Tag: sca

Household Workshop Day

16th century, Accessories, Dance, Household

This weekend was the first chance I was able to get together with both my new student Philippa and my apprentice Serafina. We met up at Philippa’s house to work on various projects.

A couple weeks ago I helped Philippa drape a body block for herself. We used that to work out patterns for a kirtle and loose gown modeled after a portrait of Eleanora de Toledo. After a few iterations of drafting and test fitting, we arrived at a pretty good shape.

Serafina brought along a new pouch that she’s been working on, and made good progress on it. It’s shaping up to be very close to the period examples she’s working from.

After we finished sewing for the day, we went over a few dances that Philippa wanted to teach her students later this week. Despite having to imagine most of the other dancers in our sets, I think it went pretty well.

A Note For All: Planning Dancing For Events

Dance

In the course of preparing for an event, there are many things that require advance planning and work before the appointed date arrives. If there is to be a feast, a head cook must be selected, who will plan what dishes will be served, test the recipes, buy the food, and perhaps cook some things before the feast itself. Artisans may spend weeks or months creating decorations, site tokens, tourney prizes, and the like. Teachers must prepare their classes and create instructional materials.

Though it usually comes at the very end of the event and is a time for joy and relaxation, a dance revel benefits just as much from such attention. Just as the other event staff is chosen well ahead of time, your dance leader should be appointed early enough that they can plan ahead for the dancing. If there is to be live music, this makes it much easier for the musicians to be prepared, whether they are from your own group or from further afield. More importantly, if the dance list is created and posted along with the other event information, there will be ample chance for those attending the event to learn unfamiliar dances or refresh their memories.

Just as the populace of the hosting group may be involved in the cooking and serving of feast, the creation of decorations and prizes, and other tasks that contribute to the success of an event, so too can they be involved in preparation for the dancing. A pre-determined dance list is an excellent way to focus the instruction at your local dance practice, or to get a local practice started in preparation for your event. While it is possible to teach dances at a revel, it is far more enjoyable for there to be enough familiarity with the dances that no teaching is required, or simply a quick reminder of the choreography.

It is, of course, possible to contact one of the experienced dance masters in the kingdom at the last minute to run your revel, but this should be the exception rather than the rule. An experienced cook from another group may be able to produce a good feast on a moment’s notice, but far better to give the aspiring cooks in the hosting group an opportunity to hone their craft so that they may achieve mastery in their own right.

Dance Class Recap

Dance

So the Barony was contacted a few weeks back by a homeschool group in the area that was looking for someone to teach them some dances that they could incorporate into a Robin Hood play. I drove down to McDonough this evening (along with my faithful apprentice Serafina) for the class, not exactly sure what to expect. Since they would be performing the dances without any ringers later, I decided to stick to some pretty simple stuff that would still be fun and look good on stage: Gathering Peascods, Queen’s Alman, and Montarde Bransle.

There were a couple dozen kids there, from about 6 to 18 (plus several spectating parents), and they were all very attentive and excited. We spent 3 hours learning and drilling the dances, with a little Ballo del Fiore thrown in to shake things up before the final run-through. By the end they were able to make it through everything with hardly any calling from me, so I think that if they get to practice a few more times they should have no problem. I had a really good time teaching, and hopefully a few of them will come see what the rest of our game is about. I think any of them would be great to have around.

Van der Weyden Kirtle: Bodice Finished

15th century

After adjusting the armscye, I attached the neckline facing:

I basted the facing in at the top and bottom (with the edge turned under), then used the bottom row of basting stitches as a guide to topstitch the facing from the front. I used a back stitch with  two strands of cotton embroidery floss.

Next, I used the machine to attach the binding from the front and then hand sewed it down on the inside. After a pile of eyelets, the bodice was finished:


Here you can see the shoulder seams:



The neckline sits a little funny, especially in this spot, though it’s hard to see in this picture. I’m not going to mess with it until I get the sleeves and skirt on, and see if it works itself out.

Van der Weyden Kirtle: Bodice

15th century

Ah, I’ve forgotten how nice an all-night sewing binge can be! I was up until 1 AM, but I got the bodice mostly put together. I decided to use the construction technique that can be seen in van der Weyden’s St. John altarpiece, with the back and shoulder seams finished on the inside. This should allow for easier alteration in the future. The layers used in the bodice are a light green linen (which might be cotton/linen), an interlining of the medium weight blue cotton/linen I’ve been using for ages now, and a lining of lightweight white linen.

First phase of construction

One of my goals with this dress is to re-integrate some machine sewing into my technique. I used the machine to sew up the side seams, and to zig-zag on a couple extra layers of the interlining at the center front edge to reinforce the eyelets. The lining and interlining are cut to the same shape, while the green linen was cut a little larger at the seams and the armscye and waist edges. You can see here where the green linen has been turned under and sewn down at the armscye and waist. The remaining edges are hand-basted to keep them together.

Front shoulder seam complete

Here the first shoulder seam has been finished. The main seam was sewn by machine, and then the edges were sewn down by hand, with the green linen turned over the edge of the linings.

Both shoulder seams sewn (and altered)

Here both shoulder seams are complete, and you can see part of the neckline facing basted in place. I did a test fit of the bodice after finishing the main seams, and found that the armscye was too big at the front. I marked where the seam needed to be adjusted, and altered the seam without any fuss. The construction technique seems to live up to its potential.

There really wasn’t a whole lot of machine sewing that I was able to do using this method. I ended up having to reinforce a couple of the seams by hand, as they were already starting to come apart while I was finishing them. I think I’ll still use the machine on the skirt seams, but I don’t know if I trust it for bodice seams that will be under real stress.

Van der Weyden Kirtle: Beginning

15th century, Uncategorized

I’ve finally started on Adela’s new clothes: a 15th century Flemish kirtle and gown suitable for fancy occasions. The kirtle is based on the ones shown in various paintings by Rogier van der Weyden, like this one:

It has short sleeves, with distinctive seam lines at the front and back of the shoulder. Some examples have another seam at the top of the shoulder as well. While in some cases it looks like it might be a raglan sleeve, you can see here a short set-in sleeve. There is also a seam line parallel to the neckline, as well as what looks like a binding at the neckline edge itself. I’ve got some theories about this that I’ll be putting into practice as this progresses.

ETA:

Here’s the pattern:

When I worked the pattern out, I put the shoulder seam in. I’m not sure if it will make any difference; I may go ahead and edit it out when I make the real thing.