SCA: Green 1490s Florentine Outfit - for Candlemas 2024

1490s Florentine Italian
for Candlemas 2024

In the beginning, I honestly had no thoughts about what to wear to Candlemas in February - I figured I would just go Viking, like I always do.  But then I went to the event webpage and saw this: 

"The year is 1494 and the wealthiest bride in Europe is about to become the queen of Germany and future Empress of Rome.  Come re-live the wedding of Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan and King Maximilian I of Austria and Germany." 

1490s Italian? I'm in.  The Sforza wedding was said to be one of the most amazing spectacles in years, by several people who wrote about it later: a pageant of high fashion and pomp the likes of which the writers had never seen.  Candlemas this year is intended to be a huge costume extravaganza, and everyone will be wearing their finest Italian and German garb - there's even a costume contest!   Time for a new fancy outfit, I thought.

My first thought was to make some minor alterations to the red velvet Florentine-ish outfit I wore to Baronial in 2022 (the trim is wrong, the sleeves are too big, and the whole thing needs small adjustments here and there), but I wanted something new.  And so of course, I started with something  old.  

Gamurra

I started with my black silk noil gamurra, which I made in 2014 and which has undergone many transformations in the past nearly ten years, mostly in the form of various decorative stitching and trims being applied and removed to change the look.  

I did the same this time, applying a gold and black braided trim to the neckline and front edges, and attaching some gold (brass) lacing rings to the front opening (yes, on top of the hand-sewn eyelets that were already there. The eyelets are very small, and they don't show under the rings when the dress is laced at all).  

Giornea

before - Burgundian dress

For the giornea,  I made over an old Burgundian dress that I had made in 2013 and had never worn - I just never got around to making an underdress or headgear to wear with it, so it just sat ignored  in my closet all these years. The outline was already nearly perfect, though. The dress is voluminous (much fuller than it looks in this picture), but the sleeves were too tight at the top, which made the shoulders fit weird.  Fortunately, I didn't need the sleeves.  

I removed the sleeves and all of the faux fur trim, cut the armscyes a bit deeper, removed the collar and opened up the center front seam all the way to the hemline.  

I also stitched a length of gold braided trim along the neck opening/center front.   I didn't want to dress this giornea up TOO much, because the sleeves and the trim on the gamurra were more than enough decoration for this outfit, but it did need something so that the edges weren't just plain. 

closeup of the front

Giorneae were usually open either at the front or sides or both, to allow the gamurra underneath to show through - mine is only open up the front, and is belted all the way around with a long, black, double-faced satin ribbon sash.  My giornea was inspired by several Renaissance paintings, like these two (both fragments of frescos by Domenico Ghirlandaio): 

fragment from the "Birth of St.
John the Baptist" fresco

fragment from the "Visitation" fresco

Sleeves 

While 90% of this dress was basically free - I made over old costume pieces and used materials from my stash for almost all of it - I did actually splurge on fabric for the sleeves. This is a silk damask in aqua and gold (sort of a shiny tan, really) from Rennaisance Fabrics - it’s so soft and pretty, I just love it!   

Since the fabric was fairly dressy, I opted for a plainer sleeve design, closed at the upper arm and open on the lower arm, and laced open to allow my linen camicia to poof out through the lacings.  

I stitched eyelets along the open forearm edges and on the sleeve heads where the sleeves attach to the gamurra in a tan/brown thread which matches the "gold" parts of the fabric's design. 

I took my inspiration from images like these: 

another fragment from the
"Visitation" fresco by Ghirlandaio

I'll talk about the accessories, and my hair, tomorrow. For now, although I won't be the fanciest nor the richest-looking person at the Candlemas event in my made-over dress, I'm proud of this outfit and I can't wait to wear it.  I just hope it's not too hot, and that it holds up to dancing.  

Bonus:  my Project Cat, Rabi, asleep on an Ikea pillow underneath my work table: 

SCA: Hooray, New Book!

 LOOK what a friend gave to me last week:  

“Women In the Viking Age” by Judith Jesch (1991).  Im SO excited to read it! Looks like there’s some nifty stuff in there -  archeology, religion, politics, home life; poetry, weaving, jewelry, tools - and lots of great black and white photos and illustrations and MAPS. I love maps! 

Yay! Thank you, friend! 

* 

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled pre-event creative crunch, wherein out heroine is finishing up six different projects before the event deadline and also starting two more that she absolutely does NOT have time to work on right now. Stay tuned… 

SCA: We Interrupt This Blog For: A New Loom!

 I got a new loom! 

This is a Windhaven “Harpsichord” model loom. It’s 24” wide and 31” tall.  The wood is red oak, and the loom was designed by Windhaven over 7 years ago, so this loom is possibly that old. The top comes off and you can use it as a lap or tabletop loom by itself; or you can connect the entire thing and use it as a floor loom. When put together, it’s capable of making up to five yards of continuous trim. 

One of my  favorite things about this loom is that I got it for free. My local SCA barony has a Facebook gifting group -  sort of like Buy Nothing but for the whole barony - and someone there was just giving this thing away, can you believe that? I had to drive over an hour to pick it up, but it’s definitely worth it. 

It’s seen some use for sure - the wood near the tension peg is worn a little bit, and one of the pegs is a bit loose. (Currently debating whether to remove it and repair it now, or leave it until it becomes a problem).  

For fun and for comparison, here is my “old” loom: 

I built this myself based on a design in a YouTube video a few years ago. It’s pine; 15x37”; and it has two loose pegs and a number of adjustments and repairs that I’ve made over the years. It makes 3 yards of card or inkle trim when fully warped. 

I can’t wait to start using the new Harpsichord, though. I’m going to have to go watch some videos on how to warp it, because I’ve never used one with a tension peg in this position before. 

I have a Viking coat that needs trim all the way around (front edge, lower hem, and sleeves), and the coat takes just under 9y of trim all told. I would have had to have made three weaves to cover the distance with my “old” loom; now I’ll only have to make two. I don’t know what colors I’ll use yet, or what design, but I definitely want to try something more complicated than I’ve done before, to grow my skill set. 

First, though, I have to finish my current A&S project, which I’m going to be completing on my old loom - I’m making 13 bits of trim, and since I started on the old loom I’ll finish the project there so they’ll all be uniform. Only 5 more to go! Whew. 

Update About Random Things

SCA STUFF

So, BAM (War of the Rams) was exciting and wonderful, as anticipated.  There were a million things to do and see and learn, lots of classes, music, crafts, and lots of of fun times with friends.  The Ansteorran Longship Association was out in full force with their first longship, called Skelmir, on display, and a dear friend gave a series of lectures about the history of the ship and its construction, which were fun and fascinating.  Unfortunately, this year BAM was unseasonably warm, so I didn't get to wear the velveteen houppelande that I spent October making for it - but there'll be other cold events.  

What's Next? 

So what am I working on right now?  My next event will be Bryn Gwlad's Candlemas in February, so I'm working towards that.  I'm making over an old dress into a completely new outfit to wear to the event, and making new accessories and jewelry to go with it - here's a little preview I whomped up in the ever-so-modern-and-up-to-date program, Microsoft Paint (yes, it still exists, LOL): 

I'm also working on a series of A&S entries for a largesse competition at Candlemas, which includes glass beads, bags, and lots and lots of card weaving: 

I'm getting lots of practice doing things I love, and I'm having fun working on the new costume.  I'll be working on all of it throughout December and January, so there may not be much in the way of updates until early next year.  

REGENCY STUFF

A group of Regency costumers that I follow online did something fabulous this week:  they went to see the Napoleon movie together as a group in Regency costumes!  AAA!  I would LOVE to do that, but unfortunately I'm the only person I know who's even remotely interested in Regency stuff.  Oh, well.  Maybe some day I'll live somewhere with a Regency society group that's more than just a study group like our local one is.  (Not that a study group is bad, it's interesting, but I want costumes). 

I don't have any Regency stuff planned for this winter - I'm too busy with SCA stuff right now.  Although, I do have a ballgown and a new Spencer jacket on my planning boards (Trello - if you haven't seen it, check it out, it's an awesome project management app/website that keeps me organized and on track for all my projects, and it's free!) for the future - maybe in the spring.  

OTHER STUFF

Meanwhile, while SCA work continues apace, I'm also about to start crocheting a comfy and swishy ruana for my roommate that she can wrap up in at work since her office is always freezing.  

Also, (once SCA stuff and crocheting are done), I have three wooden tables in my house that I need to refinish.  I probably won't talk about those here, although I may.  I used to have a "furniture and other home crafts stuff" blog in addition to this one, but I don't keep up with it anymore.  Maybe I should start again.  But this won't be happening until probably March or later.  

Busy busy busy!  I'll be back soon with an update about the Candlemas outfit.  

SCA: A 15th-Century Velvet Houppelande

At my very first Gulf Wars, someone lent me a giant flannel houppelande on a cold night, which I threw on over my cotehardie, and I have wanted one ever since.  So comfy!  So voluminous!  It's like wearing blankets!  This year I finally made one for myself, since War of the Rams (BAM) in November is likely to be pretty cold in the evenings.  

This houpelande is made of the same cotton velveteen Ikea curtain panels that I used for my Regency pelisse, back in June.  Last year I acquired a huge box of these curtain panels from my local neighborhood swap group for free, and I still had 4 of them left (about 10 yards of fabric) - they were perfect for this project.  

I didn't have enough of the velveteen to make a full circle houppelande, so I used a simple A-line cut for the body of the dress, (adapted from a vintage 80s dress pattern) with side gores for as much fullness as I could pack into this thing.  The sleeves are D-shaped, and come to a short cuff at the wrist.  

The houppelande is unlined - I didn't have any fabric to use as lining, and I figured this velveteen would likely be heavy enough to keep me warm when worn over my other clothes. After it was put together I dyed the entire piece with teal and charcoal Rit dye, which gave the aqua-blue fabric a lovely medium blue-ish-gray color: 

After dyeing the whole thing, I added a collar and cuffs of white faux fur from my stash: 

 

The belt is one I made for a Burgundian gown that I made several years ago and never got around to wearing (oops). I had to move the hooks out several inches from where they were to get it to fit, but thankfully, the belt was long enough that I had plenty of space to work with.  The hooks themselves are gold-colored plastic highlighted with green nail polish to mimic an enamel look; I forget where I bought them originally, I've had them for aeons. 

The padded roll hat in the first picture is one I made many years ago.  It's nothing fancy, just a stuffed roll of damask upholstery fabric with pearl beads sewn on, worn with a netted/beaded snood and a couple of lightweight veils pinned onto it.  

So there's a big, new, warm outfit for BAM that I can wear on cold nights.  I also have my linen coat to wear over my Viking outfits, which won't be terribly warm on its own, but which I can wear with layers of hoods and caps, and my wool shoulder cloak.  

Edit:  It turns out the weather at BAM wasn't cold at all - mid-70s during the day, and only into the 60s at night, so I didn't get a chance to wear this at the event at all.  Maybe next year.  

SCA: Making Over An Old Dress

 Approximately one million years ago, I started making a pendant-sleeved gown for myself with some plain, tabby-woven silk that was given to me by a friend. She had dyed it a bright kelly green, and at the time I had visions of one of the hunting scenes from the hours of the Duc du Berry in my head: 

However, I never finished it, and it sat for so long that over the years it somehow magically became too small for me to wear. However, it was still quite a bit of fabric, and the construction was pretty simple: rectangular front and back, with triangular side gores. I thought, if I cut the top off of it, I might be able to refashion it as a Viking apron dress…maybe? 

So I dyed it with the blue dyes that I had left over from the last dye project (royal and navy) with a bit of charcoal to tone things down a bit, and I ended up with this gorgeous dark hunter green: 

I cut the top of the dress off at the waist, cut off the hem and re-hemmed it by hand (the original dress had a long train at the back, which I removed), and made some straps out of the fabric from the top of the old dress, et voila: 

Since this is essentially the skirt of a much longer dress, the gores start from just under the bustline, instead of at the waist, making this a looser, more A-line shaped dress than the ones I normally wear, which are fitted to just underneath the underbust and flare out from there. I really like the fit and shape, it’s very flattering on me and will look nice with or without a belt. 

The long seams of this dress were originally done on the machine (and thank goodness the old thread took the dye pretty well); I did all the new sewing by hand - the top and bottom hem are done with a herringbone stitch, and the straps are folded and whipped together, and attached to the dress by hand. 

I don’t currently have anything with which to decorate the top of the dress,  but that’s fine for right now.  I can wear it plain this coming weekend (our fall Baronial event), and then when I have time I might be able to weave something for the top hem before the Bjornsborg event at the end of the month.  

At the moment I’m just pleased that I have a new dress for free, and that it’s not blue. I love blue, but literally ALL of my apron dresses are blue, and I’ve been wanting some variation.  This color is probably not period-appropriate (neither is the fabric, really), but it’s what I had, and it’ll do just fine. 

SCA: Heraldic Table Runner For the New Sprezzatura Table

 Once the table for Sprezzatura's camp was complete I wanted a nice bit of something to go over the top of it.  I briefly considered painting the household's heraldry onto the top of the table, but the table will be covered with food and drink and all sorts of other stuff at events, so I decided to do make a fabric table runner - it will be easier to see, make the table look nicer, and be washable in case of spills.  

The fabric is cotton broadcloth, with cotton/poly bias tape edging. The appliqué is quilting cotton, backed with fusible interfacing, and the whole thing is backed with more blue broadcloth so that the back of the appliqué is hidden and protected. 

I haven't done appliqué in about 8 years, and I've never done it on my current sewing machine.  The machine did NOT want to cooperate. It's not perfect - I've done better in the past - but for not having done it in so long and having to practically alligator-wrestle this sewing machine into doing what I wanted, I think it came out pretty well.  I'm satisfied with it. 

SCA: Table For Sprezzatura

I refinished a table! 

Earlier this year, I had grand ideas about building some sort of Medieval-ish wooden table for my household's camp.  Until now, we have used a plastic folding table in the center of our pavilion for people to gather around and eat and hang out; but I wanted to make something nicer and somewhat period-ish. Unfortunately, budget and lumber prices kept me from starting the project I had in mind. 

But then, at the beginning of August, I found this little wooden table for free on the curb in my neighborhood: 

It's in great shape construction-wise, a perfect size for our camp (48" x 32", a little shorter than our plastic table, but wider), and the design, though a bit generically Pottery Barn-farmhouse-y, is sort of vaguely Medieval in style and resembles many trestle tables I've seen in artwork from the 1300-1400s, so I think it works.  Ten-foot rule, right? Or as my friend Kate says, it'll look just fine when seen from a galloping horse.    

The only problem with it was that the previous owner (?) stained it with black stain...and they did a horrible job of it. The stain was applied unevenly and not wiped off in between coats, so there are visible brush marks and places where the brush marks overlap, and even areas where it's obvious the stain pooled on the wood and just congealed there.  Also, they sanded off the original finish before staining it, and the sanding was done with a sandpaper that was so heavy and coarse that it marred the wood in places, and half the sanding marks are against the grain.  Ugh! 

Left: uneven and blotchy stain; 
right: sanding and brush marks against the grain

Enter: two cans of Easy Off oven cleaner.  

That's right, oven cleaner.  I saw this trick on Instagram, and then read some blogs about the process and watched some videos, and then tried it out on this table.  You basically spray the entire piece down with oven cleaner, let it sit for about half an hour, scrub it down thoroughly with soap and water, and then hose it off with water.  (The soap and water neutralize the cleaner chemicals so that you're not washing anything harmful into your yard, just dirty water).  Et voila: most of the stain came right off!  

this was after the first treatment; after the 
second pass it came almost completely clean! 

 

The rest of it came off pretty easily with the sander, and I was able to smooth out the rough sanding marks the previous DIYer left behind.  After it was all sanded, I cleaned off the entire piece and coated it with wood conditioner to prep the wood for staining.  

While the black stain that was originally on the table was nice, I wanted something lighter and warmer.  I have an "espresso" stain that is way too dark, and a "Jacobean" that is a nice dark brown but it's got weird green undertones.  I love my walnut stain, but I wanted darker, so I ended up putting two coats of the walnut on the wood, and it came out really nicely, I think: 

After the staining was complete, I coated the whole table in polyurethane to protect the finish.  

Tada!  New table.  The whole project took me about a month and a half, working on weekend mornings before it got too hot outside, and a little bit here and there during the week in my spare time. 

always wear your PPEs, people.