Bonnet and Coif

 Some pictures of the new bonnet with one of my embroidered coifs. (My actual head is a lot bigger than this foam hat form, so the bonnet and coif sit better.)

Man's Elizabethan Nightcap

A man's embroidered Elizabethan nightcap that I made in 2010.

The base fabric is cotton-linen blend and the design is adapted from period sources and worked in black silk thread. The spangles are gilt metal, sewn on with three stitches of sewing thread.

Elizabethan Coif Refurbishment Project

I have several Elizabethan coifs which are now too big for me, so I am gradually working on cutting them down to size and making a few changes to them.

One of the coifs that needs refurbishing

The only difficult thing about Elizabethan coifs is getting the pattern right for the wearer's head. I have found it to be purely a matter of trial and error. Playing around with paper and calico mock-ups before cutting your "good"fabric or starting your complex embroidery is definitely worth the time and effort.

In that spirit, I have been playing with patterns, and decided to make a simple coif which I hope will suit my face more than the old styles I have used before.

After working out my pattern, I cut the 'test coif'out in two layers of pre-washed white cotton voile.

I zigzgged the edges to reduce fraying, and sewed the two pieces together ("bag" fashion), leaving a small section along the bottom edge unsewn.

I turned the fabric right side out and whip stitched the bottom edge shut. Then I ironed the coif. I turned about a centimetre of the bottom edge up and did a small stab stitch to hold it in place to make a channel to thread a gathering cord through.

The next step was to put the two cheek pieces together by folding the coif down the middle vertically. 

I sewed the top edge together about two thirds of the way along with a whip stitch.

The last unsewn section of the top seam was then gathered with a tacking stitch. This is to allow a bit of space for braids or a bun at the back of the coif.

I confess, at this point, I completely forgot how to proceed. I have made several of these over the years and remembered that the gathered section is sewn up and then strengthened with buttonhole bars radiating out from where the gathers start and end (where my finger is in the picture above.) I needed a bit of a refresher on where to place the bars, but I couldn't find the book I needed. In the end I did three buttonhole bars radiating out from the centre to secure the gathering.

I will have to do this step in a bright colour next time to demonstrate the technique, because you really can't see the detail in this photo.

Once the gathers at the rear were done, I added some commercial bobbin lace with small stab stitches.

After that, I went through and did a little stitch on the edge to make sure the lace was sitting nicely.

I threaded a lucet cord (made by my friend Heather) into the casing, and the project was finished. I am quite happy with the fit, although I  may make the next pattern a centimetre longer at the bottom to cover my hairline. At least now I know which direction to head in with the coif refurbishment project!

Elizabethan Whitework Coif

Some time ago I made an Elizabethan Whitework coif as a contribution to the Queen's Gift Basket.

Some extant examples of coifs from Patterns of Fashion 4 are below:

Below are some of the plates from Patterns of Fashion 4 that inspired this piece. They are a hood and a coif embroidered predominantly in chain stitch.

These are the designs that mine was adapted from. I left out the cutwork because coifs are so good
for a 'bad hair day' and having cutwork reduces their usefulness in this area!

I toyed with the idea of adding eyelet or buttonhole stitch grapes, but decided to leave it plain. This way, the coif suits people who don't like the over-the-top, more-is-more Elizabethan design ideal.

The embroidery finished and lawn lining sewn in

Flowers and leaves embroidered with silk in chain stitch on a linen ground

The coif waiting to have the knotted gather put on top

Close-up of the knotted gather that adds a 'pouf' to allow for a bun

How this piece sits varies greatly with the head of the wearer. On me, it looks like a cross between a coif and a linen hood. As it is a gift piece, that doesn't matter. But it did inspire me to change the pattern I use for making my own coifs. The next one will have the gathering tube further back at the back of the neck. Hopefully this change will mean that I can wear the new style behind my Elizabethan padded hair-do.

The hand-sewn central seam

Commercially produced lace was hand sewn into place and a line of
decorative running stitch added

Thankyou to Heather once again for the beautifully worked lucet cords.

Please see my previous coif posts for information on the background of coifs and how they were worn.

Elizabethan Small Coif Progress Update

I have still been plugging away at the blue Elizabethan small coif pattern. Here is how it was looking today:

Another snoskyn pic

Oops, I forgot to put this picture in when I did the last post!

Portrait of Margaret Radcliffe (Queen Elizabeth I's Maid of Honour) from tudorplace.com.ar

New manizza or snoskyn

Muffs were popular accessories in Elizabethan England as well as Italy in the sixteenth century. They were a way of keeping your hands warm while demonstrating your wealth and stature through furs and fine fabrics. Queen Elizabeth I had several muffs (also called manizzas, snoskyns or countenances) and there is a record of Amyas Paulet purchasing a muff on her behalf in Paris in 1579 (Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlocked by Janet Arnold, p. 97).

Here are some examples of muffs in period:

From:  Vecellio's Costume Book

                                              

Lady Dressed in the French Fashion in Album Amicorum of a German Soldier 1595 from
webspace.webring.com

Portrait of Eleanor Verney, Mrs William Palmer, c 1590 attributed to William Segar from
elizabethan-portraits.com

Detail from an embroidered valance at the V&A Museum as shown in 'Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlocked' by Janet Arnold, Pl 442, c.1588-1590

Image of Queen Elizabeth I in 'Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlocked'

Here is my first attempt at making a muff.

                                  

Here are my materials ready to start my first attempt at a manizza. The fabric is a cotton furnishing fabric and the fur is kangaroo.

In Australia, kangaroos are used for the pet and human meat trade. I found this kangaroo skin at an opportunity shop. I do not support the fur trade, but I do believe that it is disrespectful not to use everything possible of an animal that has been killed for food, so I didn't have a problem with using this fur to line my manizza. I realise that kangaroo fur is completely out of period for the SCA, but I felt that it was worth trying to see if it would be suitable. Areas of the fur were too coarse and hard, but the body of the fur was a lot softer than I expected (although it doesn't compare to rabbit fur.)

I actually liked the rear side of the fabric better, but I was worried that the threads were too loose and may catch on things.

The fabric, fur and satin ribbon

I sewed the fur to the rectangle of fabric, leaving a small section un-sewn to enable me to turn the 'bag' inside out.

Then I pinned the satin tape into position, mitre-ing the corners. Once the tape was secured with small hand stitches, I marked out where I wanted to attach the pearl beads and sewed them on.

Then I added the plain wooded buttons and corresponding simple button loops. Finally I hand sewed the gap in the bag to close it all up.

It is a relatively simple manizza, as far as they go, but I am happy with it. It is warm, not too heavy, and useful for both my Italian and Elizabethan clothes. I am pleased that I got a chance to test out how the kangaroo skin worked. I feel more confident now about tackling the lovely red fabric that I put aside for a future manizza. I am currently adding a metal loop to this one so I can hang it from a girdle chain.