How to make wearing a veil easier!
Veils are my nemesis. I desperately need them (as a proper twelfth-century girl would) but they're such a struggle for me. I've seen the St Birgitta's caps around, but I'm not sure if there's any evidence for them in the Anglo-Norman period. Teffania has said yes but I don't know of any sources confirming this. She is an Official Knower-Of-Things, being that she's got a Laurel in twelfth-century life, so I'm inclined to trust her on this. If it makes my veil easier to keep on, I don't mind fudging a bit. There are certainly coifs, however.
I was able to figure out how to make a veil and wimple work at Inter-College War this past year, but as I mentioned in my post-ICW entry, I really don't like having things crossing my throat. I'm slowly getting used to it but I don't think I'll ever enjoy wearing a wimple.
So I started looking at the Birgitta caps, and they're a fairly simple construction. You need two pieces of fabric roughly the size of your profile, and a long band to go around your head twice. This band is usually a continuous circle, which you'd think wouldn't really work, but it does. I think the fabric I'm using is a "rustic" cotton, which is surprisingly grippy. It feels a bit too 'warm' to be linen.
To start, you'll need to round off the top of your cap. I liked what I got by carefully pinning my pieces of fabric together at the front, then at the crown of my head, and once more at the back, then using an erasable pen to draw in the curve along my head. It's a bit odd, perhaps, but it does end up with a good fit at your crown.
Sew your pieces together along the line you drew, smoothing it out as necessary. Then, you can trim the excess and finish the raw edges after checking the fit. The cap above, or at least, the beginnings of a cap, had wayyyy too much room at the crown, so I scrapped it and started again. This, dear reader, is why you check before cutting. At least this is a remnant, so I'm not too torn up about fabric wastage. Every blog I've seen recommends leaving the bottom inch or so unsewn, so it splits at the base of your head, but my rectangle was too long (I think) and so I've sewn my cap all the way up. Don't do this until after you've gathered the edge, though!!! You need to make sure you like the way it fits with all your hair in it first.
Once you're happy with the fit, you should really finish the insides. Go on, I'll wait. I know I've already said it, but really, you don't want the edges to fray more than they may already have. Makes finishing difficult.
Ready? Good. Now that you've finished the inside seam, you can gently round off the opposite corner, the bit brushing your chin. I saw this recommended on Katafalk, and I have to say I quite like the effect when it's gathered, it really helps with the whole going-around-a-corner thing when you bind off the raw edge. Draw the curve in, and follow it as a guide, cutting between it and the corner you're taking off. Make marks regularly along the curve, if you're going to sew this bit by hand, otherwise use your sewing machine to run a basting stitch along this curve, to the other corner of the short side of your rectangle. Gather gently. You want the final gathered bit to be anywhere from 2-4 inches, but you want them to be the same on both sides. Tie a knot once you're happy to "seal" the gather in.
Binding time -- rip two two-inch wide pieces from the longest edge of the remaining fabric. Rip? Yes. This ensures you've got a relatively straight edge on both ends to work with. You can always try cutting along a thread but that's a hell of a lot of effort for something you're probably making from a roughspun fabric (well, at least I'm making it from a roughspun), and that tends to rip more cleanly than something fine like voile or poplin.
Where was I? Two two-inch-wide strips ripped lengthwise from your bit of fabric. Right. We're at the annoying bit. This will be folded in half over the front of your cap. Pin it there. Turn the edges in, make it pretty. You want to bind off that raw edge along your face, as you don't want that visible.
Once that's attached, continue along the strips, folding the edges in so they're not raw, and bind it off. Some people don't attach the ends and having turned my straps into a circle I'd say they're onto something. I thought I'd gotten the length right, but now that I've worn my cap a bit, they're a bit too long still and my cap slips off my head.
I had to adjust the top seam and take it in a bit, as the curve wasn't right, and I had to take the band in about two inches, but it's still too big. Sigh. I suppose I'll just have to make another!
I was able to figure out how to make a veil and wimple work at Inter-College War this past year, but as I mentioned in my post-ICW entry, I really don't like having things crossing my throat. I'm slowly getting used to it but I don't think I'll ever enjoy wearing a wimple.
So I started looking at the Birgitta caps, and they're a fairly simple construction. You need two pieces of fabric roughly the size of your profile, and a long band to go around your head twice. This band is usually a continuous circle, which you'd think wouldn't really work, but it does. I think the fabric I'm using is a "rustic" cotton, which is surprisingly grippy. It feels a bit too 'warm' to be linen.
To start, you'll need to round off the top of your cap. I liked what I got by carefully pinning my pieces of fabric together at the front, then at the crown of my head, and once more at the back, then using an erasable pen to draw in the curve along my head. It's a bit odd, perhaps, but it does end up with a good fit at your crown.
Sew your pieces together along the line you drew, smoothing it out as necessary. Then, you can trim the excess and finish the raw edges after checking the fit. The cap above, or at least, the beginnings of a cap, had wayyyy too much room at the crown, so I scrapped it and started again. This, dear reader, is why you check before cutting. At least this is a remnant, so I'm not too torn up about fabric wastage. Every blog I've seen recommends leaving the bottom inch or so unsewn, so it splits at the base of your head, but my rectangle was too long (I think) and so I've sewn my cap all the way up. Don't do this until after you've gathered the edge, though!!! You need to make sure you like the way it fits with all your hair in it first.
Once you're happy with the fit, you should really finish the insides. Go on, I'll wait. I know I've already said it, but really, you don't want the edges to fray more than they may already have. Makes finishing difficult.
Ready? Good. Now that you've finished the inside seam, you can gently round off the opposite corner, the bit brushing your chin. I saw this recommended on Katafalk, and I have to say I quite like the effect when it's gathered, it really helps with the whole going-around-a-corner thing when you bind off the raw edge. Draw the curve in, and follow it as a guide, cutting between it and the corner you're taking off. Make marks regularly along the curve, if you're going to sew this bit by hand, otherwise use your sewing machine to run a basting stitch along this curve, to the other corner of the short side of your rectangle. Gather gently. You want the final gathered bit to be anywhere from 2-4 inches, but you want them to be the same on both sides. Tie a knot once you're happy to "seal" the gather in.
Binding time -- rip two two-inch wide pieces from the longest edge of the remaining fabric. Rip? Yes. This ensures you've got a relatively straight edge on both ends to work with. You can always try cutting along a thread but that's a hell of a lot of effort for something you're probably making from a roughspun fabric (well, at least I'm making it from a roughspun), and that tends to rip more cleanly than something fine like voile or poplin.
Where was I? Two two-inch-wide strips ripped lengthwise from your bit of fabric. Right. We're at the annoying bit. This will be folded in half over the front of your cap. Pin it there. Turn the edges in, make it pretty. You want to bind off that raw edge along your face, as you don't want that visible.
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| I took this photo like six months ago so I hope it's actually what I think it is. |
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| Here it is! But it's still too big. |
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