The Tudor Revolution

  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 ...

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...

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...

Tintoretto Portrait of a Lady Over the last several months I have been haunting the jewelry sections at my local craft stores and beading shops. My goal has been to find supplies to make a new belt. There are plenty a beautiful pieces on the market right now,  just not what I was looking for. Being picky with my design also gave me time to research pieces. The two principal styles of belts worn by middle to upper class Venetian woman  between 1550 and 1600 could be thought of as jewelry more than accessories as we see them today. The first style wraps around the waist and has a tail dangling down the center front of wearers' skirts. Style number two also wraps around the wearer's body, but does not extend down. It appears that wealthier women would have a large "belt buckle" while the middle class would simply hook the two ends together. I already have 3 belts with dangling pieces, so I decided to try the second style. Cross from the late 16th century. Gold w...

While working on my projects for the Realm of Venus costume challenge, I decided I wanted to try a different way to make buttons for my new muff. Vecellio mentions gold and crystal buttons being used to keep them closed. My digging and research through the Elizabethan Costume Page on Facebook  lead me to this lovely piece of documentation.  6/30/14 Note:  Katrine De Saint Brieuc was the original poster of this image to the Elixabethan Costume Page on Facebook. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! My next step was the bead store where I found decorative headpins and settled for gold plated beads. Rock crystal was not in stock and ordering it was starting to look expensive. After gathering tools I was able to produce something very similar to these buttons, but the holes in the beads did not allow me to insert the wire back in so deeply. Beaded Buttons Materials: - Decorative headpins for jewelry or non-decorative pins and fancy "caps" - Large bead of your ch...

I am sure that anyone reading this blog has watched or read some historical fiction based on Henry VIII's reign. Remember the huge deal the Queen's Jewels were? When looking at portraits of Henry's many queens, you start to see the same pendant, or pearls with settings show up again and again. Bellow are images from Henry VIII's court. The crown jewels from this time period probably look unlike anything you have seen on showtime or in the movies. Necklace Grouping 1, Queens of England (Jane Seymour, Katherine Howard) Necklace Grouping 2, Queens of England (Jane Seymour and Katherine Parr) I am pairing up more portraits of Queens and their jewels, I have at least 2 other pieces i am tracing. Keep checking back.