Centuries-Sewing

Tag: Wills and Inventories

  • Juan de Alcega Tailor’s Pattern Book: Manteo or a skirt of cloth

    Juan de Alcega Tailor’s Pattern Book: Manteo or a skirt of cloth

    I’m in need of a new underskirt or petticoat for my 16th century clothing. I’ve been using the same cotton broadcloth one I made back in 2005, for years now. It is serviceable, but it adds a lot of bulk at the waist and it isn’t very authentic in construction or materials.

    So it is time to for a new one.

    I have 3.5 yards of a lovely wine colored, lightweight worsted wool donated to me by Noel. (Thank you Noel! <3 )

    I’ll be drafting the pattern on the fabric and  hand sewing the whole thing with linen thread.

     

    wine red wool and thread

     

    I’m working from the Spanish version of Alcega’s Book. The english translation is out-of-print and painfully expensive. I’m not a native nor fluent spanish speaker so google and a few other resources will be heavily used.

    I’m using the translated chart of symbols from the tailors book into modern inches from the Curious Frau’s site.

    Taking some inspiration from Other Andrew’s The Alcega Project.

    And keeping in mind the information Mathew Gnagy of the Modern Maker has posted about his study of the patterns on his blog and on the Elizabethan Costume Facebook group.

     

     

    Definition from “Nuevo diccionario portatil, espanol e ingles: compuesto segun los mejore…“

    Manteo: s, m : a church man’s cloke; a woman’s under petticoat.

    Language is a fluid thing, always changing. The above definition is from 1728 far later than the 16th century. However even later dictionaries simply list it as a cloak or mantle. Context is key, when it is listed as Manteo de Muger, chances are it is a skirt.

    (more…)

  • Interesting Costume Related Articles

    Interesting Costume Related Articles

    A round-up of some interesting costume/textile articles and theses I’ve come across the past week.

    Of Crymsen Tissue: The Construction of a Queen. Identity, Legitimacy and the Wardrobe of Mary Tudor

    The Cheapside Horde

    English Embroidery of the Late Tudor and Stuart Eras

    ‘The inordinate excess in apparel’: Sumptuary Legislation in Tudor England

    Texts and Textiles: Self-Presentation among the Elite in Renaissance England

     

  • The use of buckram in Tudor (Henrician) Gowns

    The use of buckram in Tudor (Henrician) Gowns

    This is my follow up post to the question of using buckram in kirtles.

    To back track a bit, in March I hit Google books and British History Online to hunt for how buckram was used in early 16th century England.

    Since my use of it in kirtles for support was iffy at best, I turned to inventories and expense accounts to see if I could find some concrete information.

    What I found was buckram being used as a stiffening agent in gowns rather then kirtles. This makes a great deal of sense. If we assume the buckram used then was similar to the buckram used now, (a firm fabric sometimes but not always stiffened with glue) to have it in a kirtle, is to have it near sweat and body heat which can wilt it like a wet paper towel.

    I found it was used to line the bodice of gowns but that is not the only thing, below I’ve listed a few excerpts.

    “..2 yds. of buckram to line the upper sleeves,..”

    “A brown-blue gown, lined with buckram, and purfelyd with black velvet.”

    “A woman’s black round gown, lined with bokeram, and wide sleeves lined with black velvet.”

    “Necessaries for my Lady.—For Philippe, the maid, marriage money, 6l. 13s. 4d. A quarter and a nail of tawney velvet for my Lady’s purse, 3s. 9d. A skein of silk for ditto, 2d. An ounce of tawney silk for string, 14d. A quarter of buckram for lining, 2d. 5 yds. buckram for Philippa’s gown, 2s. 11d. A quarter and a half of velvet, 4s. 3d. ½ yd. linen cloth, 2½d.; anglets,” It seems here buckram to line the purse and enough buckram to line all of the gown

    “…and making a gown, a kirtle, and a petticoat for Phillippa against she was married, 3s. 6d. A quarter velvet more for the maid’s gown, 3s. 3½ yds. buckram, 2s. 1d. “For lining and agnetts to the playtes,” 10d.” I haven’t figured out what agnetts is yet, but perhaps buckram to pad out the pleats?

    “I have delivered to Mr. Skutt 1¾ yds. Lywkes velvet for the upper bodies and placards, and 2½ yds. of the best black satin for lining the sleeves. He thanks you for the two dozen quails. I have further delivered him 15 yds. Lywkes velvet and a roll of buckram for your gown, and 6 yds. Lywkes velvet for your kirtle, &c. I will bring them with me to Dover.”

    “For making 2 gowns, 1 cr. 2 yds. of black buckram, to line the two gowns in the bodies. 3 yds. of frieze, to line the pleats of the gowns after their use.”Frieze to pad the pleats this time.

    So it is used to line sleeves, the bodice parts of gowns, it might be used to pad out pleats should I ever figure out what agnetts is. But no where is it mentioned being used in kirtles.
    I’ve compiled a much longer list with citations and full excepts to give a bit more context to the entries. As I have time I hope to add more to it and look into what other things buckram was used for.

     

    Go to the full list of buckram used in Tudor Gowns

  • Elizabethan Fabric Series: Mockado

    Elizabethan Fabric Series: Mockado

     

    Finding the right fabrics for 16th century clothing has always been an elaborate game of hide and seek. You look for fabrics that are close to what was worn 500 years ago. The fabrics then hide from you or are so far out of your budget range you expire from sticker shock.

    200 dollar a yard silk damask I am looking at you!

    So I’ve decided to take a look into 16th century fabrics. What they are made from, a little bit about the history of them, and my best guess as what might be a modern substitute.

    For the past month I’ve been fascinated with Mockado fabric, the lesser known cousin of 16th century velvets.

    The dictionary defines mockado as:mock·a·do [muh-kah-doh] –noun, plural -does:
    a fabric simulating velvet, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries.
    Origin: 1535–45; earlier mockeado < It moccaiard

    But was was it made out of?

    “Textile manufacture in Early Modern England“ tells me it was imported from Flanders early in the 16th century, but by the 1570’s it was being made in England, with several rules governing the quality of it. It could be made from wool, linen, hemp, and silk or a blend of all three. It could be made thick for bed hangings or carpeting. Or lighter for clothing weight. It could be tuffed and voided or changeable, plain or double.

    Unfortunately I have not come across any paintings called “Unknown Person in Mockado” or pieces of 16th century clothing made from it.

    My best guess is that clothing weight mockado may have been like our modern velveteens or waleless corduroy when compared to velvets. Hard wearing, a lower pile to the nap but still needing to pay attention to the nap direction when cutting it out.

    And what was it used for? As it turns out lots of things.

     

    More about Mockado in wills and inventories.

  • Tudor and Elizabethan Wardrobe Accounts, Wills and Inventories

    Tudor and Elizabethan Wardrobe Accounts, Wills and Inventories

     

    I’ve started putting together a list of Tudor and Elizabethan Wills and Inventories that are available in full preview through Google Books. I’ve also included a few useful books that only have a limited preview. I hope these lists will help make it a little easier for people who are looking for clothing or household information on the web.

    There are some overlaps between the two sections, and I am still adding notes to what each book is.

    Tudor Wills, Wardrobe, and Inventory Accounts

    Elizabethan Wills, Wardrobe, and Inventory Accounts