You all know about Kendra’s book on 18th-century hair/wig-styling, right? You’ve signed-up for the pre-sale, right? Because it only lasts till the end of January, & if she doesn’t hit the goal, then we won’t get all the fabulous authentic historic images we need, & she’ll have to cut out something crucially important that you
Or as I tend to think of it: Fancy Man Bags! Because the discerning Elizabethan gent needed a sassy little purse to carry his hankie or a few coins in. Women seemed to hide pockets & such in their voluminous skirts, while the men showed off their goods, ehem, with highly decorated purses that were
The Accessory Challenge isn’t dead — sorry for not posting about it for the past, oh, month, but this last round of chemo was kinda brutal & I didn’t feel like sitting upright & staring at the computer for any length of time (tho’ yeah, I did have a day or two where I could
You might think of the purse as a pretty modern invention. Not so! People have needed to carry their crap around for millennia, both women & men. Here are some nifty purses to inspire your next project.
This was a random little project done in about two weeks. I was asked by Duquesa Juana Isabella de Montoya y Ramirez if I could contribute to the gift basket given by the King and Queen of the West at the SCA’s West-An Tir War over July 4th Weekend 2010. Knowing my predilection for purses,
By Lady Violet Ruthvene for the SCA West Kingdom Arts & Sciences Tourney 2009 Resources Larsdatter.com Pouches & Purses: Excellent collection of image links, including extant pieces and artwork. Museum of Bags and Purses: A Dutch museum with a nice photographic timeline of purse history. Also has a catalog book, sometimes available at
These are the instructions and pattern to make a small, metal-framed purse, for a class I taught at Costume College 2008. Metal-frame purse instructions PDF — Complete details for making a purse with a metal “kiss clasp” frame. This style of purse is accurate from about the 1400s to the present day, and you can
Note to self: Never, ever sew anything with more than one ruffle ever again. The ruffled skirt is killing me. Hemming and trimming the ruffles was a piece o’ frickin’ cake compared to actually gathering and attaching the ruffles. All nine goddamned rows of ruffles. I used to think it’d be neat to someday make