Back to the fourteenth century

As I find it hard to resist a challenge, I had no choice but to join in on the #herjolfsneschallenge. My aim is to make a new and improved set of 14th century garb to be used in the Battle of Wisby-camp coming August this year (http://www.battleofwisby.com/) as well as to go more in depth into the Herjolfsnes finds, as they are plain at first sight but intriguingly complex in sewing techniques and details.

The original as presented
 in Östergård

Starting small, I got this lovely hand-woven striped fabric from Maria, just about enough for a small hood. Looking through Woven into the Earth by Else Östergård, I decided on the hood Nörlund No. 78 (D10606). This particular hood is one of the best preserved and it has been radiocarbon dated to 1380-1440, a tad bit late for the garb I´m making but the type is very generic. And since the challenge is to be as true to the original as possible, I started with a mockup with the original measurements.

The first mockup looked right enough.

Some essential measurements are however not stated in the book, such as the width over the neck. Winging it did not work. It got way to narrow to get over my head. So onto next mockup, and then some...

As I finally got a mockup that worked, I was pleased to see that the original measurements were mostly still there. Time to cut the actual fabric, and that is always excruciating when you have only that amount of fabric that has been custom made for you.

The final mockup

The fabric is a lovely yellow twill with green stripes, all plant-dyed and handwoven, inspired by striped fabrics from the 14th century as can be seen in the London finds for instance. Striped fabric also showes up in Tartu, Estonia (see Mervi´s pictures here:
http://hibernaatio.blogspot.se/2015/12/aarreaitta-tarton-keskiaikaiset.html)

The hood cut out of Maria´s lovely striped fabric

I was very happy when Mervi showed these finds since Tartu is way closer to Wisby than London, and I aim to make something probable for a 14th century woman living on Gotland.

As everything was cut all that remained was the sewing part. The original pieces of clothing in Herjolfsnes were sewn with a twisted wool thread. In Medieval Garments Reconstructed the sewing threads from Herjolfsnes are described as specifically made for stitching, S-twisted of two Z-spun threads and rarely over one mm in diameter. It is also stated that it is virtually impossible to purchase this kind of thread for sewing a reconstruction. Hence I chose to use a two-ply thin brown wool thread, most likely a lot thinner than the original,but found easily available in my sewing basket. The stitches of the originals are also described in Medieval Garments Reconstructed as very fine and no longer than 5 mm. Since I tend to make small stitches this was right up my alley.

Sewing the pieces together was done rather quickly, and I was happy to see the project progressing. Then came the not so fun parts. like felling all the seams inside of the liripipe in order for them not to fray on me. And the liripipe has two long seams, giving me four long sides to fell... This called for some aiding equipment. When all seams where done and felled and the hood had a shape I finally got to the fun part, the decorative stabstitching. The original hood has two rows of fine stab stitching along the bottom hem and around the face opening. This is a time-consuming part of the project, but well worth it in the end. These are the sewing details that really makes these garments.

Stab stitches along the hem

It took three nights in front of the telly to finish the hems, and it was so much fun that I had to set an alarm in order to remember to go to bed (real life has to come first, like kids getting to school and me getting to work) but late yesterday evening it was finished. 

Ah to be done at last!

This is by far one of the longest UFO´s I have finally finished. Or at least I hope it is, not sure what else might be hiding in my boxes and baskets. Here is how it once started, more than three and a half years ago: 

http://renikasanachronisticadventures.blogspot.se/2012/01/fiddeling-with-small-scale-embroidery.html

I chose to make my almony purse with two differing embroidered sides, but with an overall theme of music and the Seasons of nature. This side was the first I finished, and is thought to represent Autumn. The little guy playing the fiddle is inspired by an Italian manuscript and one of the main inspiration for the overall motif is an extant almony purse presently at the Metropolitan Museum: http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/466693

Motif done

Markings for the layed work covering the background

The post stamp

For the opposite side I found the inspiration in a poststamp left in a little trinket box I bought at an auction.
I made some enquieries on where from the motif came and, with the help of friends I found the original image, a church painting from Råda church, Närke in Sweden. 

Church painting on wood from Råda, Närke

When both pieces were done I went on to assembling the little purse with a white silk lining, cut to also form a top edge so that I wouldn´t have to pull the strings through the embroidery itself, even though that seems to be a common feature in extant aumonieres. Then I covered the edges with an embroidered braid in the two silks I used for the backgrounds, to tie it all together.

For tassels I chose to make them out of the same silks as the background and edging. A quick look through pictures of extant pieces shows there is a great variation in tassels, but five is a good and often used number.

 And since this has all been about challenging myself to do new stuff that I have always considered nearly impossible, I just had to try do make some turkish knots out of metal thread on the tassels to bring some extra glam to it all. I am very grateful to have friends offering to teach me stuff like this, because no matter how good instructions you can find in books and online, I depend on seeing it be done in order to get the hang of it. So here it is, all done! And now I fear I will never use it, just look at it every now and then. And I have learned so much during the process, sadly also that the silks I have used are not the best for this kind of work, and I would love to do better with the shadings and details in the split stitched motifs. But it still deserved to be finished!

Kruselers - sewn or woven?

There are so many kruselers out there, differing in looks and most likely also in technique. Following up on my last blogpost here comes some thoughts on construction of the less elaborate kruselers, mostly seen in 15th Century art. Some say they must all be woven frilled edges. However, there seems to be exceptions.

Mary from "The Deposition" by Rogier van der Weyden, 1435.

Here we see a clear example of what must be a woven frilled edge and it is looking the same through most of Rogier van der Weyden's art. This is obviously an expensive and exclusive fabric, woven by professionals, and you can find it recreated today, but it is costly. Just how exclusive it was can be shown also in the fact that Jesus loin cloth is depicted as frilled, from the time he was wrapped as a baby until his death.

Epitaph for Konrad Winkler and his wives Kundigunde and Adelhaid, Nürnberg 1431.

The same simple frill can also be used in more elaborate styles by simply using it in multiple layers.

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife (detail) 1434 by Jan van Eyck

Detail from St. John Altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden, 1455 - 1460

The same frilled fabric also seems to be in use in the German styles of late 15th Century, pressing on to the fashions of 16th Century. Here we see one of many examples where it is combined with a vulst.

Portrait of a woman from the Hofer Family, artist unknown, ca 1470

Frills are also in use in Burgundy, England and France, although adapted to the local headdress fashion. 

Portrait of Mary of Burgundy wearing a small frill under her hennin.

Portrait of a young woman, possibly Anne de Dreux, ca 1490.

And by now you are starting to wonder if I will ever get to the point. Where there possibly exceptions from the woven frill in plain single rows? I did find some beautiful frills that do give the impression of having a seam connecting it to the veil, even though it is a single frill when visiting the Germanisches National Museum in Nürnberg on New Years. And they are from the 14th Century, not the 15th. 

Mary, from Frauenkirche in Nürnberg, ca 1360

Female statue from a church in Nürnberg ca 1360.

And in case you now are wondering the artform might have an impact on how the frills are depicted, here is another one in stone, clearly without the line that I would like to interpret as a seam. Same church and same period as the first one.

Statue from the south portal av the Frauenkirche in Nürnberg, ca 1360.

So one can not state, in my opinion, that frills were only woven when done in single rows and simpler styles. Good to know, now I will not have to spend like half a month´s salary on a frilled veil, I can make one myself. Even though I really really like one that is woven.

Two kruseler or frilled veils

Having had a hectic Autumn at work nothing much has been done, or so I thought. But being forced to go through all my pics and decide what to keep I noticed that there has been some sewing after all.

Here comes a brief show of two kruselers I made for others, one is sewn in small pipes and then starched, the other one is a softer look with lots and lots of neatly hemmed linnen strips, gathered and the secured.

First, cutting. In order to get a very straight, on the grain-cut, I first pull out threads in the linnen weave and then cut along the line.

















When it is all cut I press them, preferably with a little spray starch, makes it easier to fold when hemming. Then comes hours after hours of hemming teeny tiny hems. The strips for the gathered kruseler are hemmed on both sides, then folded alongside the middle and gathered with two rows of parallell gather stitches. Then a small strip is sewn on and attached around the gathering creases to hold it all in place. This gives you a rather sturdy kruseler that can be sewn or simply pinned onto your veil.

The other veil demands a bit more measuring but does not need that long strips. I made the pipes 1 cm wide, then they will be filled out fine with an ordinary earplug to create the round shape when drying after being drenched in starch.

Both recipients were happy but I have not yet seen them properly worn, but I hope to see them come spring.