Oh look. Here we are again. I would apologize for the absence, but frankly, it’s been a hectic year and something had to go. But hey, winter is coming again - time for another warm dress!
There are several events on my immediate radar that will be mostly if not entirely outside, and while I love the cold, I also don’t want another events of worrying about the state of my fingers. At the same time, I’ve been rummaging through my stash with an eye to selling some fabric at the upcoming Holiday Faire and also to designate and use up stuff.
I ran into a five yard piece of dull pink heathered wool, and a large bundle of indigo linen. I immediately thought of an image from the Cantigas de Santa Maria:
Cantiga 105: “How the wicked bridegroom planned to do something and committed a shameful deed.” Edicón facsímil del Códice T.I.1 de la Biblioteca de San Lorenzo el Real de El Escorial, Siglo XIII. Edilán, 1979. Made available open access by the University of Pennsylvania. https://inpress.lib.uiowa.edu/feminae/DetailsPage.aspx?Feminae_ID=36178
Note: I refer to this as a midwife’s dress not because this is a birthing scene (it’s not), but because several images of births in 13th c. sources show midwives with removable hanging sleeves, often tied or pinned behind their backs to not interfere with their work.
This pink gown with shorter hanging sleeves is my specific goal. The wool I have is slightly too heavy for something like a fitted cote or first layer, but it will be perfect for a snuggly outer layer. I’ll pillage my stash for some silk scrap for the trim.
The woman in front of our pink lady is wearing a blue gown that I’ll use for the undergown. It’s loose, with a plain keyhole neckline edged in a contrasting fabric, and the sleeves are long and fitted at the wrist. This will be a good all-around undergarment to have in the wardrobe.
I also need another little hat, since the one I wore with my green gown has disappeared over the course of two moves. This time, I’m going for a plainer level brim with applied stripes. The stripes are most commonly red and black in source images, and I will cheat and apply ribbon instead of trying to weave them in or embroider them on
I don’t remember where I got this - it’s probably a very enlarged detail from the Cantigas.