have been easier if I had used a dark fabri and a thread in a similar colour.

Despite trying my best to pin everything in place I noticed that the outer fabric had gotten all these folds, it had obviously moved when I sewed the large piee of fur on. The solution was to rip up the seam fixing the fur to the wool at the neck opening and then stretch the wool upwards to get rid of the wrinkles at the bottom.

I also made sure to do this when the cape was hanging on my dressform, to mae sure that the fabric was hanging like it would when I wear it. In the photo above you can see the difference from before. 

This is how much I had to stretch the wool, from the start the fur was sewn on just 0,5 cm from the edge of the wool. This doesn't matter since I will be able to over it with the fur from the collar when I sew it on.

I still haven't gotten the inside fully covered in fur, but the next step is to make the collar and line that with fur, so that I then know exactly how much fur I will have left.

Photos for an exhbition

 On December 5th the county museum, Dalarnas museum, opens and exhibition Gustav Vasa. Gustav Vasa's adventures through Dalarna on his quest to gather followers and oust the Danish king is a big thing in Swedish history, but even more so in Dalarna. It is an ingrained part of the folk memory an folk traditions in the region, no matter if they are true or not. Then of course Gustav Vasa is seen as the creator of the modern national state of Sweden, despite also being a terrible tyrant. Anyway, there are actually two exhibits. One is a travelling exhibition about Gustav Vasa and the quest for power, the other is made by the museum and is about the myths and legends in Dalarna. our 16th century guild, that is aiming to recreate the time of Gustav Vasa was asked if we could help out with showing how people would have been dressed in the time period. And earlier this week, myself, Linnea and Kål Henrik went down to the museum and had a quick photosession.

To represent the more local people in Dalarna at the time, I'm wearing my mustard kirtle, standard apron and new linen hood, over my smallest wulsthaube. We think this could werk well with a rich farmer or smaller master miner. Kål Henrik is showing off his footsoldier/farmer soldier, and Linnea is using her German town clothing to represent a woman from the top master miners' families.

We also brought our landsknecht garb with us to show off the contrast between the local people and those foreign people who were also in the country, mostly in the hunt for Gustav Vasa. 

I usually don't do landsknecht, but it was fun to dress up. I need to redo quite a few things on my green dress that I'm not happy with, but instead of remaking it into a more local fashion I'm thinking that I will keep it as a trossfrau gown so that I have an option for doing landsknecht when it's needed.

It will be fun to see how they use our photos in the exhibitions.

Finishing the gold hood

 It's time to finish up my posts about the gold hood.

In my last post I had just finished couching down thread in all the big segments of the hood. There was still some empty space before the edge though, but not enough for a full motif. Here I had to do my own design and chose to add a pomegranate motif. It's a very common motif, and it's in embroidery on the Cranach hood that I have also used as inspiration.

I really ran out of thread when doing the pomegranates. The ones to the left were finished as I wanted to, but with the right ones I had to use viner gold passing, four threads, instead of the jap gold, two hreads, and I used pearl purl 2 and more copper pearl purl to fill in the motifs.

To fill in more of the gaps I added several enamel buttons, that are copies of finds from Sweden in approximately the right time period, I also added some rows of freshwater pearls.

The backside of the embroidery is really not beautiful. But whenever I've heard experts talk about medieval embroidery, they keep saying that the backsides are bad, and that they are even glued down. Well if glue is historically accurate, why not use it. I've painted the whole backside with regular wood glue, watered down a bit to make it easier to brush over he threads. The white tape is holding the shanks of the buttons, so that they don't wobble around.

Then it was on to finish the hood so that I could actually wear it. I lined it in a layer of quite heavy white linen, but only the areas under the embroideries. The back was just the outer linen fabric, pleated into place. The hood is held in place by two ribbons tied from just where the embroidery ends, behind my ears, and the ribbons are tucked up under the hood so that they are not visible.

When I wore the hood I'm covering it with a silk gauze veil, since most portraits of embroidered hoods show a sheer fabric over the hood.

Photo by Johan Falkenström - https://www.instagram.com/jfalkenstrom/

HSM Challenge 10 - get crafty

 This is the October challenge, so it felt good to actually finish it in the right month. This was also a total 180 degrees from my big Celebration project. This was small, cheap and quick.

October: 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…

I decided to make cloth buttons, so that I don't have to rely on bought hooks and eyes for closure of my 16th century things. 

 The fabric for the buttons started out as a wool skirt I found in a second hand store. In 2016 it was turned into my first dreadful attempt at a 16th century teller barret, and quick guards for my undergown to turn more into an outer garment. I didn't have an outer gown at the time.

Back in 2016

I never used the hat again, and earlier this year I cut it up. There was still pretty large pieces of wool, so I've kept them for small things. Like buttons. The buttons are made from this tutorial. When I use them I will probably cover them with thread, but I won't do that until I know what I'm going to use them for, so that I can match them to the project. For now they are going into the regular button box.

The Challenge: October - get crafty

Material: scraps of reen wool

Pattern:  this tutorial. 

Year: medieval

Notions: waxed linen thread

How historically accurate is it? They are so basic so they are definitely very accurate, 95% or so

Hours to complete: less than an hour

First worn: not yet

Total cost: all from stash, but probably less than $5

HSM 20: Challenge - Celebration

 This is a summary of the work with my 1520's court gown. It's been a long project. I wrote in my HSM costuming plans for 2016 that I wanted to make this gown, and now it's almost 5 years later. The years really developed my skills as a seamstress, so I'm happy that I waited until now to make it. The work on this project can be found with the tags 1520's or 1520's court gown. I've worked on the project so long that I haven't had a consistent tagging for it.

Anyway the theme for August was 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.

This ticks all the boxes. It is a gown that was made to be something that could have been worn at the coronation of Christian II in Sweden in 1520. The guests definitely thought it was something to celebrate, before the coronation was turned into the Bloodbath of Stockholm.  It is also a gown that is based on something that Christina Gyllenstierna could have worn. She is definitely one of my heroes, and she has a wiki article here if you want to read a short summary of her life. It leaves out a lot, especially in her later life, but it's enough to show what a fascinating character she is. Thirdly this project made learn goldwork, so it celebrates those skills. I still have a long way to go until I master it, but it is definitely a new skill for me.

The inspiration for the gown is the figure of Christina Gyllenstierna on the main altar piece in Västerås' Cathedral, Sweden, the only available image that was done in her lifetime. It's from 1516.

Since the cape covers so much of the figure I've also used this altarpiece from 1506 by Lucas Cranach as inspiration, not the least for the headpiece. It's available in high resolution from the digital Lucas Cranach Archive. The painting dates a bit earlier, to 1506, but it is the only one I've found with a very similar headpiece, and the simple style of the dress, without slashing, wasn't out of fashion in 1520.

I also used the Maria von Habsburg (Mary of Hapsburg as most internet sources say) gown that is dated to 1520 and has been preserved in Hungary. It's not only on display but has detailed descriptions of the pattern and the constrution published online. I couldn't quite use it straight off though, since I didn't want that open front, from what I can see of the figure there is nothing suggesting that is open in the front.

As underwear I'm using a basic shift, with an attached gold ribbon. This is a temporary solution and I am working on a new, embroidered shift. The next layer is my mustard kirtle. 

The kirtle when worn as an outer gown

The kirtle makes this a really warm costume, but it is necessary in order to make the skirt stand out from the legs, and not just hang limply.

The main gown consists of a bodice, S-sleeves that are cut off at the middle and tied together and a full circle skirt, that has been pieced to make a full circle. The sleeves are tied together with black velvet ribbons. The fabric is a gold silk velvet from Beckford silk. The whole gown, including the skirt, is interlined in an unbleached linen fabric. This was the best way of making sure that the slippery velvet didn't move too much. The hem has a deep hemguard of wool broadcloth. This also helps the skirt to stand out from the feet and means it's possible to walk in it without having to use your hand to lift the skirt. The guards around the neckline, down the front and the cuffs is made from a reproduction polyester brocade from Sartor. 

As accessories I am using my rosary of coral and gold beads and my sweetbag with goldwork. The sweetbag is more similar to purses used in the late 16th century, but I need somewhere to keep my insulin and phone, with my app that monitors my glucose levels. 

The embroidered cap has its own tag here. It is made of fine linen, with an interlining of cotton canvas and a lining of heavier linen. The embroidery is mostly japanese gold thread and pearl purl in different sizes and colours. It is covered by a silk gauze veil that has been tied around the head with the ends tucked in under the cap.

I'm also wearing a reproduction of a necklace worn by Catherine of Aragon, dated to the 1520's, from the etsy seller TudorJewels and a 15th century ring from Historiska Fynd.

So just the facts, and this is for the gown only

The Challenge: August - Celebration

Material: 9 meters of silk velvet, 9 meters of unbleached linen, 1,5 m wool broacloth, 1m poly brocade

Pattern: My own, with inspiration from the cut of the skirt from Maria von Habsburgs gown

Year:  1516-1520

Notions: 3 m silk ribbons, silk sewing thread, linen sewing thread, silk buttonhole threads, a ball of wool yarn (for the braided lacing cord)

How historically accurate is it? I've tried my best, but I've had to take more modern short cuts, for example with the poly brocade, so I would say 80%

Hours to complete: I've worked on it on and off for 8 months

First worn: A photo session on October 24th

Total cost: $500

Cosplay Day in Avesta, 2020

 There was an actual cosplay event this year! Traditionally the small AvestaCon is held last weekend of October. With the current situation it would not be possible to have proper convention and follow the restrictions on attendance and distance. The municipality of Avesta was still eager to organize something, and instead of a convention they decidedto host theme days, one for cosplay and one for boardgames. It would be small, since only 50 guests would be allowed, butit would be something after everything had been cancelled. It was obvious that people are eager to go out in costume again, and we had a record attendance with the Nordic Legions when two person from Västerås and three from Stockholm wanted to join in as well. The whole day was really casual and fun. All the troopers were free to be out in costume as much as they wanted, Andrew spent the whole day building on his sandtrooper backpack in public and at 12 we had a small presentation where we talked about what the Nordic Legions is and how you can become a member. 

Darth Nihilus and Darth Vader had a raffling game of air hockey

The group photo with members from Nordic Reel Icons, Nordic Garrison and Nordic Base

Vader made sure everyone kept their distance and used the hand sanitizer

For the trooping I wore my Mon Mothma. It's easy and comfortable. The cheap fabric in the underdress has shrunk since I made it, so at midnight the night before I made a quickfix to lengthen it again by ripping up the waist seam and inserting a wide piece of fabric between the bodice and the skirt. It doesn't look good, but it's not shown so it doesn't matter. I also realised when I was there that the stitches holding the white overgown together at the sides had come undone, so intead of a gown it looked more lika poncho. I don't think anyone except me noticed though.

The reason why I've been stressing to finish the court gown though is that I had scheduled a time with the professional photographer that was there, to get some really nice photos of it. The huge slagbrick walls of Verket work fine as medieval stone walls. I haven't gotten those photos yet, but here are the photos that I took with my phone.

I am going to work on getting posts up about the finishing of both the gown and the hood in the coming days or weeks. I did take photos, but I didn't have time to make posts.

The skirt was a monster to make and hem, but I just love how it moves when I walk, and when I twirl.

Finishing stretches of the court gown

 So I am going to meet a photographer on Saturday, that means that I need to have the court gown in a wearable state.

Status report

Gown - I spent almost the whole weekend hemming it, it's not quite finished, but just one or two hours left to do.  I also need to permanently attach the velvet ribbons that tie the sleeves together, and add bead caps to them. 

Gold hood - 

I have one section left, it is outside of the frame so I couldn't do it while the whole piece waas still attached. I have now removed the fabric from the frame, and realised just how heavy all the gold thread is. I need to finish the secion, and then add a border to all the edges. I have added some semi-precious stones (garnet and carneol) after insipration from the Cranach painting, but I'm really unsure if I like them or not.

Shift - I need to wear a shift underneath it all. I have started on a shift with silk embroideries, but for the photoshoot on Saturday I'm thinking of repurposing one of my old shift, and I need to decide if I have time to upcycle it a bit more.

 

Cape - the cape needs its fur lining. I haven't posted about it yet, I'm planning to put everything with the cape in one post in the future. I don't thinkthe cape is necessary though so I will only finish it if I get all the other stuff done first.