Making Jewelry Inspired by Roman Mummies

In this video I have made a multi strand necklace from glass beads to approximate coral jewelry popular around the Mediterranean Sea in Ancient Rome. My earrings in particular were inspired by several pairs shows on the Fayum Mummies. The Fayum mummies are widely considered to date between the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. After the death of Cleopatra VII, Egypt was controlled by the Roman Empire which lead to an interesting mix in places by Fayum which has Roman, Greek, and Egyptian influence.

Depending on where I was living, costuming from ancient Rome became a mainstay of my summer costuming wardrobe. It lets air circulate, can accommodate a wide range of body shapes, and can be surprisingly elegant. I would highly recommend checking out ancient Roman clothing for your historical costuming summer wardrobe. Because the clothing is frequently simple with lovely details like the jewelry and hair, this is an ideal style for folks that love to make and add accessories to an outfit. For more information on these mummies here is a decent article from Wikipedia. It also has the sourcing information for the mummy paintings I reference in this video. Article about the Mummies

History of Coral Jewelry Amazon affiliate links for supplies: Headpins: https://amzn.to/44NGtbc Crimp Beads: https://amzn.to/3Kjpkhu Multi strand pieces: Mine came from JoAnn Fabrics, but if you don't have one near by check these out https://amzn.to/450U26M Small Fresh Water Pearls: https://amzn.to/43OTJLF Beading Wire: https://amzn.to/44Mdu7A Jewelry Making Pliers: https://amzn.to/3DGxigJ

Social Media and other Places to Find me: Instagram: @maridith.smith Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tudorrevolution/ Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/maridithsmith All Music was Provided by the YouTube creator studio. Video edited with DaVinci Resolve 17. Filmed with Cannon M50

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Pockets in the 16th Century?

So if you are new to my blog, Hello! I took July off to focus on work and realities of covid life. Thanks for hanging in there. This week we are doing to cover 16th Soccocia and their role toward the origin of pockets. People need a place to carry and keep their small items as they walk around. In the middle ages you might have a pilgrim satchel or a belt pouch. Some women in the middle ages had the brilliant idea to stop wearing their money purses outside of their over gowns and instead would wear them between their kirtle/sottona layer and over gowns. This arrangement still gave you access to the purse, but made it harder for thieves to cut your purse strings and run. Fast forward to the 16th century and we find the heirs to this practice in socaccia. We have some visual evidence of these in mid to late 16th century art out of Italy. This is a detail of Alessandro Allori's, Woman at her toilet, ca 1575-78. Currently in Florence, Church of Santa Maria Novella, Gaddi Chapel. J

Two Tone Lucet Cording

Hello Beautiful Humans! Today I have a brief tutorial for you on how I made the lucet lacings for my most recent renaissance dress. It is a craft that is hard to document in the 16th century, where I do most of my work, but I love how quickly this technique works up into fairly strong cording. This two tone technique is much stronger than a typical single strand lucet braid because of the extra cord running through the entire cord. I also love the possibilities for coordinating your laces to your outfits. My laces were made much longer than I needed them for this dress. Looking back I could have cut my lacing in half and been fine, but now I have all this extra if I should ever need it. Long laces also mean I can pre-lace myself into this dress with a spiral lace and then tighten it until I feel comfortable. For this particular style of lucet I used a hardwood lucet fork I purchased from an 18th century reenactor, a skein of DMC 6-strand embroidery floss, and a ball of size 10 cr

Voided Velvet Sleeves from a Thrift Store Scarf

Detachable sleeves are one of my favorite things to make for renaissance dresses, and always seem to be the last thing I think to make when I'm planning my outfits. These sleeves are made from thrift store fabric to mimic one possible way that "cut work sleeves" were made in the period. There are several theories, and my research has made me think that they all may have been in use at different points in time for different specific motifs. To make these sleeves I used a voided velvet scarf I found at my local thrift store and remnants of rayon velvet, silk shantung, and linen. Techniques I cover in the video include basting, hemming stitches, and how to easily sew with velvet. I completed the project using a mix of hand sewing and a modern sewing machine. I love wearing these Italian renaissance dresses at reenactment events or when I attend events for the Society of Creative Anachronism. Groups like this have helped me learn more about how period techniques and mate

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