Tudor Bodies Update...

The Bodies are now finished!

When I am brave enough I will get some pictures taken whilst I am wearing them!

They were quite comfortable or at least not as uncomfortable as I was expecting! But since putting them on after the festive season they are not so comfortable..... I wonder why.......

wine, chocolate etc etc....

I edged them in some linen binding tape. This makes them look very neat. It is getting harder and harder to find this tape.

I get mine from here.
http://www.empressmills.co.uk/acatalog/Bindings_Tapes.html
They do two different kinds of tape. A linen tape that is woven in a twill weave, which is the right one, and they do a book binding tape.

 

I wove the laces on my lucette and I bought some aglets from here
https://www.facebook.com/LucyTheTudor
She used to have a web site that I used. I hope this is the same woman!
I apologise if it is not....
or was it here...
http://www.classhistory.co.uk/Annie/bits.htm

All the eyelets are hand stitched and the entire thing is hand sewn in linen thread.
This I get from
http://www.stef-francis.co.uk/natural-yarns/35-3-linen
And also from a trader called Saxon Yarns who goes to the TORM
http://www.reenactorsmarket.co.uk/

The Hard rush I get from nature!
It is best picked shortly before you need to use it. This as I have mentioned can be found in wind swept damp fields that are grazed and also in ditches. It seem to readily self seed. I had a small amount growing in the garden.

The Hobbit - My Outfit!

I went to see THE HOBBIT over Christmas.... Like many other people, But, I made an outfit to go and watch it in!

I wanted to use some of the Black silk velvet I had.

I love silk velvet.

I love the look the drape the mystery of it. I hate sewing it!

I have tried all sorts of tricks that I have heard and found on the Internet. I still usually end up doing it the old fashioned way though.
Pinning then basting stitches then sewing on the machine. It is still not straight forward. I sometimes resort to sewing it by hand. I have had a lot of practise at hand sewing from all my Historical recreations.

I still have to use the machine to do the over edge stitching on modern clothing. This usually comes out terrible on silk velvet. But as long at it does the job I have had to put up with how it looks. As long as it does not affect the outward appearance and functionality of the garment.

I wanted an every day elf style dress that I could wear over more normal mundane clothing. I had to make it slightly larger but I ended up making it too big..
It took ages and no shortage of swearing to get it to fit. But after countless adjustments it looked OK.

I was not sure how to fasten the front. I used a trick from Tudor clothing. Instead of the usual buttons I used ties.This idea also makes the dress more adjustable if I put on weight. I bought some sheer black ribbon to do up the front. This I cut into tie-able lengths and then fray checked the ends then hand stitched them into place.  I also used this method on the sleeves. So when I leave it undone on the sleeves they hang down loosely.

I also wanted a high neck collar. But I did not want it to be stiff but soft, unstructured and slightly slouchy.

With the fabric that was left over I made my signature Elven Travel hood. This is separate and can be used as a scarf instead of a hood. I wanted to perfect my design so I can try and sell them in my Etsy shop later in the year. This I  lined in a silk cotton mix fabric especially designed for comfort as a lining.

 

The term 'everyday elf' is quite deceptive as elven clothing is always beautiful and elegant even what is considered everyday wear.

I will try to add my pictures but the Blog will not allow me to upload any images. It has not let me for a while. it is annoying!!

A picture speaks a thousand words even a poorly taken photograph like mine...

https://sites.google.com/site/elwynsweb/everyday-elf/everyday-elf-page-2

 

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ElwynsHome?ref=si_shop

I have found a round about way of adding pictures.... Even more difficult and convoluted than it should be......

I may have to find an alternative blog provider if I can not adjust to the changes.

Martinmas or St. Martin's

Yesterday was St Martin's day. This was significant to the population of England in times past more for the practise of slaughtering one of the family pigs.

Firstly this is when the pig would be at it's fattest after being fed on beech mast and bad fruit. Also the times of dearth are ahead and the family would not be able to feed too many mouths.

Every part of the pig would be used from it's blood to it's intestines. The meat would be salted down for winter consumption, the offal turned into sausages and the head into brawn.

There was not a mass slaughter of animals at this time of year just a reduction of livestock numbers to winter manageable numbers.

This would be carried out through the months of October through December. It was a practise that can be traced back to Saxon times.

December from a Medieval calendar

Ginger ale Update

This brew came out a bit mild.
Next time I do some ginger ale I think I will use more ginger and chop it really really finely.

Ginger Ale / Beer

Whilst making my ale I took the opportunity to syphon off some wort. I added my wild yeast (Alfred) to this liquid and left it to do it's thing.

It took a couple of days to do much but when it did it was lively and very active. It was still happy this morning so I decided to make some ginger ale.

It is at least a year since I have made any but it is a deceptively simple process, with astonishing results.

Firstly peel then grate or chop a couple of ounces of ginger. I find taking the skin off makes a better flavour.

Dissolve 2-3 ounces of sugar in about 2-3 litres of tap water over a slow heat. Do not heat over 40-50 degrees Centigrade.

You can add the ginger any time in this process until this point.

Leave the gingery mixture to steep for an hour or two.

Sterilise your bottles, strainer and funnel.

Cool the liquor to ambient temperature.

When you are ready add your prepared yeast  to the bottles then strain the gingery mixture into this too. Shake and stir! Then seal the bottles loosely and keep it thus for two days.

Then refrigerate it. It will keep for up to two weeks.

Good Luck and enjoy!!

Medieval Ale.

This weekend I had a go at brewing some medieval style ale. This is a far more rustic affair than we are used to!

 

There are no hops in this one. I have never made an ale before and have been desperate to give it a go. Technically an ale is a malt brew without hops (Just malt, water and yeast) and beer is brewed with hops added. Hops adds that lovely bitter flavour as well as helping in the beer's preservation. Hops were not commonly used here until the 17th century.

 

I started with just a two litre batch to get back into brewing again.

 

First heat the water to 75-80 degrees approx. Then add your malt. Let it cool to about 66-68 degrees. Then cover the pot with lots of towels. Pegs may help here.

 

I used a dark roasted malt as that is what I had left. I added some pale malt too.

 

After an hour or two strain the liquid from the malt/grist. I used a linen cloth. Then I re heated the liquid to above 80 degrees, this stops conversion of the sugars and also sterilises the solution. This then has to be cooled very quickly. In days gone by this would be strained into coolers or keelers. I used a wort chiller. (available at a good price from Viking Brewing Equipment on ebay).

 

This was my first use of an immersion wort chiller. It is very fast on small amounts! it took less than 15 minutes.

 

When the liquid is about 20-25 degrees I took a small amount of the wort and mixed it with the yeast. This I then added to the bottle.

I then strained the wort through another linen cloth into the old 2 litre pop bottle.

The I gave it a good shake after putting the lid on the bottle.

 

It will go off very quickly so we started drinking it yesterday night. It tastes like bland beer but a little sweeter. Not as rounded and full bodied but it grows on you. Also it is very cloudy. 

 

It looked inert in the bottle but it was extremely lively when I opened it. But it does taste flat once poured.

 

Everything the ale, wort and yeast touches must be sterilised first. This is the most boring part of the process but very necessary.

 

Because this has to be used quickly I have used some more in my bread today. Not as a leavening agent but as the liquid instead of water.

 

This I hope will be my lunch tomorrow along with a nice lump of cheese when I start at another museum!

 

My Tudor Corset / pair of Bodies

It is a long running joke that I am making my Tudor style corset. This I have been making for the past year or more.

These corsets were called bodies. It is believed that is where we get the term Bodice from. They were called a pair of bodies (as a plural) because they are made in two matching parts or they may have been originally. They later became known as stayes.

These came into fashion for most people through the first Queen Elizabeth's reign. The wealthy had silk bodies that were later stiffened with whale bone. But the bodies for most women would have been made from linen and stiffened with rushes and wood.

There are lots of blogs and books on how to make these and lots of advice around the net.

But here are some pictures of how mine is progressing:

Here I have tried to make a mock up or making a toile or muslin. Ideally I would have another assistant to help me do this part of the process on me but I have my husband..... say no more.....

This is what one half of it looked like when I took it off the dress form. As you can see it may be possible to make it all from one piece. The originals were not so I will not.

This is as far as I have got! There are two layers, one a heavy linen canvas fabric and the other an old linen sheet. Here I am sewing the channels by hand in a back stitch. In these channels would have been inserted hard rush, these were referred to as bents. I have sourced some hard rush which would have been used:

Here I have some fresh and some dried.

This picture may help in it's identification if you come across any. These were harvested in September

Hard rush seems to like open wind swept damp places. Try damp fields that are grazed by sheep. They do not like to eat these so leave them standing so they are easy to see.

This is the inside. I will line them with another piece of linen so all this will eventually be covered up.

Not all the bodies' area need to be sewn into channels.

 

 

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Some research.....

I have used what are called the 'Dorothea Bodies' as a template. These were worn by Pfalzgrafin Dorothea Sabina von Neuburg when she was interred in 1598.

Here is a cropped part of a painting made in 1565. Here this high class kitchen servant may be wearing something like a pair of bodies under her petticoat.

Elizabeth Vernon Countess of Southampton in a painting made in approximately 1600

 

Here are a pair of bodies made for an effigy of Queen Elizabeth the first in 1603

This is what they look like off the effigy.

Market scene with a pick pocket. In the first half of the seventeenth century possibly 1630s.

Here the stall Holder is wearing a garment sewn in channels and stiffened.

 

And a paining in 1660 by Gabriel Matsu

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I have used a mid weight linen thread, and a water soluble dress makers/quilters pen. Also you can see a lump of beeswax and the wood splint I used as a spacer for marking out the channels.

The centre channel is wider for the insertion of a busk. This was/is a piece of wood, what looks like an old fashioned ruler. This may be laced into place as it was sometimes removable. Men would have them made for their sweet hearts and have them engraved with pictures or messages.

Mine is plain in keeping with the status of person I represent.



 

I recommend Patterns of Fashion 3 by Janet Arnold. This is a great book with photos of original garments and then a section on patterns to make some of the garments.

 

 

Well that is it so far. I am working on my little exhibition on historical clothing at the moment (under the guise of art). I will try to update that some time soon....