The Tudor Revolution

Not too long ago I had a reflective moment on my sewing skills. My husband needed a new undershirt for his Tudor clothing i am making him so I busted out The Tudor Tailor , made some alterations based on what i wanted him to have, and got to work. When we were first dating I made him a shirt not unlike this one but the quality was vastly different. It was my best work until that point. I purchased some cream broadcloth from Joann's Fabrics and used a Butterick costume pattern. Commercial patterns (McCall's. Simplicity, Butterick, etc) are a great tool to learn from, but it is much more satisfying (and will have a more period cut) when you can draft it out yourself. The poor man was always fighting with those satin ribbon ties the pattern suggested at the cuffs. Satin ribbon just does not stay tied well. This time around I purchased the correct fabric for the period and started from there.The completed shirt was made from white lightweight linen i purchased at...

When people hear the word corset the fist things that pop into their head are usually Gone with the Wind or Victoria's Secret. This project had nothing to do with either. This project is centered around one of the earliest forms of corset, although at the time it would have been called "a pair of bodies" or "stays."The Westminster corset or Elizabeth I's effigy corset is famous as late 16th to early 17th century example of corset. This example is made of a fabric called fustian, a weave of cotton and linen, and edged with thin leather (Leed). The extant garment was stiffened using whalebone.  This is the extent effigy corset at Westminster Abby.  Maestra Tatiana, an SCA contact, took my measurements and drafted me a pattern based on her own which only took moments. The pattern is considerably shorter in the front than the extent garment, but it will still create the silhouette for my clothing. We discussed her draft vs. the extent and basically conclu...

Last week I attended a lecture about some "wicked" women in Tudor history. Myself and the Tudor Project were asked to attend and add ambiance through our gowns. ACMRS now has pictures up of the whole event on their website. If you did not make it to Prof Warnicke's talk hopefully you will at least enjoy the pictures. http://acmrs.org/public-programs/warnicke Some of the Portrait Clothing from The Tudor Project. Photo by ACMRS and ASU.

For anyone living in Arizona, there is a great opportunity coming to Tempe, AZ! Have you hear about the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renascence Studies ? They are a statewide group whose purpose is to stimulate interest in the time period from about 400 to 1700 CE. They publish scholarly works, lecture, and hold events for those interested. For more information on ACMRS please visit their website: http://www.acmrs.org/ This week they are doing a talk at Changing Hands Bookstore about Anne Boleyn and Lady Leicester.The tittle of the lecture is "Queen Anne Boleyn and Lady Leicester: Wicked Women of Tudor England," and will be held on August 16, 2012. That is this Thursday! The speaker, Prof. Retha Warnicke,specializes in the Tudor court, gender issues, and early modern history. Prof. Warnicke is particularly known as an expert on Anne Boleyn, and has published many scholarly works on her life and other related topics. Prof Retha Warnicke curr...

Miniature of Anne Boleyn. While this image has the best detail of any of the French Hood  portraits there is still debate over the portrait being painted within her life time. So do you all remember the dress I made based off of Anne Boleyn's miniature? I chose the miniature because it seamed to have the best detail. Well, I was never fully satisfied with Anne just having gold brass beads on her neckline. They gave the idea of what the gown had, and I was asked to do this on short notice. All of that aside, now I have been allowed the time to go back and do it right. so I plan to. Detail from the beading on Anne Boleyn's Bodice. After some research and digging around I stumbled across a few extent garments from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. amazingly they have thread covered buttons made with gold thread, and on one example they are purely decorative. Any avid costumers out there can imagine the excitement I got from this discovery. Copyrigh...