16th Century German – Dockenbaret – HSM Jan 2021

Black Dockenbaret

As I was doing my analysis of my German wardrobe in my German Capsule Collection post, I recognized that one of the things I wanted to add to the wardrobe was a hat in a more historically-informed colour.

I have two hats for this period already – a blue-on-blue Tellerbarret, and a teal tweed Dockenbaret with ostrich feathers. (Which I referred to as a split-brim hat.) However in portraits the most common colours are red and black, with the occasional white hat appearing as well.  I wish I could find ample heaps of affordable red wool, but alas, no such luck…. so black wool it would be!

Historical Sew Monthly 2021 challenges

Historical Sew Monthly 2021

Well I didn’t really do much for the Historical Sew Monthly 2020, but with the beginning of a new year, and my sewing area sorted out over the summer/fall 2020, I am hoping that I’ll be able to tackle more of the challenges this year.

It might not bode well that I’m not even thinking about this until mid-February though…

This year’s challenges from The Dreamstress:

Witch Hat Wednesday

Out for a physically-distanced Pokemon Go walk with friends in my witchy hat with ear flaps

This hat was entirely on a whim after watching the ASMR-esqe Bernadette Banner’s Winter Witch Hat video. There was something about the finished version that just made me so frivolously happy that I knew I wanted one for myself. Of course it was right before super-depressing Halloween which might have had a lot to do with wanting to indulge some frivolity.

Kaarina Iron Age Hat

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Photo above from Beothuk’s Flickr feed. Direct link, no copyright violation intended.

In another instalment of “how much work can I do last-minute before an event?” I decided to tackle the Kaarina Iron Age (Finnish) hat.

This is a much-later post, as I actually made this earlier, but never actually finished it off, so put off posting this. As I’m going through my archive of drafts, I figured I’d share it – even in the stage it’s in.

New veil & my very late entry into the Historical Sew Monthly January challenge

I’ve gotten a lot of wear out of the veil I made to go with my Byzantine outfit in January 2016, but I noticed that it had stained lightly with wet, freshly dyed hair… so when I was washing fabric for the fourth version of my horned hennin, I decided to wash up enough linen to cut a new veil as well.

Marking linen for a half-circle veil.

Based on Fabrics-Store’s linen, I’d estimate this around 3-4 oz/yd, though I bought it from a different seller who doesn’t note the weight of the fabric. My previous veil used 2.8 oz/yd linen from Fabrics-Store.

I folded the fabric in half, and marked out 71cm from the centre in an arch to make a quarter-circle on the fold – to make a new half-circle veil (the shape I find attractive and versatile).

My previous veil was entirely hand-hemmed… but I didn’t really feel like spending that kind of time on this one. I ended up doing a stitch, turn and press, turn and press and stitch on it by machine instead.

I did add the same embroidered “L” to one of the corners like I did on my last veil though…

The result is a heavier veil than the other one I have – I think it will work well for styles where I wear it under another hat (like my Byzantine costume) but I don’t think it works well on the soft collapsible horned hennins that I made. So… for that – I’ll be making another 2.8 oz white linen veil instead!

 

The Challenge: January 2020: Timetravelling Garments: Create an item that works for more than one historical era, or that can be used for both historical costuming, and modern wear. It could be an apron that could do 1770s or 1860s in a pinch, a shift that can work under many decades of fashion, or a historical cape you also wear everyday, etc.

I am getting to the 2020 Historical Sew Monthly challenges EXTREMELY late, but this project suits this theme, so I’m calling it good. I’ll be able to wear this veil through several different costume projects – my Byzantine and 15th Century costumes specifically.

Material: 100% linen

Pattern: 1/2 circle, marked directly on fabric

Year: generic medieval – suitable for my 11-15th century costuming

Notions: thread

How historically accurate is it? The shape seems to suit many paintings and illuminations. The construction is entirely by sewing machine.

Hours to complete: About 10 minutes to cut, another 45 to hem and embroider.

First worn: not yet

Total cost: The linen was on a great sale for $4.95/yard (USA site plus shipping)  and this veil took just under a meters, but the leftover bits from the half-circle being cut out went into making my fourth version of a horned hennin.