Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The Death of MedCos

About six or seven years ago, I joined a mailing list called MedCos, founded by Wendi Dunlap, who used an educational software program called Moodle to set it up as a website.  As a result, like the Yahoo groups lists, you could post from an e-mail client or at the site through a browser.

But MedCos (the name comes from "Medieval Costuming") was more interesting than the Yahoo lists (many of which I still subscribe to) in many ways.  First, it was not focused on a single period but on many different periods, each with its own forum, though members could, and did, subscribe to all the forums.  The primary emphasis was on SCA period, but because the site was structured to include multiple forums, forums were added accommodate  costuming interests from the 17th century all the way up to modern times.

Second, unlike the Yahoo forums, the software used for MedCos made it possible for members to include photographs *with* posts and have the photographs be visible when reading the list through a browser.  This fact made for a friendlier interface for separate areas like costume galleries and reading lists. Each subforum had a moderator (though some moderators were responsible for multiple forums) who were responsible for maintaining the information and picture gallery areas, fostering discussions, and generally keeping the forum well-run. Before I developed the courage to start my own blog, I was the moderator for the "Early Period" section on MedCos.  I spent a fair amount of time adding Viking-related sources to the Early Period reference areas and encouraging people to provide pictures of their Viking and other Early Period costumes for the photo gallery.

Unfortunately, as with many  good things, MedCos's most interesting features were the source of most of its problems. Because it is based on educational software, a login was always required to see the site.  You could log in as "guest" by clicking a button, and accounts were always free, but a login was always required, which made it difficult if one wanted to place a link to a forum discussion or photograph on one's own blog or on another list.  Other technical difficulties plagued the site from time to time because of our unusual hosting software.

In addition, the existence of separate forums made it tough to start, and sustain, discussions. MedCos had a lot of members but most were "lurkers" who preferred to read and observe rather than to post, and most of the members preferred later period costume (15th and 16th century). That often made it challenging for me to get discussions on early period costume started, and keep them going. As time went on, various moderators had to resign for different personal reasons. I eventually ended up moderating many of the forums, and the ones I didn't moderate went begging for attention. Fewer and fewer discussions were started. Eventually, I started this blog and spent less and less  of my own time checking on MedCos.

Last week, I visited the MedCos site for the first time in months, only to find this message from Wendi dated from May of this year, explaining that she had had to close the site, and why she had needed to do so:
Hello, MedCos folks. You may have noticed that MedCos hasn't been working well lately. For a long time. It appears that we basically broke the site. The software that was hosting this site was never meant to do what we were doing with it, and we kind of overloaded it. I tried to fix it, but was unable to. For that reason, I believe I will have to close MedCos. I do have the content that people posted to MedCos, and might be able to pass it on to someone else if anyone wants to set up another sort of MedCos. I am sorry I wasn't able to fix it!
Unfortunately, I don't have the technical ability to "fix" the MedCos software, or to transfer the site content to another type of software. All I can do is to mourn the passing of MedCos, and hope that someone else with the requisite skills will arrange for its resurrection.  For that reason, I have removed MedCos from my lists of favorite web sites, and costume resources, even though it will always have a place in my heart.

Monday, August 29, 2011

The Lagore Crannog Band--It's Working!


On a whim, I tried to start the Lagore Crannog tablet-weaving again tonight, and this time I have made real progress, as shown in the photograph.  The key turned out to be pushing the wefts all the way back to the edge of the frame (which appears at the bottom of the photograph) and keeping my over-sized tablets shoved as far away from the weaving as possible to enlarge the shed.  The first six rows or so are obviously too loose, but they can be unraveled and fringed when I'm done, if necessary, to improve the appearance of the finished piece.  

I'm not completely sure what I will do with the piece when I do finish it, since I started it to see what kind of product the odd threading pattern would make, not to fulfill a costuming objective.  I have only threaded enough warp to make a band about two feet long.  I suppose I could use it as a headband, either for period or modern purposes.

EDIT:  I've woven about 3 inches and I'm feeling frustrated.  Not because the weaving isn't going well, but because I keep forgetting when I need to go forward and when I need to go back.  The pattern is 3 turns forward, three back, but it's hard for me to see at the end of a set whether the next turn needs to be forward or back, particularly if I get distracted.  So I keep screwing up the pattern (and seeing what the pattern is like was most of the reason why I undertook this project in the first place....)

Though it will probably be embarrassing to do so, I'll post another picture of the finished product.  At my current rate of progress, I may be ready to do that in a few days.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Sock-Cutting

It's common knowledge even among casual historic costumers that, before knitting became established in Europe, most Europeans wore calf-high stockings cut and sewn from cloth, either linen, wool, or, for the very wealthy, silk. This raises a natural question: How does one cut a pattern for such a garment? What sort of patterns will achieve a reasonable fit when fairly inelastic fabric is used? And were those early stockings bias-cut, to enhance their stretchability and fit?

My stockings, hand-sewn from linen
On Friday, in a moment during which I should have been doing something else, I stumbled across the blog of a woman, a fellow historic costumer, who calls her blog Historic Stitcher. She had posted an interesting pattern for cut and sewn hose which she found in an article in Costume, The Journal of the Costume Society of Great Britain. The pattern was derived from research done in Tinn, Telemark, a town in Norway, where people continued to make and wear cut-and-sewn hose into the 1960s. The pattern shows rectangles cut from fabric placed on the bias, though it is far from clear to me from the pattern how the rectangles were seamed together.

Historic Stitcher made a comment about the Telemark pattern that puzzled me. She said, as though it was indisputable, that "straight-cut used more fabric". I'd always thought that bias cut required more fabric, since it required cutting on a line at an angle to the grain, resulting in odd-shaped pieces that would be more difficult to use.

Trying to reason my way out of that conundrum got me thinking about how cut and sewn hose were designed. In particular, I wondered about the Telemark pattern composed mostly of rectangular bias-cut strips, since I know of no  examples like it. For instance, early medieval hose, such as this 12th century pair attributed to Saint Desiderius, look like modern Ugg boots, with a U-shaped piece covering the toes mated to a cylindrical shaft and a sole piece. The late medieval hose sketched on Marc Carlson's website do not seem to be made from small rectangular pieces. Instead they are vaguely conical tubes, such as the Bocksten Man's hose, with a point at the top for tying the hose to a waistband and a cup-like structure for covering the rest of the foot.
My stockings, in wear. Sorry about the angle!

Renaissance hose are different in pattern from both the early and late medieval styles. They tend to be in three pieces: one for the sole of the foot, one for the calf, and one to cover the instep and join shaft and sole, according to Katerina of the Purple Files. The shaft is shaped somewhat to the calf, and a triangular gusset at each ankle bone produces a better fit around the foot. The cut and sewn stockings that were still being produced in the 18th century apparently used a two-piece pattern;  a shaft piece with a long tongue and flaps to cover the sides of the foot, and a separate piece to cover the parts of the sole that the specially shaped shaft could not reach.

The Medieval Tailor proposes a similar pattern for 14th century stockings, and shows a photo of an actual 14th century pair  which had been cut on the straight of the grain; she notes that sometimes, 14th century stockings were fitted along the leg but that other times, they were not. Eighteenth century stockings add an additional refinement to the Renaissance model. The 18th century model consists of only two pieces: a shaft with a tongue-shaped flap to cover the instep and tabs, on either side of the flap, to cover the sides of the foot; and a sole. The two together make a complete covering for the lower leg and foot, more closely fitting than earlier models.

But these are not the only ways to sew a calf-high stocking from cloth. The attached pictures are an old project of mine, a pair of stockings handsewn from gray linen. I didn't use a pattern at all for these stockings. Instead, I draped and pinned them on my feet and legs, first to make a shaft and then shaping a piece to cover the instep and fasten to the sole. Unsurprisingly, they fit very well despite the non-elastic fabric I used, though I believe it unlikely that anyone would have used fabric in such an extravagant manner before the 17th century, at least.

So why is the Telemark pattern so different, both from my draped effort and from early historical examples? Is it a genuine survival from a much earlier time, or a later invention, based on mistaken ideas of historic stocking construction, that became part of the local culture? Seeing what the Telemark stockings look like and the context in which they were worn would help answer that question.

For now, I will settle for having made the point that sewing stockings from fabric is not as simple and straightforward a task as it may appear, and will make a mental note to seek out information about how different cultures balanced the competing concerns of fit and fabric conservation. Any thoughts, additional facts, or different patterns for cut and sewn hose would be welcome.

EDIT: A commenter has drawn my attention to several other examples of cut and sewn hose. One is from Martres de Veyre, from about the second century CE. It appears to be a two-piece construction, with a shaft that covers the part of the sole of the foot closest to the heel, and a front section that wraps around the toes; the join between the two is at an angle. You can see a picture of it here, along with marvelous closeups of the textiles it is made from, and other textiles from the same find. The second site my commenter drew my attention to has pictures of several 11th century CE finds. One is English; I can't tell whether it is of the same cut as the Martres de Veyre hose or whether the shaft has additional flaps; you can see the image here. Another pair, said to have belonged to Pope Clement II, looks a lot like the Martres de Veyre find, though picking out the seam placement is impossible; that picture is here. The stockings from the German regalia (approximately 13th century CE) are here; they appear to have more shaping than the earlier pair, though they also seem to have a front that wraps around the toes. Interesting stuff--maybe a timeline of surviving stockings organized by find location would yield more interesting information?

Thursday, August 25, 2011

A Non-Progress Report

Because of vacation plans, spending more time board gaming with my husband, and new projects at work, I haven't done any work on my costuming projects since about mid-July, and I've done very little reading.  Since August is drawing to a close and people may be wondering why I haven't posted to this blog in awhile, I'd like to give a brief progress report on the last few projects I've discussed on this blog:
  • The wrap-around fitted Viking apron dress. I managed to hem one side before bogging down. Since this is the project I'm most likely to be able to finish quickly, I plan to go back to it this weekend if possible, and see whether I can finish it by the end of this month or, failing that, the end of Labor Day weekend (September 2-5).
  • The nalbinded mittens. I managed to get the thumb piece nalbinded onto the body of the mitten, but because of exhaustion I was reluctant to push on and perhaps ruin what I'd done.  It's next on the list after the apron-dress for resumption.
  • The Vendel outfit. I had just purchased some Sculpey from which to make a disc-on-bow brooch when pearl posted about an article referencing information about Vendel-era costume that has made me rethink my assumptions.  More about the rethinking process soon.
  • The Lagore Crannog tablet woven band. It's still set up on my loom, mocking me.  
I hope things are a bit quieter in September, so I can get back to one or more of these projects.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Interesting Anglo-Saxon Sapphire Ring

I'm still not home, or prepared to write a long post, but here's a short news article about a large 10th or 11th century CE Anglo-Saxon period gold ring set with a sapphire, that was found by a metal detectorist in Yorkshire. The article includes a nice enlargeable photograph of the ring. The current thinking is that the ring was the episcopal ring of an archbishop of York of the period, a Northumbrian earl, or perhaps a member of the royal family.  Enjoy!