Supportasse project

My new early 17th century dress desperatly needs supportasse/rebato/pickadil (collar supporter) for a proper look. It will be a second pickadil-I've one as a collar of my dress but it's not enough for me. I start with an example from V and A Museum which was made of linen, paper, iron wire and whalebones (T.62-1910), good described in "Pattern of Fashion 4" by Janet Arnold.

A pair of bodies

I finished another part of my new 17th century outfit-a corset or pair of bodies based on a survived example worn by Pfaltzgrafin Dorothea Sabine von Neuberg.
I used ivory satin for cover, strong linen for two layers of interlining and fine white linen for lining. All stitching are in linen (originally the rows of stitching formed the casting were in silk). The stiffening is made from a bunches of bents (9-11 reeds per casting).

The raw edges on the waist, armholes and neckline are bound with a strip of bias-cut satin instead of heavy silk ribbon. The lacing is at the center back (so unfortunatelly I need a helping hands to wear it) and the eyelet holes are worked over brass rings for reinforcement.

First time I used bunches of reeds for stifftening (usually I worked with plastic boning or cords) so I worried about durability and flexibility of construction but finnished corset works great.

My new "pair of bodies" with drawers.

Spanish influences

For few days me and my friend are talking about spanish historic food. We are looking really old recipes and infos about ingriedeiences which were used in 16th and 17th century in Europe and especially in Spain. Yesterday I found "Manual de mugeres en el qual se contienen muchas y diversas reçeutas muy buenas" from 16th c. translated from Spanish into English here.
I promise my friend to prepare a dish from "Manual de mugeres" named Cazuela de arroz ("Rice casserole"). We looked for quite simple dish, easy to prepare it in a small field kitchen in the garden of the castle. I think it will be OK for an elegant birthday feast dinner for a merry company of friends ( it's not a pretty thing but very tasty).

Bargain...

We found wooden casket in traditonal shape. It's need a work and patience; I must remove a layer of old varnish, find new hinges and think about some kind of lock...

Silk buttons

Slowly I started to prepare passementerie (buttons and ribbon) for my new early 17th century outfit. I need 8-10 silk buttons to fit cuffs in very fashionable but close-fitting sleeves characteristic for gowns and women wams/jacket dated 1610-1625.
I used very simple and popular method of wrapping the silk thread over wooden core to create the button. This method is described in details in The Tudor Tailor book and also mentioned in Patterns of Fashion v.3 by Janet Arnold.

My new plates

A few months ago I saw very decorative serving (?) plate found somewhere in Holand, (now in Amsterdam museum collection). During the last The Company of Saynt George event in the Castle Haut-Koenigsbourg in Alsace/France I bought two marvellous reconstructions of this plate made by Jimmy the potter from Trinity Court Potteries

Pelicea for Tommy

Finished sheepskin gown

and a spiral lacing detail: 5 mm wide silk ribbon lace with brass fitting