historical clothing – Page 2

Needle Cases and Knowing the Past

A flat leather needle case or ‘housewife.’ The two large flaps covered in felt fold together, then the third smaller flap folds over them to hold it closed. I sew by hand, and I like to use this needle case. It holds pins better than my pincushion, it is easy to pack away and set... Continue reading: Needle Cases and Knowing the Past

The Linen Karballatu

A bascinet with a perforated-metal visor wearing a red hood with cheek flaps and a tall comb at the top folded down — I am cautious about posting closeups of my face on the Internet, but while I am visiting my parents I have a convenient surrogate available

Some years ago, I made up one of the famous Persian hoods in red linen cloth. I machine-sewed it and bag-lined it, and did not have sources other than reliefs, the Darius Mosaic, the bonnet from one of the Pazyryk tombs, and an interesting woodcut which Jona Lendering showed me. I used linen because it was available and appropriately light and flowing. I had a feeling that wool would have been more common. Back then, I knew that Strabo said that ordinary Persians wore a rag of sindōn (fine linen? by the middle ages sindon was a delicate silk) about their heads while rich ones wore a tower-like felt hat, so I had one possible source for linen (the original Greek is ῥάκος σινδόνιόν and πίλημα πυργωτόν and the citation is Strabo, Geography, 15.3.19). In the meantime I learned a bit of Greek, and also some Akkadian. It turned out that both of those languages are relevant.

The Forces of Madness Over-Reach

The unfinished end of the sleeve of a quilted garment against a cloth background — One cuff of the doublet about to be finished by stitching cloth along the raw edges.

The forces of madness have been on an around-the-world tour, but when they got back and slept off the tasty kebabs, weak beer, and very sweet sweets they discovered that their agent in the Alps had over-reached himself. This particular style of clothing was meant to fit very closely in some areas while standing away from the body in others, and in an excess of enthusiasm, their humble servant cut too much away from the opening of the lower sleeve to finish its edges by rolling or folding and stitching down. Fortunately, there are solutions.
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The Forces of Madness Make a Classic Blunder

Components of a quilted doublet spread on the floor showing that one breast has blue cloth on the inside and one has brown there — The four modules of the doublet, laid with their ‘right’ side facing the ground and their ‘wrong’ side facing the camera. Something is wrong with this picture.

While getting involved in a land war in Asia and going in against a Sicilian when death is on the line are classic blunders, most scholars agree that quilting a garment before you have made sure that you really have one right and one left breast is a good one too. Fortunately, that is a mistake which just costs time and thread to fix.

Solution below the fold.
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The Forces of Madness Transform Topology

Since 1933, it has been well known that the forces of madness have an affinity with unusual topology. In the case of this style of garment, layers of flat cloth are assembled into a three-dimensional garment shaped like an hourglass, using a saddle-shaped curve along the high waistline. From this stage onwards it is hard to lay the assemblies flat for photographing, because the whole point of assembling them is to stretch flat planes into a three-dimensional shape. I used some books to support the edges of the seam across the small of the back to help create the right effect for the camera.

The Forces of Madness Take up the Earth Basket

The ground has been surveyed, the walls measured, and the materials gathered. Now it is time to build the siege ramp for this sartorial siege, or less metaphorically to quilt endless rows of stitches.

A pile of stacks of pattern pieces for a jacket with complicated sleeves — Stacks of pattern pieces ready for the final adjustment of the stuffing then quilting and assembly. From left to right: back, sleeves, front

The Forces of Madness Renew the Assault

Not even the weapons of Erra and the scornful ghosts of the Innsbrucker Schneiderkunst can stop this madness.

The inside of a white cotton jacket with many visible modifications and unfinished seams — The armpit of the second mockup after a series of … interventions.

The Forces of Madness Gather

Clockwise: Three pounds of cotton, a pound of linen thread, five ells of unbleached linen, two ells of smooth blue fustian, two and a half ells of unbleached linen, assorted silk floss for eyelets and buttonholes, one spool of purple silk thread Edit 2024-08-19: block editor