(A compendium of information from discussions on the 12th Century Garb Yahoo Group list)
Weaving Drafts
Q: “I am coming ever closer to my goal of creating a cloak of handwoven fabric of handwoven weft (I am new to the drop-spindle, and fear it will be a long time before I have the expertise and the volume to produce both weft and warp). Are there any 12th c fibre-resources out there for me to determine what draft I could use to be “period?” I really want to do this right the first time, but do not have much in the way of a reference library on fabric construction in period (colonial America coverlets just won’t cut it).
— Gennevote.
A: “Have you tried the museum of London book:
Medieval Finds from Excavations in London: 4 Textiles and Clothing circa 1150-1450.
by Crowfoot, Elizabeth and others.
“I’ve only seen snippets of this book, and I believe it mostly covers 13th and 14th century stuff, but since information is rather scarce, extrapolating backwards is probably the best you’ll be able to do.
“Sorry, not a loom weaver myself, I only do tablet weaving.”
— Teffania
~ Messages 48 & 29, June 4, 2002
Patterned Fabric
“I also uploaded several of my favorite bliaut images, mostly German, onto the files page. I note that they are large files and take to long to load, so I will scale them down in the next few days. Meanwhile, if you have the patience, I invite you to look at them and study the details! I have included several examples of bliauts made of patterned fabrics. Of special interest is the marriage of Henry of Germany and Mathilda, daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The figures on the left of the kneeling man are Henry’s family and to the right of kneeling Mathilda are her family, including Henry II.”
~ Katrine / Katherine Barich
Message #100, July 29, 2002
“Sexy” Fabric
Q: “What are our 12th century Really Dressy Fabrics? What fabric do we pick for those damn-the-torpedoes-eat-your-hearts-out-you-pitiful-peasants outfits? I’m sick of plain linen and plain wool.”
~ Joan the Harper
Message #112, August 12, 2002
A #1: “Well, we’re looking at a culture which has been exposed to the EAST … Byzantium & the Arab countries & the Silks of the Far East … Check further, but I’m thinking opulent brocades, silks, etc. Silk is always a nice step up. <G> Peasants do NOT get to wear silk! “
~ Gwen / Jennifer Hill
Message #113, August 12, 2002
A #2: “In a word – silk!!!!! I prefer patterned when I can find it in the Indian markets. They still make some with quite medieval designs.
“You could also choose plain silk and embroider designs at regular intervals, or couch gold or silver cord. Another quite period design would be to add borders of another color and work out patterns in pearls and jewels.
“I made what I call a byzantine bliaut (my persona went on the crusades with Eleanor of Aquitaine and would have seen the imperial style in Constantinople) – pretty much typical bliaut from something that approximated a heavy silk and added a jeweled byzantine collar and padded roll headress with pillbox hat, jeweled, with hanging beads surrounding my face. All in black, gold and red. I always get ‘wow’ comments when I wear it. I would probably do something completely different now.
I”n my mind what would knock me dead is a silk bliaut beautifully embroidered with love and care. If anyone has ideas on how to do jeweled ophreys – please share!”
~ Katrine / Katherine Barich
Message #114, August 12, 2002
A #3: “One thing I’ve seen a few times is horizontal stripes. Now, it’s takes either the right shape or attitude to wear horizontal stripes. It’s unclear from the pictures if the stripes are applique, woven in, or seperate pieces sewn together. They may even be the fancy of the artist. “
~ Slaine / Mary M. Haselbauer
Message #119, August 13, 2002
Red Silk
Q: “I thought I’d just get a quick consensus from the group before starting to save up for a tunics-worth of the silk I’ve fallen in love with! (And I do mean “save up” – $24.00/yard!)
“It’s the right weight, it’s an acceptable weave (a subtle geometric pattern jacquard) but I’m not 2000% confident about the color for 12th C. England – it’s red – not super bright red, but a sort of deep crimson.”
~ Joan the Harper
Message #155, August 26, 2002
A: “Joan, Look at:
http://www.medievalbeads.com/docs/items/12th-dalmatic-cuffs.html
“It’s a picture of a set of red silk cuffs, heavily beaded with pearls, gold and enamels, dated to 1130-1140. Granted, they are from Sicily. But if red silk made it to Silicy, it could have made to any other parts of Europe, too.”
~ Ealasaid
Message #159, August 26, 2002
New to All This
Q: “I suspect that the first thing I need is fabric. Are there any colours that I should avoid or must have?”
A: “Well, for fabric type, go with linen or a drapey wool. If you can’t manage that, some of the rayon linen-looks come out nicely, but make sure to look at real linen first so you get the stuff that looks right, and check fabric content to make sure it’s not polyester or poly-rayon! I tend to go with “earthy colors” or “jewel-tones” rather than pastels or really bright stuff.”
~ Brangwayna Morgan
Message #194, August 31, 2002
Silk for a Bliaut
Q: “Does anyone have a good source for silk (inexpensive) – slightly stiff that I can crunch up for that pleated skirt look on a bliaut?
super silks.com doesn’t have pics of fabrics and I have no idea what kind I need. Is it
china silk? or charmeuse? or crepe?”
A: “I made a beautiful bliaut for a friend of mine out of 18mm charmeuse. I used the broomstick skirt method to get the pleated look and it worked extremely well. It’s not cheap – the cheapest charmeuse I’ve found is from Fashion Fabric Club at $9 a yard.
http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com
(I haven’t purchased their charmeuse, but I have bought other fabrics from them).
“Charmeuse is not a stiff fabric – its very supple and drapes beautifully, which is what I want for a bliaut, rather than something stiff. It was rather difficult to sew in that it kept falling off my lap, the ironing board, etc. on to the floor.
“Fashion Fabric Club also has a silk twill for $7 yard which someone else on the list has used, I think for a bliaut.
“China silk will probably be too thin and fragile. I don’t know about crepe.”
–Lydia / Linda M. Finne
Message #267, October 8, 2002
Stripes
“The medieval eye found any surface in which a background could not be distinguished from a foreground disturbing. Thus, striped clothing was relegated to those on the margins or outside the social order -jugglers and prostitutes, for example -and in medieval paintings the devil himself is often depicted wearing stripes. The West has long continued to dress its slaves and servants, its crewmen and convicts in stripes.”
— from a review of the recent book “The Devil’s Cloth: A History of
Stripes and Striped Fabric” by Michel Pastoureau. See:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/catalog/data/023112/0231123663.HTM
Definitely not prim and proper! 😉
~ Sabine Kerbriant
Message #309, October 16, 2002
“There are 2 or 3 striped tunics in the Winchester bible (at least that’s all I have pictures of). One even has the polka dots in groups of threes on it. I was so thrilled to find an actual 12thc striped tunic! There are bunches in the 13th.”
~ Aénor d’Anjou / mka Kirsten Wienand Vaughan
Message #314, October 17, 2002
Patterns and Trims
Q: I have a good grasp of fabrics and colours used. But I would really welcome information on fabric patterns, trims and actual patterns for the bliauts. I am interested
in the French stlye with the corsage.
A: Patterns – so far it seems that the silks of the period included stylized animals, patterns surrounded by cirlcles, dots, crescents, crosses and the extant coronation cloak of the Holy Roman Emporer is a red samite with a small vined pattern.
I have recently checked out Women’s Costume in French Texts of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries by Eunice Goddard (strongly recommended) and have been putting the information on fabric type with reference to color, pattern, garment and year into a spreadsheet which I intend to share with the group. So far I am one page 34 of 260, but I am going to list here what I have found so far about patterns –
porpre vert croisilliee (Purple – cloth, not color, cross pattern, green)
fil de soie a or ovrees (threads of silk worked with gold)
d’un clert samit vermail, a flours ovre entraictez d’or (a samite, vermillion worked with flowers circled? with gold)
drap d’or a oisiax, a flors et a lunetes (cloth of gold with birds, flowers and crescents)
porpre sanguine, estincelee d’or et forree d’ermine (purple-cloth, not color, blood colored, sprinkled with gold)
brun samit menuement gote d’or (brown samite with small drops of gold – perhaps polka-dot)
I also recommend the following book for more info as it has photos of period fabrics:
Byzantine Silk Weaving AD 400 to AD 1200 by Anna Muthesius
As for patterns for the bliaut, I suggest the fine article that has been placed on our group page for ideas, also the TI article, The Bliaut, A reconstruction Based on Primary Source Material, Winter 1993 edition.
The corsage is a controversial piece with the thought being that what looks like the corsage is actually how the bliaut is gathered at the side.
~ Katherine Barich
Message #319, November 5, 2002