Girl's Coif

I made a coif for my daughter to go with the red dress.  It's based on the pattern for the Mary Feilding cap in The Tudor Child.  It is sized for a child aged 6.  My daughter just turned 4 and has always had a small head, but the cap is small on her.  I don't have time to make another, and she likely won't wear a hat of any kind for any amount of time anyway.

For the center back seam, I wanted to try an insertion lace stitch. I used a sewing silk which was clearly too light for this application, but it was fun to try something new.

Embroidered Coif

I kinda cheated for getting an embroidered coif complete by June.  My dear husband had gifted me a piece of blackwork embroidered fabric from Truly Hats for making a coif last year.  After making the mocks and trying different sizes of coifs, I decided it was time to use it.

Here's the finished product.  I stitched around the edges in black silk to mimic the look of many of the extant coifs that have an edge/border to end the embroidery.  My hope was to have it look slightly less like a piece of machine embroidered fabric.

The Test of Coif Sizing

After many years, I finally got around to testing out the math I had proposed for Coif Sizing.  I'll eventually add much of this to the existing Coif page, but this is a start.

The exercise started by creating a catalog of extant coifs, but I realized along the way that it was also important to know what they looked like when they were worn.  The board of portraits and illustrations of coifs and caps being worn is not as well documented as the others, but it's a start.

To test the sizing, I made a coif of the "recommended" size for my height, then one two sizes larger and one two sizes smaller.  I choose a difference of two sizes to make sure I could tell a difference and so that it would hopefully be more evident in pictures.

Because I like to conserve fabric, I actually used the "too big" coif to create the "too small" coif by taking tucks and resewing.  Here are pics of the coifs.  The left shows the proposed correct size coif on top of the "too big" coif.  The right shows the "too small" coif on top of the correct size coif.

It's important to note that I used hair taping to build the right foundation for wearing a coif.  This makes a huge difference in how a coif fits and feels.  All of my coif research started as a quest to get one that stayed on my head better, which I now know is largely due to proper hair taping.

So, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's look at what the coifs look like on me. Here they are arranged from "too small" to "too big".


When looking at the portraits that include a cap that might be a coif, there is more hair visible above the forehead that I had realized, and some seem to sit perched on the back of the head more like what I see in the "too small" pic.  However, the "too small" coif was too short and didn't cover enough of the ears, and felt like it was being uncomfortably stretched to sit on my head.

The correct size coif felt pretty good.  While many extant coifs have a widow's peak point at the top, I don't see as much evidence of this in the portraits and I think with the point removed, this size would be about right.

The "too big" coif was comfortable and felt fine on my head.  In looking at the picture, it looks a little baggier than it should be and covers more of the hair than I would like.

Conclusion:
For me, at least, the estimated correct size seems just about right.  However, I was testing a difference of two sizes and I could probably go down one size without a problem.

Hair Taping

In my lengthy coif quest, I was introduced to hair taping.  It makes sense that to have a coif fit and look correct, you need to have the right foundation.  So, here's my attempt at hair taping.

I started with long hair and a 4yd cotton tape from The Tudor Tailor.  You can do hair taping with shorter hair, but I'd been growing mine for a while, so it seemed and good time to try the taping.

I braided my hair into two braids starting behind each ear.  I used modern hair bands to hold the braids because I wasn't sure the taping I was using was long enough for me to use it to tie the braid ends.

Then I wrapped the braids around the back of my head and basically sewed / wrapped them onto my head.

I should have taken the extra ends and wrapped them back around my head, tucking / sewing in the loose ends, but I wasn't that smart.

All in all, it stayed quite well and make a good foundation for all the coif sizing I did next.

So Much To Do

I'm starting to get excited about the upcoming Costuming Conference. I had the opportunity to attend 2 years ago, but was in the middle of a masters program.  I really enjoyed it, but had to come back and do homework instead of sewing projects.

The conference includes an in costume reception and I'd like to have an updated kit by then.

Here's my list of things I'd like to get done by June:

• Embroidered Coif
• Veil
• Trim Orange Doublet
• Partlet with Ruff

That seems pretty reasonable.  But, there is a list of standing requests for the rest of the family.  Some are more urgent than others, and at the same time, I'm helping my husband through the process of making his own leather jerkin.

Here's the short list of what also should be done by June:

• Girls kirtle (by Feb 3)
• Girls coif (by Feb 3)
• Falling band
• 3 Men's shirts
• Breeches

I'd better get started.

Finishing an Old Doublet

The last time I made clothes for myself was over 5 years ago.  I know I based it on an illustration from Jost Amman's Frauen-Tractenbuch, but I've long since lost my notes.  The kirtle and doublet are mostly finished, but I never finished the trimming.

I looked today to find my original inspiration and decide on how to finish it.  Here are the 3 images that I found that elements of the doublet I was attempting to make (I think).

My medieval German is non-existent, but I'm pretty sure this first image is JA's representation of Hispanic dress.  JA was German, and I'm not sure he ever traveled to Spain, so I don't want to be to literal in using this image.  Besides, I'm pretty sure I was going for a German look.  However, I like the doublet which flares at the waist with trim down the front that turns the corner to wrap the bottom edge.

With the apron, it's difficult to tell if this is a separate doublet, but I like the fur around the collar.  It's likely that this was fur lined (judging by the fur shown at the arms as well).  I was looking for a way to incorporate a fur collar that I picked up years ago at a thrift store.  I don't condone killing animals for their fur, but if someone else has already done it, I'm fine with giving it a second life.

This image has a doublet similar to the Hispanic image above.  The trim comes down the front, then turns the corner to follow the bottom edge.  I also like the flared open collar with ruff/ruffle.  She seems to be a bit more middle class, which is usually the look I prefer. 

I think this 3rd image was the one I was working from, with the idea that if I wear the doublet open down to the waist with the fronts turned back like lapels, I could add the fur collar as an optional second look.

Next steps:
1. See if I can translate the first line of each of the images.
2. Take a look at what I have and see what I can make of it.