15th century Heart shaped Hennin

In order to match my in progress houpelande, I needed some sort of period headwear. Now the 15th century is notable for many things, amoung them the sheer volume of truly EPIC headgear. From things that look like a lampshade inverted over the head, to the large number of different varieties of hennin, to some truly incredible pinned and shaped veils, the 15th century has the fabulous and faintly ridiculous to the modern eye headgear competition won. In fact, sifting through it to find something that I could wear and not feel totally ridiculous was difficult. The sheer size of many of the pieces is daunting, even allowing for artistic licence. My personal favorites are images from the beautiful fresco work of the nine worthies and the nine worthy women by Giacamo Jaquerio.

after a lot of looking at pictures, and sending pictures to friends and laughing over them. I decided that I had two options: I could go with matronly and demure, with a folded and pinned veil, something like this one from Van der Weyden. It would require some sort of basic supports, but I likely had all the moving parts for from my 14th century wimple/veil/false braids combo. This would be low key, which, as I'm going to be a companion for one of the consorts at the east kingdom crown tournament when I wear this ensemble for the first time, would be suitable. It's also appropriate for my age and also my sort of station in life. By medieval standards, I am a matron.


OR I could do something fun and ridiculous. I was drawn to this more moderate heart shaped hennin and folded veil, also from the fresco of the 9 worthies. I say more moderate as compared to the really obnoxious examples. like another from the same fresco. Now THAT is some hat!

While  have nothing against personifying myself as demure and retiring with my headwear (and in fact do go out properly wimpled and veiled whenever I do 14th century. which is rare but does happen) the chance to do something so (the adjective I keep coming back to is "ridiculous") completely over the top is rare. and it just looked like a good deal of fun, if I could get past people staring at me.

In the end I made my decision spontaneously on a day when I felt terrible, but still had to supervise the horde. I just needed something funny and cheerful to work on by hand while I sat propped upright at the table. And thus the heart shaped hennin was born.

Construction wise, I haven't heard of any surviving headdresses, so all we have are pictures and written accounts to go on. I've seen the heart shaped hennin reproduced a number of ways. A lot of them I find unlikely and some of them I think look wrong (personal opinion. not based on irrefutably concrete evidence or exhaustive research.) So I made it up as I went along, picking the method that seemed most likely to me, and extrapolated most from earlier headdresses: under the logical assumption that it's more likely that people would adapt a known form than create something brand new. (not that it never happens. but typically fashion proceeds one step at a time not in grand leaps.)
I started with a sort of elongated semi pointy caul shape to cover my ear and the side of my head. I first patterned it out of cardboard, and when the shape seemed reasonable, cut and sewed it out of heavy duty needlepoint foundation. Yes, the proper thing to do would be to use buckram. But I had this, and wanted to see if it would do in a pinch.

I made two of the caul pieces, and then set them aside to make essentailly a closely fitted coif of the same foundation material. first shaping it with a single center seam, and then tightening it in over the ears with a pair of darts.  With that solid, I attached the side pieces to it with pins. To be sure that the shape was right, I used a tea towel as a stunt double for the eventual padded roll adornment. So far so good. (I then proceeded to send pictures to all my friends that needed something to laugh about.)


With the shape set, it was time to start building the actual hat. First it all had to be padded with layers of batting to both finish out the shape, and to disguise sharp seam edges. I used the batting that I keep on the roll here, which is Quilters Dream angel. It was nice for this because it's dense and fairly firm rather than just super fluffy. It's also fairly easy to stretch to shape and tack down.

 I used multiple layers places where it need needed a softer, rounder shape: over the ears of the caul parts, and along the center ridge seam of the coif part.

 Then a single layer over everything. I paid particular attention to basting and butting the seams in the joins so that there wasn't any overlap. this kept the crease between wings and head shape and neat. I was also sure to pull the outside over the tip of the wings and baste it on the inside so that any lumps would be hidden by the padded roll.

 The last step on the base was to wire the edges. this ensures that the cap or hat or whatever millinery you are making maintains the shape of it's edges. In this case it's particularly important because it keeps the edges of the cauls tight to your face. Typically one would use Millinery or florist's wire. This is copper ground wire, because it's easy to shape, sturdy, and (this is a repetitive refrain of mine) I already had it lying about. I tacked the wire in place to be sure the bends were right, then used blanket stitch to attach it all the way around the edge. Usually I've whip stitched, but for this application i liked the way blanket stitch held the wire better: it made a sort of casing.

With the base done, I started covering everything in fabric by draping a long strip of bias cut black cloth (the same from my gown) over the coif portion of the hennin. Bias allowed me to pull it tight to shape along the top, only taking in a small dart at the center back. I basted it to the batting where it will go under the sides, and carefully basted it into the joins between the wings and coif. 

then the inside of the wings. I was originally going to cut the pattern piece out and then sew it like a slip cover, but because of the added padding, and because the draping on the center part went so well, I decided to just drape bias cut pieces of fabric over the wings as well. This portion got photographed and sent to all my friends as well, since it looked like I had a giant bat perched on my head..... I was everyone's comedic relief while I was working on this thing (including my own!)

 it looked a good deal less like an errant bat once I'd trimmed the fabric, gathered it, and whip stitched it down to the padding.

It was also at this point that I decided the tall points of the cauls were a bit less sturdy than they needed to be to hold up to decorating and padded rolls and whatnot. They tended to want to collapse in on themselves when I was stitching them, and I was afraid that they might get accidentally crushed and be hard to re form once the hat was lined. So I packed a little poly fill into the tops just to firm them up a little. That solved the problem and they held up beautifully to all the rest of the decorating.

with the major construction of the form done, it was time to finish off the inside of the cap with a lining. I made the lining like a coif, with a single curved back seam, then basted it into the inside. Because the foundation of the hennin has numerous shaping darts, I had to slightly gather the lining into it. For this reason I used a very thin cotton muslin, that wouldn't be awkardly bulky. I carefully turned and whip stitched the lining down to the brow portion of the cap, then bound off the rest of it with some matching linen bias tape I had lying around from another project. 

 Next project was covering the cauls. I had a plan for a scrap of burgundy or dark fuchsia (somewhere in the middle. very pretty) velvet I had. Unfortunately it had been in the bottom of a bin and was quite crushed. A good steaming and brushing with a stiff bristled brush sorted everything out though.

 I cut the cauls using the pattern from the foundation, plus a little extra to allow for padding. I decorated them with beads and gold ribbon and braid in a lattice pattern. Because by this point I had challenged myself to make the whole hat with nothing but what I had on hand, I ended up making different design choices than I usually would, but I think the final effect is very pleasing.

 With the cauls made, I mounted them on the side pieces. The grand plan is to make it so that I can switch the side pieces without completely deconstructing the whole hat. So the decoration was mounted to the velvet, then the velvet pinned in place and whip stitched down to the form. I covered the stitching with some gold braid, then trimmed the edge with trim I made by braiding gold cord with faux pearl strand.

 With the hat itself finished, I turned to the padded roll. I made the base by wrapping strips of batting around a bent wire (ground wire again, because it's easier to shape than coathanger wire). Instead of wrapping it around a straight wire and then bending it into the characteristic V shape, I butted the batting at the front and back, and then cut it at an appropriate angle and whip stitched the ends together. This eliminated some of the possibly bulk and wrinkling.

 After checking the roll for size, I proceeded to cover it with some grey acetate faux silk from my stash. First whip stitching the fabric to the bottom of the roll, then wrapping it, turning the edge under, pinning it, and using small stitches to sew it down. With both sides sewn down, I angled the ends and carefully sewed them. angling the ends was important because it avoided a big bunch of ugly wrinkles right in the V of the roll. With the roll done, the final step was to bend it to shape and carefully baste it to the side pieces of the hat.

 and done! I'm still deciding on how to pin the veil and how much decoration to put on the roll. The small dangly things (called bezants) are period but I'm not sure if I love them. it seems to depend on how I want to pin my veil. Since this is just a stunt veil made of a piece of bridal tulle (the organza for the veil proper is on order.) I've decided to wait till I have the final veil done to decide how I'm going to pin it and if I want the bezants or not. I like them with the veil pinned this way.

But I dislike them with it pinned this way, with the "butterfly" in the center. Both are period methods of veil arrangement taken from images. but I'm not sure which I'l like more.

The other thing to take notice of is how much further down my forehead the front of my headdress is than the period images. I took it as far up to my hairline as I could without having hair sticking out (and I have a moderately high forehead) but it's still lower than period images. During this time period a high forehead was considered a sign of beauty and intelligence, so women would pluck their foreheads much like we now pluck our eyebrows. Since I am not going to pluck my forehead, I am left with a slightly off representation of the period look.

Pictures of the full ensemble will be coming once I finish up my Houpelande and get the proper veil finished.

In search of Armor: Breastplate and tunic

With my kidney belt finished I moved onto the last remaining piece of my basic armor (not counting legs and helmet, which I'm still using loaner.) Over the kidney belt and rerebraces, I wanted to wear a plain short sleeved linen tunic. From what we can extrapolate from grave finds and art work, vikings did wear a sort of standard geometric tunic pattern, although they sometimes did shape the sleeves and armholes (as I do in my Serks). For this I decided to just keep the standard roomy "T" shape The loose sleeve is very easy to move in, and the more awkward drape isn't something I'm concerned about all that much when I'm wearing armor anyhow. Since by this time we were on final approach for pennsic, I just needed to get it done so I could get out of what i Had started referring to as the "hedgehog armor."

 I had bought blue and gold linen for this purpose several months ago on an excursion to a fabric warehouse, Indigo for the body, gold from the trim. I trimmed the sleeves, neck, and hem with the gold,  and covered the join to the body with a couched cord. The couched cord is found on smokkr fragments found in birka (1) although not used exactly in this way.

This is the most basic design in historical sewing, very fabric efficient because it's all squares and half rectangle triangles. I did flat fell all the seams for comfort and strength, and I made the under arm gusset much larger than I do on my normal garments, just to give it that little extra ease and make it easier to move in, and easier to get on and off over partial armor.

I also tried a new thing with the bottom trim. It's curved so it's a bit tricky. if you cut it in a long shaped strip, it's wicked inneficient use of fabric. lots of waste. If you cut it in pieces to match the ends of the gores, it's a lot of seams, and hard to get all the seam points matched up. If you make it straight and let it hang down, it hangs super weird and looks funny. So I cut a long straight strip, sewed it onto the edge, flipped it up to the outside of the tunic, and turned the edges under. Now I had an upper edge that was bigger than the garment. So at each seam along the side I took a small dart in by hand, from the edge of the trim to the top, shaping the trim evenly to the garment. The darts look like an extension of the garment seams, and the trim lies flat and smooth. I joined it to the body with a couched cord. The down side is that it makes 2 layers along the bottom of the garment, which is more wasteful. But on the other hand it weights the hem and makes hang very nicely. I think on balance it was a successful experiment, and I will repeat.

For the breastplate, I drafted a pattern from my gambeson, which was already patterned to wear over my breast band, which binds my chest flatter than a modern bra. I cut it out of stiff paper, because I didn't have cereal boxes big enough, and taped it together. Then I cut and shaped until it fit well over gambeson and breast band, leaving a little ease for the tunic. Instead of a seam directly over the shoulder, I used a long flat piece along the shoulder with an extended tab over the top of the arm. This both eliminated a seam at a pressure point where it could potentially cause discomfort, and gave me a place to rivet my spaulders.

I cut the breastplate pieces for medium weight leather for the sides, and heavy leather over the chest. This isn't to protect my chest as much as it is to protect my collar bones, sternum, and upper ribs. In my few months fighting, it's not super common to get hit on the chest, although that may be partially a function of preferring to fight sword and shield to other forms, but most blows seem to come down onto the shoulders, where they get deflected by the spaulders. Why then do I bother with anything past a heavy collar to protect your collarbones and support the spaulders? Aside from the occasional odd ball shot that was meant for your face but landed on your chest instead, a couple of the guys in my practice have a nasty hanging shot that comes in behind your shield and lands thumpingly on your sternum. In addition to that, when I do eventually take up forms that don't involve a shield, my whole upper torso becomes a prime target until I learn to block.

I pre punched small holes all along the edge of the breast plate pieces with my awl, then sewed them together with waxed leather thread (which is actually a sort of very fine braided cord) I then went back over the stitching the other way, making the exposed stitching look like a row of X's. This involved the use of pliers and a hand pad. I didn't want to punch the holes too large, but in hind sight I should have made them a little larger, because I broke two needles gripping them with the pliers to yank them through.

I didn't want to super water harden this piece, because I just didn't think it needed to be rigid, and I wanted some flex in thesides for ease of movement (although the way I patterned it I think I could have made it of kydex and still gotten complete range of motion.) but it did need to be shaped, and stiff. So I put on my gambeson, wrapped myself in saran wrap to protect it, then put on an old t-shirt of my husband's to simulate the bulk of the tunic. I submerged the breastplates in almost boiling water for about 20 seconds, until the edges had JUST started to shrivel a little, Then put it on, and stretched and formed it into shape. I wrapped it on with a giant ace bandage until it had cooled. Then I put it over a pillow so it would hold it's shape while it dried.

I attached a piece of suede for the back and shoulders (This will be covered by my scale mail drape, so it not only doesn't need to be rigid, but it's preferable that it not be) and added ties to one side so I could get in and out. Then I took it to a friend's house so he could help me drill holes in my stainless spaulders and I could rivet them on. I also wanted the advice of a more experienced armorer (I have so little experience it's not funny, he's been making armor for something like 20 years I think.) for the most effective placement of the spaulders. He actually decided I should put them on upside down, they fit my narrower shoulders better that way, and higher up than is totally standard. He also advised me on the best way to pad the inside of the spaulders, so that the ends and edges don't dig in when I get a direct hit. I wouldn't have thought of that until I'd been hit once, so I'm thankful.

And it was done! just in time for a shake down cruise to pennsic. I do NOT advise this course of action. ideally you should try your new armor at a few practices to work out any wrinkles, but I was determined to be rid of the heavy, uncomfortable loaner breastplate for pennsic and it's long days of field battles. So I packed an extensive repair kit, crossed my fingers, and jumped in at the deep end. Thankfully, it had no problems. It survived trial by fire with flying colors! I was deeply thankful for the padding in the spaulders a couple of times. It was light, mobile, and comfortable. The only down side of the shorty breastplate I found in a week of fighting is that in some positions spear to the ribs can miss both belt and breastplate and nail you. That happened once and all the air exited my lungs in a whoosh. Heck of a shot by the spear. I also want to get the drape done before I do another round of melee, because pole arm to the back on padding only kind of sucks (although that wool padding is surprisingly effective. I got pole armed to the back a couple times and I was sure I was going to have big old bruises, and didn't.)

              

Waiting to tag back in at the
allied champions battle. I still
look silly.
Photo by James Pallack

My probationary household member tabard almost
completely covers my armor, which actually improves
the look for early period.
Photo by James Pallack

and a gratoutious shot of me with some of my hopefully someday household brothers, mustering on the field.
 Fighting with these guys is a joy and an honor. I hope to continue doing it for a long time.
Photo Credit: Charla Kinzel

                                                                                                                                                                       





1) Orignal source: Hägg, I. 1974. Kvinnodräkten i Birka: Livplaggens rekonstruktion på grundval av det arkeologiska materialet. Uppsala, Archaeological Institute. ISBN 9150600028
translated in this excellent article about smokkr.