The Tudor Revolution

  I really love when I can find new uses for old things. Upcycling give me so much joy when it comes to creating historical costuming. For me, one of the best parts of historical clothing is the small details, which includes jewelry. When I first saw this 1980s style gold necklace at my local thrift store I immediately started thinking of ways I could alter it for a 16th century choker necklace. The exact embellishment of these necklaces would change over the century so I had a lot of options to think over. Because I am a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, I thought it would be fun to include a peerage medallion in this process as well. While I do not officially speak for the Society for Creative Anachronism, I do love sharing projects I work on for this hobby. On this thrift store jewelry upcycle I used head pins, round jewelry pliers, a pendant, and freshwater pearls. Below are some links to similar items I was able to find on Amazon if you are curious. Links are af...

  Hello Beautiful Humans! This week is a electronic gift to one of my friend's who recently had a birthday and asked me for a video tutorial a year ago on how I incorporate rings into my eyelets to reinforce my 16th century gowns. To give you some historical context, in the second half of the 15th century having elaborate lacing rings for your gown was very popular in Florence. By the 16th century the fashion had disappeared, but the fitted bodices of gowns continued. When Elenora di Toledo was burred, her funeral dress had small brass rings sewn into her eyelets. Exact sizing and details on this dress can be found in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 3 . It makes since that over a 100 year period the rings would have transformed from a practical focal point into a discrete reinforcement method. I usually get my rings for lacing, awls, and other tools from Renaissance Fabrics You can also find awls, thread, chalk, etc at your local sewing store. This video will walk y...

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 ...

This post could  also be called, "Its ok to grow & change your mind."  It's hard to believe that I wrote my first blog about my first effigy corset 8 years ago. There has been a lot of changes, more detailed research, and better access to digital archives of historical clothing. I've loved watching the conversation evolve over time & learning what I can to contribute to the conversation.  Last fall I had to make myself a new set of stays. My 5th set for me, in addition to everyone I've helped or made them for over the years. My previous sets are all still functional,  but my body shape has changed. Since living in Colorado I've dropped quite a bit of fluff, and my stays became so large on me they were no longer supportive & causing back pain.   My new stays were made using the same method I had previously except I omitted the diagonal "whalebone" channel. They fit well. As the time I made them, I had a small front gap for negative ease or...

I filmed this months ago while I was recovering from being sick. It has been a fun little editing project even if I left the camera tilted the wrong way. I learned how to correct it with my software but kept cutting off my own head in the process. Thank you to my friends in Ansteorra for this fun distraction.  I hope you are all safe and healthy. I expect us to share lots of stories when we are together again.  Just as a reminder, I am not an official spokes person for the SCA. To locate your local group you can go to  www.sca.org  or try Googling your town and SCA. 

Albrecht Durer, Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman, 1505 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_a_Venetian_Woman#/media/File:Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer_089b.jpg It is my understanding that this painting was produced on Albrecht Durer's visit to Venice in 1505, while he was studying the artistic techniques his Venetian contemporaries were using at the time. While the multiple rows of pearls can look intimidating, reproducing this necklace with modern jewelry making supplies is quite easy. I have strung this with silk thread, as it would have likely been at the time, but found it hear breaking when I eventually had a stand snap and I lost several tiny pearls. Empty plastic water bottles can be a great way to store broken necklaces waiting to be restrung in a pinch.  I made one of these for a silent auction to benefit a friend. Materials : - Nylon coated metal beading cable, a bit more than twice your finished length.  - Needle nose pliers - Wire cutters - 4 crimping beads - Necklace...

I recently put together some videos to demonstrate my favorite ways to attach my skirts to my bodices on 16th century gowns. Its a version of doing cartridge pleating where you pleat the fabric into the waist and sew. The major benefits of this is that you will always have even pleats without spending time measuring, marking on fabric, and basting. Compared to a mathematical, thread gathered cartridge pleat, these will be softer and more draped. I hope you enjoy the videos! Over the next few weeks I will also be revamping my poor sleepy blog. For the most up to date project progress feel free to follow me on Instagram. @maridith.smith Part 1: Setting up your garments for pleating Part 2: Sewing the pleats  

Hey there readers,  For a few years I've been in love with the idea of what would Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast look like if translated through the eyes of 16th century Italy. My first post in this series is actually going to be a white apron for this outfit, and give you instructions on how to make your own. Enjoy!  Use of Aprons in 16th century Italy The basic apron style of a rectangle gathered with a waistband has not changed for hundreds of years, and were popular with Italian women during the 16th century. Italians seem to have viewed this as much more utilitarian than other places in Europe where women were sitting in formal portraits with them. Italian women of the upper class only seem to wear them in private. These aprons have lovely embroidery or expensive lace worked into them. My goal in making mine was to continue to expand on my 16th century woman’s toilet, where women wore them to help keep clothing clean while dressing hair...

Tonight let's chat about a really fun piece of jewelry I found years ago while browsing the British Museum's online catalog. This ram pendant is similar to many other beautiful pieces of jewelry using baroque pearls, typically dated 1550-1600 by many museums. This one in particular has always made me smile as someone who works with textiles. Pendant Details Now imagine my glee as I walked through Hobby Lobby a few years ago with a friend & found an almost identical pendant in their offerings. We each purchased one of the cuties and decided to make jewelry  with them. I've worn it on a ribbon, strung it with beads, etc but never quite liked the look until I found a fancy chain in the costume jewelry of a local thrift store. I picked this one because it speaks to the fancy chains found with the Cheepside Hoard in London, dating to the same time as the pendants. V&A Chains from Cheepside Lesson: With a little creativity you can imagine pieces for your ensemb...

In one of my recent posts I mentioned that about 2 years ago I was given the opportunity to move tyo Denver, Colorado. One of the many things I have come to love about this city is the world class museums we have. Currently many collections are in storage at the Denver Art Museum while the finish an expansion, but some works are still on display. Earlier this year I went to the traveling Doir exhibit the museum hosted & found this amazing exhibit of British painting through the ages. Notably I was able to see my very first Holbien in person in baby Prince Edward's portrait. The insdtallation is running through July 2020, so please check it out. I'm  including some of my pictures as teasers for you! https://denverartmuseum.org/exhibitions/treasures

For the last few weeks I've been on a spree of finishing my own projects and sewing for me. This particular purse got my attention years ago s a joke, and I decided I wanted one to remind me not to take myself so seriously. This was entered into a "documentation light" SCA competition in  Colorado called Queen's Prize. I may edit this some more for a more in depth research project on the Renaissance concepts of Sacred and Profane Love. Venetian Lute Shaped Purse The Honorable Lady Isabelle de Calais Queen’s Prize Fall 2019 http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/workbox/extpurse.htm Purses in 16th Century  Vencie People have been carrying items they find precious to them through out our time period. You will often see bags suspended from belts, pilgrims carrying bags with their possessions, but it is incredibly rare to find a Venetian woman carrying any bag in the art of the 16th century. We know they still had items dear to them, and we have the sur...