#garbattempt

Roman, or it's precurser Greek, tends to be the easiest garb to make on the surface. It's essentially a series of squares and rectangles of various sizes with various embroideries. Of course, it helps to know what they proportions are for your garb. and if you get those wrong, you can sometimes get a hilarious result.

Take the palla, for instance. It's basically a body-veil, covering a person from head to feet. It tends to be yards long, and we're talking 4 yards or more, depending. And again, various thicknesses.

This is the largest palla that I own. It's always going to be the largest, because any that I make after this point are going to be smaller. This is using a 5.3 oz linen. It's just shorter than 6 yards. And it's the full width of the fabric. It's long, it's heavy, and it's impractical for doing most things in the SCA, since it's a lot of fabric. I would not wear this to retain, for instance, because of it's length and weight. I have to hold it in my arms, or at least one arm.

I also added a comb to it so I could anchor it to my head. That way it didn't go anywhere. I've got a weird shaped head, and a lot of things fall off.

So the second time I made garb, I made Roman. This was back in early August 2021 for Stierbach’s Baronial Birthday, and was the second in-person event I’d ever gone to. I didn’t want to wear my Hiberno-Norse gear for several reasons.

I boiled when I wore that a month earlier, so I didn’t want to continue to boil. 

I enjoy making things so I wanted to make something new.

I took Latin in high school, and became pretty obsessed with the clothing of that time, so I wanted to make some.

So what was I to do, but make more garb? Please enjoy these not very flattering images of me trying on my gap-sleeved tunica. 

I made this Roman gap sleeved tunica with 3.5 yards of a double layer cotton gauze. In pink, obviously. It was one of the easiest projects I've ever completed! The bottom hem encases a rope of lead weights to make sure the cotton gauze hangs properly, as it tends to crumple upward when it wrinkles.

The only "complex" part was adding the rosettes to make the anchor points for the "gaps". I don't think it's noticeable at this distance, but each of those rosettes has a pearl bead at its center. Romans were nuts for pearls, absolutely giddy. So, pearls.

Side note: The best way to belt this, I've found at least for simplicity, is right under the bust. Then messing with the folds for proper drape.

When wearing something like this, it should be noted what site you’re going to be at when you are wearing something long. Also keep the weather in mind. On the day I wore this in early August, it was raining, it was mostly outside, and my hem got at least 6 inches of water from the bottom because of walking on the grass. So maybe next time I make sure to have one of these that’s shorter, or zhuzh the fabric more above the belt, or even double belt to raise the hemline. 

You live you learn, I suppose. 

I added a selection of fake pearl jewelry I found at a thrift store (I can't emphasize this enough, Romans were nuts for pearls) and a palla I made out of a strip of RIT-dyed cotton muslin.

There are 2 things that I would do better differently were I to make a muslin palla again. The first is to try and get already dyed muslin, as dying this myself in a pot was annoying. Turns out I don't like that bit. (This was before I decided I wanted all my headwear to be yellow/gold, which is why this is blue.) The second is to make it longer. In my later research, which I am not linking here, is that pallas were about 4 to 5 yards long. So my probably 3 or less yard palla is not long enough to be "accurate".

Here’s the thing: I know that medieval and renaissance concept of matching and appropriate colors and what not are not the same as what they are now, and what our modern eye sees. I think that’s great, mix all those colors!

But for creating a capsule wardrobe, and specifically an SCA capsule wardrobe, making specific choices about colors can be important when decided what to bring to an event, or for when you’re buys lengths of pre-dyed fabric to make garb. If you going to make multiple pieces out of, say 10 yards of medium-weight linen, you might want to know what all you can wear with it. 

Which is what occurred to me when I started to make garb for the SCA. Or at least, what I thought about after already making my pink Roman dress with light blue palla.

So I thought of the colors I like wearing and the colors I look good in and the colors that would look good with THOSE colors and I created this color palette. 

The purpose of this palette is to help focus my creative process. Here’s how the palette works:

The three primary colors are black, forest green, and a berry/wine color.

The two neutrals are sort of a camel color and almost a denim blue. 

The four accent colors are light gray/natural, light blue, light pink, and a gold/mustard yellow color. 

This is a GUIDELINE, not a hard-and-fast rulebook. If I find myself DYING to make something in, say red, I can totally do that. 

Also, this does not preclude me from making an accent color my main fabric color, i.e. the pink tunica I have. Again, this is a guideline, like the pirate’s code.

I’ve already started making this using this concept. And so far it’s working for me. So I guess good job all around!

A weird thing that happened because of this palette

Creating this palette has created in me something that I didn’t think would happen, but totally did: a want for all head gear that I wear, be it hat, veil, palla, whatever to be a gold or yellow in color. 

It started with making a nearly 6-yard palla. Then a summer-weight scarf to use as a veil in place of a palla for really hot days. Then making plans to make a medieval coif in a similar color. And finally purchasing a lightweight knit hat to act like a bonnet in a gold color (I already had a wool beret that I’ve been wearing that may have been the original inspiration for this trend). 

So when I was making my first garb ever for a Hiberno-Norse event, I had need of the turtle broaches and string of beads. Since this was part of my first attempt at garb, and I already knew this wouldn’t be my permanent persona, I did what any person probably would do: I went to Joann’s.

I bought some clay beads with patterns, some abalone shell beads, and some colorful dyed-stone beads to make this. I also got this pendant which I am well aware is not historically accurate. But it’s pretty, and this passes the 10 ft rule, so I’m good.

It’s two strings, since I’m extra, and the beads are strung on copper wire rather than any sort of thread. I’m clumsy, and often careless and forgetful, so making sure this was sturdy was important.

I think it’s important to note that the wire for the two strands is connected. It’s one piece. The idea is that as I was attaching the straps of the apron dress to the body, I would slip the loops of the bead string through the pins. And it worked, and stayed in place the entire day.

I'm working my way through developing my persona. But I do have the basics:

from roughly mid-16th century

English Father/Scottish Mother - Merchants

Parents died when she was 9 and was sent to be brought up by paternal uncle, Sir Galfrid le Webbe, a knight in a baron's household

Was treated as a foster, and now one of the baroness' ladies, working on sewing/stitches/embroidery for the household

What this ostensibly means is that my garb is mid-16th century mixed English/Scottish, with a proclivity to lean Scottish when the moon is right.

To that end, I've been working on a bodice pattern. I'm probably on #6 overall, but this garb was made using pattern #3. I think. 

First, the fabric: I'm a big proponent of "use what you can find". I got the fabric for the bodice at the 2021 Holiday Faire in Atlantia. It was inexpensive, I think the entire bit of cloth was $5. And I still have a bit left over that I could use to make a coif or a pouch or both.

Second, the peplum: I think it's about 10 inches from edge to connection with the bodice. And that's about as wide as I want it to be, doing a Highland bodice. I've got a very long torso and shorter legs. So, really, it should be shorter than that to make the proportions look good. I do like how it looks from the side in the  back. And that's not padding. I've got a sway back, so my butt pushes it out.

Third, the skirt: I'd actually made this first, and have had it for a while. I love it, and even enjoy the length. However, for my purposes, it may need to be at least an inch shorter. I don't want to trip on it while not paying attention and walking over grass. I also might want to wear some kind of petticoat under this, so that the skirt gets some support. The linen here is very flowy, and while it sits pretty, the material of the bodice is much more structured on it's own.

Fourth and last, the armscye: There's two issues here. The first is how high it is into my armpit. I've fixed it in subsequent patterns, and it's fine, I cut it down to sit at the same level as a bra, and now the shirt/shift has some more room to move and it doesn't bunch or pinch. The second issue is the strap. I keep making this mistake, so I think it's a me thing, but the strap isn't sitting properly on my shoulder. it's at an angle. That's fairly easy to fix from the back, but not from the front. I may need to just re-draft the strap from the front. Or treat it more like an English kirtle, and have the strap be a separate piece, then connect it to the front and the back, at least until I can check the fit and re-draw it. Which would also mean changing the neckline in the back. *SIGH* I really liked that V-shape. Maybe I can bring it back once I get more practice in.