The Tudor Revolution

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 ...

Museum Number  T.12-1948 , Victoria and Albert Museum A few years ago I posted some research on monochrome English embroidery. This was the kick off of a hand project I have been carrying around and working on periodically. In February of this year I finished my coif. This coif is made of the finest linen I could find and embroidered with silk died using period techniques which I purchased at Pennsic War. The extant examples were made from linen ground fabric and silk embroidery thread. Most of my embroidery was done using stem stitch  or satin stitch. The edge was treated with a long and short button hole stitch similar to that seen in some smocks and shirts of the time rather than with lace.  My design was inspired by a Schole-House for the Needle , and two extent coifs. the design was transferred from paper to the coif using a period method of pattern transfer called prick and pounce. the little dots were then inked using a fabric safe pen. I assembled the ...

Over the last several months members of the SCA have approached me and asked for help working on various embroidery projects. First I volunteered to embroider a stylized heart for a friend's elevation to the Order of the Laurel. The heart is worked in silk and sterling silver purl. The fleur was filled with silver plated tube beads replicating bullion. The ground fabric of the design is on white linen. A band of hearts like these were appliqued along the hem of my friend's dress. Each heart was made by someone who touched her heart and assisted on the path she took in some way. The next piece I worked on are for the Queen of Atenveldt's dress. I completed 4 1/2 suns in splendor used along the hem of her dress. This embroidery was done using DMC cotton floss on linen. Her Majesty wore this dress at grand court of Estrella War 2015 and at other important occasions. These suns were incorporated into a larger design by the Elizabethan Sweatshop in Phoenix, AZ. The final...

I am still working on some of the finer details to my Venetian outfit based on The Concert by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo. One major detail I have been holding off on is finishing the goldwork embroidery on the partlet aka  gorgiera. Now that my copy of The Royal School of Needlework's Goldwork Stitches is here I will be reading it furiously and trying to sketch out the subtle goldwork designs in the painting. Wish me luck! and from what I have read of the book so far it is big on technique, but very light on historical context. A full review will follow later.  Giovanni Antonio Fasolo, c1565: " The Concert " (fresco detail) Vicenza, Villa Campiglia Negri de' Salvi

Back in September I volunteered for a small but important project. Countess Illora, then Queen of Atenveldt, was stepping down in German high-renaissance clothing. Sarah Grace's end product was beautiful, but my embroidery is only visible to a few members who helped to dress the Queen. Sarah Grace pre-smocked the embroidery for her Majesty's undergarment cuffs and neckline. I then used a stem stitch in white silk thread to outline the design I had chosen from some period patterns. The cuffs are a simplified version of one of Holbien's paintings in Basil, and the neckline is from an Italian sampler. Flower and vines for an inspiring woman. Cuffs worked in white for a subtle beauty.  Neckline in a floral pattern. 

Inspired by an Italian Masquerade event that I will be attending at the end of September, my projects are taking a brief vacation to the shining city on the lagoon, Venice. Starting in at the beginning of August I had 8 weeks to build a Venetian Ensemble from the skin out, and a Hungarian Ensemble for my husband.  So far here is my progress: Week 1: Research and order supplies I could not find locally. Start 40 thread covered buttons for husband's coat. Week 2: While waiting for supplies research how gowns were made. Draft corset pattern, discuss construction details with those who have made them before. Prep supplies as they arrive. Build and embroider husband's 16th century shirt. Look to my post  on a Man's Tudor Shirt. Week 3: Construct Corset. Look to my post on  Effigy Corsets with Reeds . Begin drafting camicia pattern based on the instructions at  The Realm of Venus Camicia Page Week 4-5: Mock up/patterning Hungarian coat. Embroidery...

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...

Have you ever noticed the difference between a pretty Henrician ensemble and an exquisite one? What made the difference for you? For myself and many others, the difference that makes our heart stop is the detail and care put into the outfit. during Henry VIII's reign there are numerous ways to embellish your clothing, and most of these techniques are best done the same way there were back then-- by hand. There are legends that state that Katherine of Aragon brought this technique to England. In the modern era, costume historians have corrected this assumption. Blackwork was indeed popularized in England by Katherine, but it was a style that had already existed in the tiny island kingdom. Miniature of Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, painted by Lucas Horenbout. Fitzroy wears an intimate cap with a repeating blackwork pattern worked across it. Through the numerous portraits from this period, as well as some later extent garments, costume and textile researc...