All posts tagged: 14th century

A loose ends lucet cord

While working on my medieval gown, I struggled with a lacing cord for it. There isn’t much that is suitable in Wellington, and I didn’t really have time to order something in. I used a simple linen cord to hold it the dress together while I was working on it, but it started fraying pretty quickly, and also made the dress look a little too Friar Tuck robe-ish. I researched cord options and came across lucet cords. I read a couple of tutorials (I’m all about reading tutorials, youtube is not my thing) and realised that lucet cord is basically a two-finger yarn lei – and I know how to make yarn leis! Unfortunately along with a dearth of period-appropriate cording in Wellington, I haven’t been able to source a lucet fork in NZ. I started out really make do: with a plastic fork with the middle tines broken out, and linen thread. The resulting cord was beautiful, but the making process was rather unsatisfactory. I was only able to make rate at about 2cm …

A medieval moment in my 1350s-80s gown

Published by The Dreamstress

At long last, after lots of research, lots of work, some triumphs, and a few setbacks, I’ve finished my first proper medieval garment. I got it completely ready to wear, except for sewing four buttons on the cuffs, for a historical dinner on Saturday. I wore it for the dinner with cuffs unbuttoned, and then I finished the buttons on Monday. On Thursday the weather was beautiful (if cold) and the gorgeous Elizabeth of Ills Winter and I spent the late afternoon hanging out at the Sir Truby King gardens, taking pictures and generally having fun. I only ended up putting 11 buttons on the sleeves, because of buttonhole issues (more about that in a later post), but I could add more later if I wished. I’m reasonably happy with the finished result. The neckline is a little too scooped, the sleeves a little too long, my buttonholes more than a little rubbish, but as a learning piece, it’s not bad at all! The next one will be much better! I definitely feel I’ve got …

Not at all Slevils: Adventures in Medieval Sleeve Fitting

Published by The Dreamstress

With surprisingly little faffing and no angst at all, my 1360s-70s gown now has sleeves! Medieval sleeves have a reputation for being hard (I’ve heard them called slevils more than once) but sleeves are one of the things I’m really good at, so I wasn’t too worried about them.* I think it’s because I’d sewn in a dozen sleeves and drafted at least two before I heard that sleeves are supposed to be awful. I never had time to be scared! But I’m a good little bloggy scholar, and I want my dress to help me get to historical accuracy, so I read pretty much all the medieval sleeve drafting posts on the internet, and got myself all psyched up to sew 14th century sleeves. I started with the sleeve drafting tutorial at the Completely Dressed Anachronist. Nice and clear, and I like the way she discusses the pitfalls of drafting methods. By following it, I got this: I cut it out in toile fabric, sewed it up, and it DID NOT WORK. It was …