14th Century Dressing Basics: simple garb for the everyday person

14^th Century English Basics

I started making this style of garment when I Decided I wanted to dress more accurately and simply.  I noticed that this style of gown was fitted and cut for little to no waste and looks like the silhouette of many era's gowns.  I started making the men's style when my boys decided they wanted to also look a bit more period and their combat kits are the 14th century Wisby's.  This just made sense.  please feel free to try these out and send me any comments through your trials.

One of the pieces I found online and it just made awesome kinds of sense in how she rationalized the construction. I need to find her website so I can give her credit for the braes.  I keep looking hoping to run across her blog, until then I found a reference to slavic pants...  you can see them here...

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYUnwTAAL8r7V5W8o9tbAD0p-Mmbdw1-AE2l5pjAOqc2Ca8luC28bqAwRc1HSwBHMWFo-t15Oldt1s6MLnfMw26bv726Ep6uFJeOFytR_p_oAFSPmGY8bHWZR5acpKyNpENV8dEzGt80/s1600-h/slavic+pants.jpg

**update** current pics for some reason are not loading, but I will get them up and online soon.  KLHH

Tunic

Pieces for this Tunic/ Kyrtle (for the ladies) to be cut

The front and back Body Panels are to be cut as wide as the widest part around (chest, belly or butt). They are as long as you want the garment plus seam allowance and hem allowance. The Bocksten Bog Man find approximated the hemline at about his knees, give or take a couple of inches.  Kyrtles of the era were ankle length or longer for the ladies.  Unless you are comfortable with pooling hemlines and moving in one that long I strongly recommend your first gown to be ankle length.  It makes it easier to walk in and less likely to trip on or get stepped on by someone else.  I have had a few gowns ripped because someone else was not watching where they stepped.

The arms are trapezoids.  The length of the sleeves are a bit trickier.  We take the measurement from wrist to wrist.  We subtract the width the body panel from this and then divide by two.  This will tell you how long the sleeves need to be after we add a hem allowance and seam allowance for the shoulder.  The wider of the two parallels is the flexed bicep measurement plus 2-3” for seam allowance and ease.  The narrower measurement I typically use the forearm plus 2”.  This allows for the sleeves to be pushed up to wash dishes.

The gussets for under the arms is a simple square.  The size of the square gets adjusted for a few different reasons. The size of the person, chest dimensions, movement needs.

On an average person I use between 5x5 to a 6x6 square.  For larger men I will take this up to between 8x8 and 10x10.

The Gores are what spread the base of the tunic/ dress for movement and air flow.  I cut mine as right triangles half the width of the body panel to the whole width(for the ladies’). I cut them the length from the waist to the bottom of the garment.

Assembly of the Tunic/ Dress ( for ladies)

Cut your neck lines out of the front and back making sure your edges match.  Usually the back neck will be a 1-2” deep curve.  The front will be another 1-2” deeper.  I will usually drop a center cut down the front  (about 3-4”) for a “key hole” neck.  You could also cut a “v” neck as well for an alternative look.

Match your shoulder seams and double stitch the seams. 

Next pin the gusset to the top of the sleeve.  Stitch the the gusset and sleeve along the one side.

Next Match up the wrist seams. Pin everything together so that when the open edge of the sleeve  meets the edge of teh gusset make sure that you sew teh gusset to the sleeve.  This will give you a sleeve that looks like this

Now attach sleeve to main body of garment.

Next, we attack the gores.  There is a very good reason why we split our gores in half.  It is soooooo much easier to sew in the seams this way and have everything lay flat!

We pin the gore from the hemline up towards the waist on all four edges of the main body, and sew these first.  THEN after we have done that, we sew the “side seam” from the arm gusset down to the hem.

The garment now looks like this:

.

All that is left is to roll your hem for wrist and neck and fold the appropriate hemline for the bottom.  Decorate as you see fit by trim, braid or embroidery and enjoy!

A side note. Bind your seams as you go, this will make it a lot easier.  If you are looking for a more accurate appearance do your “finishing work” those seams that are visible by hand.

Braes

I use an experimental Braes pattern I found online.  I LOVE THIS PATTERN!  As soon as I find the delightful lady who shared this I will post her blog address here to give her the awesome credit she deserves.

This pattern has 4 pieces to it.  The legs, the gusset and the drawstring.  I have found that I like to put a double layer in my gusset for absorption in the desert heat.  It made things more bearable for both male and female users. This pattern works for shorts length braes or pant length. I have had favorable reviews from both.

The legs are cut on the fold

The waist line is as wide as ¼ the measurement of the waist wearing it plus 1-2” depending on the seams you choose to sew and the persons comfort level.

The lower hemline width is ½ the measurement of where ever you decide to end the braes. I tend to make mine at just above the knee and so I use the thigh measurement for comfort plus 1”

The widest point ( where the rise and the leg meet) is the waist plus 3-4” for ease in the seat

The length of the piece is from the waist to the hemline chosen plus 5”  4” above and 1” below.

The top Diagonal is the rise measurement.  I measure this from the pubic bone to the waist plus 4” for the waist band.

The bottom Diagonal is from the bottom of the “rise” to the hemline.

The gusset given movement and comfort to the braes.  For the larger men (46-56” waists) I use an 8x8 square.  For those in the 36-46 range I use a 6x6 square.  Adjust as needed for personal use.

First pin gusset to one “leg” starting at the point where the red line meets the peak and sewing down the leg of the braes.  Next match the leg hemlines together and run up the leg and attach the gusset to the leg.  (Just like you do for the tunic above) Repeat with the other leg.  Match up the center “body seams” and sew together.

Fold the waist band down approx 2” and fold again at 2”.  Pin 1” on either side of the front center seam for drawstring. Sew around the rest of the waistband. 

Hem the leg holes

Run a drawstring though the waistband and you are finished!

I will be adding information on the additional pieces of the ensemble as I finish typing the instructions, in the case of the hood, and when I have finished making them in the case of the hosen, belt and shoes.

Barony of Granite Mountain Arts and Science Collegium Nalbinding Handout.

Basic Nålbinding

M’Lady Raithnat O’Braonain

http://raithnatsreality.blogspot.com

Also spelled Nälbinding, Naalbinding, Nalbinding, Nailbinding, Nahlbinding, and more…

Introduction

Nålbinding is a weaving technique that was commonly used to produce hats, socks, and mittens, scarves and rugs.  There are a number of differences between nålbinding and knitting.   Most notably, is that nålbinding is done with only one needle and uses short pieces of yarn.   Another difference is that the entire length of the yarn is passed through each stitch.   And the most notable difference is that while in knitting and crochet if you mess up you can just pull the yarn and it will all come out, Nalbinding will not.  Nalbinding is more durable in that if you pull a loose thread it will tighten the knot and not run.  This makes undoing your “oops”’s more challenging.   The earliest finds of nålbinding are from Before our Current Era.   Many examples have been found around the world through the medieval times and into our current fiber arts as well.  

Materials

•        Large-eyed, Blunt needle: You can get an actual Nalbinding needle made from anything from metal and plastic to wood or bone, but a tapestry and darning needle will work 

•        Yarn:   I find that thicker, fuzzy yarn is easier and works faster, but truly any yarn can be used.

·         Scissors

•        Patience and a sense of humor!  I can’t stress this enough while you are learning.

The Stitches

There are many nålbinding stitches and they are all variations on how the yarn is taken up onto the needle.  While there are a few different ways to categorize the known stitches, I will use the names given based on their first discovery and the Hansen system to give you a quick reference on the stitch for later.  There are actually four systems of categorizing stitches from the three main archaeologists of the textiles. First is Margrethe Hald, who categorized based on the total number of loops intersected in a stitch. Egon Hansen typified the stitches based on the course the thread takes in each stitch, using O and U when the working thread passes over or under other threads.  Third, Norlund uses a system that combines the number of loops intersected with the course the thread takes. Finally, there is the ‘user friendly’ method where stitches are named for the location where they were first found.   I will be using the “on the thumb” method for my nalbinding examples here, but there are many resources for off the thumb methods as well.  I am right handed, so the directions below are for right handed stitching.   Again there are quite a few sets of directions online for left handed methods.  I did not print those out as “lefties” account for only 2.5% of earth’s population.   

Starting

Again Nalbinding is done with sections of yarn.  Most people will learn with 5-6 foot sections.  As you get more comfortable feel free to lengthen your sections.   As with everything else in nålbinding, there are two methods to starting:  On a loop, or with free chain.  I will be teaching the free chain method in class. 

1) Make and overhand knot in your yarn. Hold it in your hand with the short tail to the right. Hold the base of this loop between your left thumb and forefinger.

2)Wrap the long end (needle end)around your thumb, catching the loop

1^st Stitch- Oslo- uu/ooo

This was the first stitch I Learned and once I got my brain wrapped around to concept it was an instant favorite. 

Step 1:  make an overhand knot around your left thumb.

Step 2:  wrap around thumb.  Put needle in from the back, under the loop and cross over and snug against the thumb. Slide loop carefully off the thumb and pinch between thumb and forefinger.

Step 3:  put needle into newest loop from the front, fold needle over and push under the thumb loop from the back and under the fold over.   Slide previous thumb loop off and pinch.   Snug new loop on thumb

Step 4:  repeat step 3 until length desired.

Step 5:  connecting- pick up loop from previous row and continue as usual.

2^nd Stitch- York- uo/uoo

Step 1: over hand knot on left thumb.  Make a second loop between thumb and forefinger and sliding needle through the thumb loop from the back.  Pull snug.

Step 2:  pass needle through both loops from the back.

Step 3: slide thumb loop off and snug up.

Step 4:  Repeat until desired length.

Step 5:  connecting- pick up 2 loops from below, from the front angled towards the left, continue stitch as normal.

Making a Circle (Connecting)

In order to make anything you need to be able to connect your stitches to those underneath them, or make a circular shape. Once your chain is long enough to wrap the body part in question, you pull the tail around and pick up previous stitches, before making a stitch as normal. There are two options when connecting. You can make 1 or 2 connections.  One connection will make a lighter, more elastic item. To do this, pick up a single stitch from the previous round.   Each stitch will be picked up only once.  Two connections will make a denser, sturdier item. To do this, pick up two stitches from the previous round. On the next stitch pick up one previously connected stitch and a new one.  Each stitch will be picked up twice. One connection - a single stitch from the previous round is picked up, Two connections – two stitches are picked up from the previous round

Shaping

Increasing is accomplished by making two stitches with exactly the same path, essentially doubling the number of stitches ‘above’ the old one.  Decreasing is done in just the reverse; two sets of connecting loops are picked up from the row below the current stitch.

Also check out this amazing site for more Nalbinding stitches!  This site also has wonderful instructions for lefties!    http://www.en.neulakintaat.fi/1

Barony of Granite Mountain Arts and Science Collegium Spinning Handout

Spinning Basics

M’Lady Raithnat O’Braonain

http://raithnatsreality.blogspot.com

This is a mostly hands on class.  This hand out will be a high level overview and a listing of a lot of wonderful sources for additional learning/ documentation.  My class uses fibers that are donated by local suppliers and are usually prepared for spinning by myself and students who wish to learn how to process fleece.  They are not mill processed.  They are received in the grease and full of Veggie Matter, among other things.  I cold water process my fleeces as I have not found any records showing washing wool before spinning in hot water.  Rather I have heard and read about river washing methods prior to shearing.  Anyone who has played in a river knows THEY ARE COLD!  J

The Fiber We are Using Today

I used the new Dawn Soap that promises an overnight soak in just a few minutes.  Castille soap is closer to accurate processing for the times we represent, but Dawn was less expensive and goes a LONG way.  The fleece is still in partial grease.  This means you will feel the lanolin still in it.  This can be an irritant to some people so please be aware of this.  If you start to itch or develop a slight rash, stop spinning, and go wash your hands immediately.  This could be a sensitivity to the wool or the lanolin.  Spinning in the grease for those who do not have sensitivities or alleries to it has some great benefits including soft hands when you are done ( love that part) and a water resistant fabric once woven/ nalbound/knit.

This particular fleece we are using today came from a sheep named June.  She is 2 yrs old and had her first lamb this year.  She is a Suffolk Cross from champion bloodlines.  The ranch that she comes from Raises Suffolk Crosses for FFA and 4H students.  She donated 4 fleeces this year to my 4F (Friendless Fiber Foster Farm) The animal is raised and cared for in Kingman AZ and is a pampered baby to be sure.  JSuffolk sheep are primarily a meat breed, only recently being bred for wool as well.  It is considered a medium wool.  With the staple length today between 2-5 inches  I have separated the lengths  with the longer lengths being processed into roving coils, and the shorter fibers being made into rolags (the sticks)

The spindles we are using were made by a member of my Shire who wanted to know how to make spindles.

Interesting tidbits about spinning:

Spinning on a spindle goes WELL beyond our Current Era, and continues in many countries today.  There are as many types of spindles as there are regions that use them.

No one knows for sure when Spinning first began, or even who made the first spinning wheel.

Some earlier illuminations from china in the 900’s show a woman working what at first glance looks like a spinning wheel, but turns out to be a silk reeler.  I can easily see how a reeling machine evolved into what we use today.

Painting and illuminations throughout Europe show Spinning from a spindle and distaff to a bobbin and flyer treadle wheel during our timeframe.  Bobbin and flyer wheels were VERY late period for us but did exhist in the latter half of the 16^th Century (1500’s) before then there were spindle/ quill wheels, so named, because you spun off a spindle that was sideways. This was powered by a power wheel and drive band.  The treadle that we see on most modern wheels is also VERY late period but did exhist.  Most wheels during our time however were painted or drawn with hand cranks.  There are even pictures of Wheels small enough to sit in a ladies lap to spin on and quite ornate. Prior to the spindle wheel though you see oodles of paintings and illuminations using spindles.

Spindles are basically made up of a shaft and a weighted wheel called a whorl.  These whorls were made of many things including cast metal.  There have been many findings of whorls from our time but not many shafts.  It is presumed that the shafts were mainly made of wood.  A notable museum showcase in England shows one of the rare finds of a iron forged spindle complete with hook.

I will be putting this hand out up on my Blog page and will add to the below listings as I have the chance and find the new goodies to share.  Happy spinning!

Places to look up and read when you have time for more information:

Twitchell, Linda. Spinning With a Medieval Twist. The Compleat Anachronist, 1996.

Ancient History of the Spinning Wheel by F.M. Feldhaus in Heidelburg, Germany

Barber, Elizabeth, Women's Work The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth and Society in Early Times.

W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., London. 1994. ISBN 0-393-03506-0.
Spin Span Spin. Hockber & Hockberg, USA. 1979 ISBN 0-9600990-3-4

http://www.etn-net.org/routes/intro/indust_intro_GB.htm http://kws.atlantia.sca.org/spinning.html http://www.goldenacorn.net/weavers/spinningpix.htm  http://books.google.com/books?id=ZljldSpV28UC&pg=PA203&lpg=PA203&dq=history+of+the+flyer+wheel&source=bl&ots=iLI3-Qa3mo&sig=awazNjbG86okPwk0NfOgpZYxR_Y&hl=en&ei=0vWVTqjOIqPSiAL73eioDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20the%20flyer%20wheel&f=false (this is the google books link to the cambridge book.  Takes you straight to the page discussed)

Hochberg, Bette. Handspinner's Handbook , Hochberg & Hockburg, USA. 1976. ISBN 0-9600990-5-0

Handspindles. Hochberg& Hockberg, USA. 1977. ISBN 0-9600990-2-6

James, Peter and Nick Thorpe. Ancient Inventions. Random House, Inc. New York.1994. ISBN 0-345-40102-6

Grenander Nyberg, Gertrud. "Spinning Implements of the Viking Age from Elisenhof in the Light of Ethnological Studies," Textiles in Northern Archaeology, ed. Penelope Walton and John-Peter Wild, pp. 73-84. North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles 3 [NESAT 3]. London: Archetype Publications, 1990. (ISBN 1-873132-05-0)

Øye, Ingvild. Textile Equipment and Its Working Environment, Bryggen in Bergen c 1150 - 1500. The Bryggen Papers, Main Series, Vol. 2. Oslo: Norwegian University Press, 1988. (ISBN 82-00-02537-3)

Statistical and comparative analyses of 410 whorls and 31 spindles from twelfth through fifteenth century Bergen, Norway.

Walton Rogers, Penelope. Textile Production at 16-22 Coppergate. The Archaeology of York, vol. 17, Fascicule 11. York: Council for British Archaeology, 1997. (ISBN 1-872414-76-1)

Careful analysis of 149 whorls and 5 spindles from York, England, in periods ranging from the ninth through the fifteenth century. Lots of line drawings! Useful catalogue in the back.

Cambridge History of Western Textiles, Volume 1 ( 2003)- Check out the section called “Medieval Woolens:  Textiles, Technology and Organization”  around page 203 

Websites:

http://www.fibergeek.net/articles/spinning-class-notes.pdf

http://www.crofters.org/personal%20essays/spinning.htm

http://www.handsonhistoryinc.org/HOH-Page12.html

From Fleece to Fabulous

My first Fleece to fabulous project was a hat for my hunny.  spun, plied, dyed and nalbound.  it is one awesome looking hat.



I used the Oslo stitch to make his "Fire and Ice" hat.  This was really easy and a great way to work on stitch technique and speed gauges. I used a nice White Pulworth wool and when I spun it up boy did it have fly a ways!  I used a lint brush on my shirt when I was done. and had enough there to spin for another few minutes if I had wanted to.  Love that stuff its the silk of wools.

When I dyed it I pre-soaked the yarn in 50/50 vinegar and hot water for a bit to open everything up and prep for the dyes.  I then let the majority of the solution drain from the skeins back into the bowl, and laid the moist yarn skeins onto sheets of cellophane.  Then I grabbed the bottles of red and blue food coloring and started dripping over half the skein in red and half the skein in blue.  I left a bit of a gap for the colours to wick into.  One of my skeins wicked more than I was expecting but aht is ok it still looks great!
once I was finished dripping  the dyes I gently pressed the colors into the yarn making sure it was thoroughly in the yarns.  then I folded up the cellophane burrito style so there would not be any drippage and into the microwave it went.

I microwaved the skeins one at a time for 3 minutes.  boy were they hot!  while one was in the microwave the other was sitting in its microwave safe bowl.  I was surprised at first to see how the burritos expanded while cooking.  I did the 3 minutes on 3 minutes out 4-5 times.  then it was off to the rise water.

Carefully I let each skein soak in very warm water for a minute or two after removing the scorching hot plastic.  each soak was put into progressively cooler water A) to help bring the yarn to a hold-able state and B) to rinse out the excess dyes so it wouldn't bleed when washed later.

Talley's Belt

A good friend of mine Received a gift that she just would never use and immediately thought of me.  Through friends transportation and passing off to more friends the floor model inkle loom finally made it up to me my birthday week.  How cool was that!  So the first weave on it was just for her.

I used Red Heart Crochet Cotton size 10 for this in Green and black.  I used a warped in design for the edges and alternate pick up technique for the diamonds.  To do this pattern you would need to warp your inkle loom as follows:


H-  B B  G  G  B  G   G  B  B  B  G  G  G  G  G  G  G  B  B  B  G  G  B  G  G  B  B
O-  B  B  G  G  G  G  G  B  B  B  B  B  B  B   B  B  B  B  B  B  G  G  G  G  G  B  B



Weave a base of about 5 green stripes before starting your pattern.  The pick up pattern is pretty simple.  Pick ups happen on only one color.  for me I chose the green stripe for my pattern strip because I had an easier time seeing the black threads.  for each black thread you pick up you will push its corresponding green thread down.  the next row will be normal.  no pick ups.  Below is the chart I created for this diamond.

I put a green stripe between each diamond to let them stand out.  As you see the diamond is made by each successive row being alternating black threads.  this means no long floats to get snagged and the weaving stays stable.  Each thread has a two row float, but that is it.  this lets it appear to "puff" up off the base weaving structure.  On the back side of this there is green diamonds instead of the black.  It is completely reversible.  Once you have repeated this process to the desired length Weave the basic stipe for another  5 green stripes and end in your preferred method.  As this was meant as a belt I used a simple knotted fringe at each end and trimmed to equal length.


I hope you have a blast weaving this too!