Plain Coif and Forehead Cloth

 

Plain coif and forehead cloth.

More faire-related wardrobe additions. Having decked one coif and forehead cloth in lace and (begun) embroidering the other, I found myself without any fitted headgear appropriate to my lowly social station. That is, it's too hot to wear a respectable late Elizabethan ensemble, so I need a plain coif  to go with my kirtle/smock/apron combo. I could just tie a rail over my hair...but coifs are more fun.

I used a light-weight white linen for both, with bleached 1/4" linen ties on the forehead cloth and a linen cord for the coif.

Morning Cap, 1856

 Revisiting the 1856 cap pattern from Parisier Damenkleider Magazin. 

This time, I made the cap from a light-weight cotton batiste. It's more opaque than the lawn I used before, and also has more body. It's still light and airy, but sits a little more crisply.

1858 Morning Cap of Spotted Muslin

 The London and Paris Ladies' Magazine of Fashion, January 1858.

I found this one while looking for dotted muslin sleeve designs a few years ago, and noted it for its simplicity, but never made it because the shape is so unprepossessing. The description of this cap is pretty sparse: "Second do. [morning cap] of dotted muslin, trimmed with scarlet roses and ribbons of the same colour." Fortunately, the structure itself looks fairly self-explanatory: a round flat crown, edged in a ruffle of varying width.

It honestly doesn't look any better made up.

But I needed a quick cap for an online event, and decided to give it a try. It turns out those graduated ruffles are just the thing for ~1859 maximum-width side-braids. It's almost as though really wide side hair is the prevalent look of the time...

Cap doing its floaty thing.

I estimated the proportions from the picture the picture (1 ruffle "header" towards the crown = 1 unit: rest of ruffle is 1 unit at the center top, 3 units at center back, cap is 4 units visible diameter or ~6 units including the part covered by the ruffle). I initially used millinery wire to make a base for the crown, shaping it into loop around the back of the head. However, I really didn't like the way this made the crown either poof up like a mob cap or pull weirdly taut. So, the wire was not used in the final version. Instead, I just hemmed the circular crown, gathered the ruffle 1" from the sloped side, and basted it around.  I figured that using the straight edge on the outside would give a neater finish. 

I cut the ruffle as a single ~60" width of fabric, 5" deep at the center back join, 4" at the sides and 3" at the center front. This included 1" for waste after scalloping both sides on the pinking machine, though the actual waste was closer to 1/2".  To fit my head properly, I ended up enlarging the crown to 8"-9" diameter (it's a little taller than it is wide), though 

I was skeptical of the roses at first.

I used two velvet roses out my stash (originally from Timely Tresses) and the ribbons are two 18" long and 1.5" wide strips of remnant silk with pinked edges. Looking at the image again, I think I could have gone for slightly bigger and wider ribbons to better match the hints of a bow in the picture. However, I actually like how these fit over my hair on the sides. I tacked them in asymmetric 2-loop bows with trailing ends--one side has distinctly longer tails, the other more generous loops. The illustration doesn't show both sides, but wanted to go for the 'asymmetric but balanced' feel of other period headdresses.

Two straight pins at the upper back kept the cap neatly on my hair, but also fashionably far back on the head.

Wimple Wednesday: Turban Cap, 1790s

After 4.5 months, the whole 'hand sew a new cap every week' business has finally gotten ahead of me. In order to keep up with my other projects, I'm going to start aiming for alternate Wednesdays on the millinery projects.

Part of the reason I missed last week was the 300+ inches of hemming on this 1790s 'turban cap'. The design is from The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking; it's a speculative reconstruction based on the turbans featured in Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun's portraiture.

The cap has promise. The hair needs a lot more curl.
And maybe some hair powder...

The outer portion of the cap (including the ties) is 2.5 oz sheer linen, the inner band and lining are 5.3 oz mid-weight.

Wimple Wednesday: Elizabethan Hood With Bongrace

Back (once more) to the late 16th century. Cheating ever-so-slightly with a more structured indoor/outdoor headcovering: a hood. The brim is wired buckram, interlined with flannel (in place of the domette), covered in fine black wool, and lined with a scrap of white linen. The back bongrace is pinned up on the top-center of the brim. Design from The Tudor Tailor. 

Still working out the hairstyle. I'm leaning towards the
high back coil, but the coronet braids should have worked...

Wimple Wednesday: Early 1770s Ruffled Cap

Pattern from The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dress. There it's made up in organdy with lace; mine's of sheer linen (from Fabric-store.com, again), and is all hand sewn, as usual. Please excuse my uncooperative hair.

It's a neat little cap, but my selfie skills, alas, cannot do it justice.

Wimple Wednesday: Late 16th Century Coif and Forehead Cloth

Time-warping out of order again. I managed to lose my one-piece coif while re-sizing it, and never got a picture of it worn with the forehead cloth.

Third time's the charm.

The coif pattern is a custom-sized version of the Patterns of Fashion 4 16th/17th century coifs that I used before. The forehead cloth is based on two examples in the Met; both forehead cloths from the last quarter of the 16th century. They are triangular pieces of linen, each 14.5" x 16.5", one of which has short ties on the two corners adjacent to the hypotenuse. Zoomed in, the grain of the cloth indicates that these were cut as half-squares, the long edge falling on the bias.

Coif and forehead cloth.

The linen is, yet again, 3.5 oz lightweight from Fabric-store.com, the lace is from The Tudor Tailor Etsy store, and the ties are (bleached) 1/4" linen tapes from Burnley and Trowbridge.

Wimple Wednesday: 1749 Cap

Hair has to be dressed high on the back of the head to fit this one.
Even though I scaled up the caul, as usual.

This cute little ruffled cap is based on styles from the 1740s/1750s, and appears in The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dress. Mine is made of 5.3 oz mid-weight linen from Fabric-store.com, and about a million tiny hem stitches. Seriously. Each piece is hemmed along all sides, then gathered over fine linen cords and stitched down. The back drawstring is the linen cord from Burnley & Trowbridge

Wimple Wednesday: 17th century backless cap and forehead cloth

The last cap (in this project) from Jane Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 4. It's dated to the mid-17th century, though I noticed a similar design in the VAM, listed as late 17th- early 18th century.

[Of course, this should have been last week's entry, but one of the strings disappeared at the last minute, and sewing another cap was faster than bleaching 12" of linen tape to match.]

Looks weird, but it's quite comfy.

The wearing method is somewhat tentative: the portrait featured in PoF4 shows only the front edge (the sitter's slightly angled and wearing a hat over the cap), so all we really have to go on is that it fits smoothly, and the lace goes along the face.

The two cap pieces.
Inside out, because I ironed them that way.
The loops should be worked thread and the drawstring cord.

The cap has two loops at center back, which are intriguing: the cap needs to be joined or anchored around there to shape it to the head. There are also two sets of ties: long Y-shaped ones on the forehead cloth and very narrow tapes along the bottom edge of the cap. My best attempt has been to thread the cloth's ties through the cap's back loops, and then tie the tapes underneath my hair (back bun). The cap is then snugged slightly with the drawstrings and tied under the chin. The ties are a little short for comfort, but they are just long enough to fasten without trailing.

The fabric is light weight linen from Fabric-store.com; lace from The Tudor Tailor; ties are 1/4" and 1/2" linen tape from Burnley and Trowbridge (bleached white).

Wimple Wednesday: Early 18th Century Dutch Cap

Very similar to the (15th century, IIRC) open hood pattern in The Medieval Tailor's Manual, this early 18th century Dutch cap is cut in four pieces, joined with a center back seam and another running front-to-back along the top of the head.

Dutch linen cap c.1700-1725 in The Met.

The overall shape is of two squares with a short rounded bump at the center back; from the image, the peak is approximately 1/3 the total width of the cap, and 1/5 of its height.  The original cap has an opaque fabric for the top of each side, with what appears to be a sheer embroidered material for the lower half of each piece (eye level to chin). There is a narrow lace edging around both hems; it's possible that the neck-edge hem contains a drawstring casing (as many of the Patterns of Fashion original caps and coifs do), but the available images do no show evidence of this.

I made my copy in light-weight linen (cut as only two pieces), without any hypothetical drawstrings. I measured it to account for my hair twisted into a coil at the back of the head, but after doing so think that I should have planned for coronet braids, and made the cap shallower.

A simple linen cap, c.1700-1725.

Wimple Wednesday: Cap With Folded Brim, Early 17th century

Lace-edged cap with turned-back brim, c.1615-1625, from Patterns of Fashion 4. The shape is almost identical to two children's caps of 1608 and 1620 in The Tudor Child.

I rather like how this cap turned out.

 I'm still working out how to best fit my hair until this cap; the coronet braids seem to work best, but I need to fine tune the placement. And then persuade them to stay put. I'm enjoying the lace, though.

Even if it looks silly because my hair wasn't cooperating.

The cap is made from a single piece of 3.5 oz lightweight linen from Fabric-store.com, the lace is from The Tudor Tailor store.

Wimple Wednesday: 16th Century Flemish Coif

The original has c.1590s Italian lace, but is described by the VAM as a Flemish style c.1550-1600. Interestingly, the portrait mentioned in the MET's description of this coif is dated c.1530--as are several other portraits by the same artist showing this style of coif. So, we're looking at a style that was apparently in use at least from 1530-1600.

Portrait of Anna Codde (1529) by Maerten van Heemskerk

Portrait of Emmetje Teunisdr. van Souburgh
(1540-1545) by Maerten van Heemskerck

From the item description, the coif is 39.5" long from crown to lappet and 9" wide at maximum (which I believe to be the front-to-back measure). There appears to be a seam along the top, which is gathered into the 'rondel' at the back. This is very like the construction of last week's coif, only with lappets and no back gathering.

When worn, the lappets appear to be crossed or pinned up at the back, making folds and a separation between the hanging lappet and the coif where it sits over the head. Crossing and knotting the lappets behind caued the coif to pull away from the head. I am still experimenting, but tentatively favor crossing the lappets high behind the head, and pinning each one.

Still working out the fold lines,
but I think this is on the right track.

Of course, it is very easy to tie the lappets over the head, like the 15th century long-tailed cap, and I rather like it. Pity the portraiture disagrees.

Comfortable, practical,
and not supported by my current evidence

Wimple Wednesday: 16th Century to 17th Century One-piece Coif

Based off the nine c.1590-1620 coifs in Patterns of Fashion 4, not to mention most of the ones in my research post. The coif is cut out flat, in a stylized tulip shape: the flat edge near the flared sides is seamed together, with the center portion gathered, while the opposite side has a cord run through the middle portion, for gathering about the back neck.

Still not got at this 'selfie' thing.
Perhaps I can train the cats to take flattering pictures....

I scaled it up some, since the largest coif in the book waas comically small once my hair came into play. I like where it sits along the hairline, but fear it's a touch too long along the sides (the rounded sections should be sitting closer to the ear than they currently are.

Wimple Wednesday: Mid-Late16th Century Coif and Forehead Cloth

Brimmed Elizabethan coif with forehead cloth The Tudor Tailor. As previously noted, the sewn construction may be anachronistic. It is a fun shape, though.

The coif has a fun, pointy brim.
I'm just sad thinking about the June Rebellion.

I made this up in lightweight linen (Fabric-Store.com's 3.5 oz stuff), double layer construction, but without wiring the brim. As with the Henrician coif, I decided to see how it would hold up without the wire, and add it later if needed. I used a mid-weight linen on the first one, so it really doesn't need the extra structure; this one, being lighter, could use it, but a good ironing also works.

Wimple Wednesday: Brimmed Coif, 2nd Quarter of the 16th Century

Aka, the Henrician Coif from The Tudor Tailor.

A very serviceable item. Until my coil comes unpinned,
at while point it tends to take the coif with it.

New research has suggested that this cut-and-sewn construction may be a modern re-interpretation of a one-piece coif that's meant to be tied over the hair. I'll be experimenting with that approach in a few weeks, when I attempt to duplicate an original 1590s coif from Patterns of Fashion 4.  [The one-piece construction does feature in The Tudor Child for a girl's coif, and I'm quite eager to see if any show up in the forthcoming Typical Tudor.]

Wimple Wednesday: 16th Century Coif

The 'simple coif' from The Tudor Tailor.

It's not fancy, but perfectly comfortable.

Wimple Wednesday: 16th century headrail

Now in the 16th century--it's the 36" square of linen, again, knotted over the hair (which has been braided in two bunches and wrapped around the head).  I like how this style of rail keeps my hair neat, off my neck/face, and clean from all the dust at Faire. I've honestly kept my hair up for a 12+ hour day with only one hairpin thanks to the headrail (and the linen strips on my braids).

Managed it this time without any pins!

This design is from The Tudor Tailor by Ninya Mikhaila and Jane Malcolm-Davies.

Wimple Wednesday: Late 15th Century Tailed Cap

Departing from the draped and knotted flat rectangles, it's time for our first sewn cap.

Late 15th century tailed cap.

The tails should properly be tied over the head, but a miscalculation may have made them long enough to wrap all the way around and tie at the center back. [It looks really silly with the tails hanging down 8" from the proper knot position.] I will be fixing that, but meanwhile, it's a comfortable cap to wear, and goes on with little more fuss than the knotted kerchief. My hair is braided and wrapped around the head; it's very secure, and requires no hair or fabric pins, just two linen hair ties and the cap itself. Also, it looks awesome from the side:  

Sort of a 'witch meets smurf' shape.

The only structural seams are the center back and interior of the tails--all other seams (on mine) are from piecing scrap linen; it could/should be cut out as a single piece.  This is the last design I'll be playing with from The Medieval Tailor's Assistant; next week, it's on to the 16th century.

Wimple Wednesday: 14th Century Knotted Kerchief

Bare throats, o my!

Return of the 36" square kerchief, this time without fillet or wimple; the fabric is just knotted behind the head. It's very quick, and no pins or other equipment is needed. This time, I dressed my hair in a simple coil at the back of the head.

Kerchiefs: simplifying things since the 14th century  

I actually like this variant better.
The glare is aimed at the camera.

I like the look of the thrown back kerchief (as before, but with the lower corners pinned up), but the linen really needs to be a rectangle to pull it off. An extra 12" would be great, but even 6-8" should work.

Wimple Wednesday: Late 14th Century Pleated Wimple

Moving later in the 14th century, we have a constructed wimple. It's pleated into a band, and slightly curved for a closer fit around the neck. Making it was more work (and much more linen!), but it is a bit quicker to don--even if I feel like a frilled lizard when wearing it. Same kerchief and fillet; I tried dressing the hair in side coils again,  but still am not quite satisfied with the result.

Getting fancy with a pleated wimple. 

The wimple is a 11" x 60" rectangle of narrow hemmed linen; it is knife-pleated along one side and enclosed in a 19" band of linen which has a finished width of 5/8". The center of the pleated portion was 'scooped out' approximately 2", to help the wimple fit more closely around the neck.  Like the previous garments, it is fully handsewn with linen thread, and is based on a design in The Medieval Tailor's Assistant.