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....

Sour Dough?

After making the dough and kneading briefly I put it to rise. Not expecting anything to happen. We had to go to a wedding reception last night so forgot all about it.

I came down this morning to find that he had risen out of his large bowl and almost knocked of the heavy glass lid.

I gave it another knead and pulled some dough off to make some skillet bread. The rest I shaped into a large loaf.
I then left these to rise until when I prodded it it sprang back enthusiastically. This took about two hours.

I found an empty cereal packet and used this to cover the rising dough. This is pegged loosely in place.

 

I cover my loaves and baking tin with bran. This helps to prevent it sticking. It does not always work though.

Here it is ready to enter the oven

 

It took about 35 minutes in the oven while this was cooking I attempted some skillet bread. I heated an iron skillet I have not used for about ten years. It was covered with dust. I have an electric hob and it still works well.

I covered it with a casserole dish to make a small oven. It rose well and tasted good.

 

Here it is drizzled in Honey

 

This took about 10-20 mins on a skillet over a low temperature. The first one got burnt but I still ate it.


The actual loaf was then ready......

This tastes amazing. An unmatched flavour. I may never use dried yeast again!

This particular loaf is a real taste of the past well worth resurrecting.

Sour Dough Baking

Gsufel Hlaf

I am not an expert at this but I love to experiment.
Earlier in the week I made a sourdough cake that barely managed to come out of the tin in one piece but it tasted great!

Today I fed Alfred-Herman (That is his new name). And within an hour he had grown too big for the large jug I am keeping him in. So an experiment was launched to start to use him up.

I am trying to make a Saxon Spiced Loaf (Gisufel Hlaf). This is a festival or high day food only afforded by the wealthy.
I had tried this recipe with sour dough before to be cooked in a wood fired bread oven but the oven got too hot and incinerated it!

I am using the recipe in Mary Savelli's book 'Tastes of Anglo Saxon England' from Anglo-Saxon Books.

I have had to amend the recipe a little as I do not have all the ingredients to hand. And of course instead of dried yeast I am using my Sour dough yeast.

2 oz Flour, I have used strong flour but it is best to use plain.
Butter, softened.
3 oz Honey
1 egg
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 Tsp Ground Cloves
7 oz Plain Flour, again I had only strong flour.
4 - 5 oz dried fruit and chopped nuts.

I have mixed it into a very sticky dough. I will be very surprised if it rises at all!

Watch this space........

Sour Dough Starter

I was given a some sour dough last year by a neighbour. She called him Herman as he was from a German stock!

I have used him to bake cakes and bread. Some of the more unusual things I have done is use him as yeast in brewing both beer and ginger beer. With different results, not entirely unpleasant! The ginger beer was the best though.

When you get given some sour dough he requires upkeep. You need to divide him into quarters. give away three quarters and then keep one quarter and feet it.

I fed mine with wholemeal strong flour, water, and sugar. He will then munch away until his heart is content. He likes a warmish temperature to be kept active. But he can be kept in the fridge where he will go dormant.

Whilst he is in the fridge he is still supposed to be fed once a fortnight and kept clean to keep him turning over. At this point he will develop a dark coloured liquid as he starts to settle and separate out. This is OK. This liquid is called Hooch. I have been told that this is a sort of alcohol. (That is what started me thinking about using him for brewing.) This is the by product of him eating.

Herman is a bacteria that lives naturally on wheat. He is a sort of yeast. He needs food - sugar and flour, water, and air - a good whisk. He needs all this special attention to be coaxed into large enough numbers to become useful to us. He is not like the modern yeasts that have become refined. He is a very primitive type of yeast.

When he is healthy he will multiply. He will expand and bubble. He needs to be very active to be used in baking. He can not be used direct from a dormant state.

Well, my Herman has been in the fridge for at least 6 months with no attention at all due to my health. But on Friday I thought it was about time he woke up. It has taken until today to revive him. I kept feeding him once a day and whisking him two to three times a day keeping him at room temperature. Of course in that time I may have spawned a completely new Herman rather than revived the old Herman, there is no real way of knowing.

I found giving him junk food -white sugar- the best. I did also add flour and water to give him a good consistency. He needs to be no thinner than a thick pancake batter but a more porridge like consistency seems best. I also found that whisking him with a plastic spoon rather than a metal one seemed better.

I came down this morning expecting to have to throw him away. But there were signs of life... little frothy bubbles!

So it looks like some sour dough experiments are on the cards....

My Little Beaded Wrist Band

This is one of my most recent little projects. I used Size 13 Charlotte cuts and size 15 Czech beads. This was beaded onto a Brain tanned buckskin background. The border I made more interesting by cutting it out with pinking shears. It is tied using just a thong that I can tuck under the band when I am wearing it.

I used the Cheyenne style as inspiration.

THE TUDOR REVELS

Tudor Revels in Southampton.

The Michaelmas Fair

Well I am getting back into the swing of things again.

I volunteered over the weekend at the Tudor Revels in Southampton. This was held, mostly, in St. Michael's Square in Bugle Street. This was held to promote the work of archiving Southampton's Historical documents.

http://www.tudorrevels.co.uk/

Saturday was an amazing day with beautiful weather. People turned out in their droves and enjoyed the proceedings. The Tudor House was open for free and offered lots of talks, classes and tours for free too. I hear the lute workshop was very popular. The Medieval Merchant's house was also open for free. They had the Tudor Rose Society.
The Gosport Living History Society were there adding a lot of life and enjoyment to the event.

My job was a general meeter and greeter. I helped a little with the queues outside the Tudor house, keeping people entertained with what was in my basket and tales of Tudor life for the ordinary folk. I handed out dozens and dozens of leaflets about the weekend and self guided walk pamphlets. I met up with an old re enacting friend I had not seen for years. It was great to see him.

I had a meal in the Duke of Wellington of frumenty, venison and pork sausage and stewed red cabbage with gravy. It was lovely. I would love to see this sort of thing on more menus around the town.

In the evening I attended a mass. It was advertised as a pre reformation mass but was a modern Catholic mass. This was historic in that it was held in the Anglican church. The walls would not have heard the sounds of a traditional Catholic mass for some four to five hundred years. The chanting was done by Cantores. It was beautiful. I can now see what people would have experienced and how uplifting the whole experience is. The smell of incense is overwhemining even at the back of the congregation as I was.
A lot was in Latin and with out the prompt sheet I would have been lost!

On the Saturday I wore an early Tudor outfit.

The Sunday I was worse for wear. My back was beginning to complain terribly. I was not nearly as productive on the Sunday but tried my best.
There was a procession around Southampton's Historic Churches with banners of the relative Saints called the Procession of St. Ledger.
I met up with the Hampshire Spinners Weavers and Dyers Guild in the Tudor house. There I met some people I have not seen for some time. That was really great. I do miss them.
I did want to attend the dance workshops and the Revels at the Dolphin Hotel in the evening but I was not well enough by then.

On Sunday I wore a more Elizabethan outfit.

 

As usual I was kept very busy and did not have a chance to attend any of the events, But I thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend and hope it happens again.