100 Days of A&S – Days 25 and 26: learning as I clean up

Day 25 was a disastrously failed experiment in walnut dyeing. Everything I had read led me to believe that this stuf stained whatever it touched and needed no mordant. Not so. I have had a jar sitting in my basement since forever that I finally dumped into and iron pot, heated, and added some wool that had been soaking for a couple of hours. I let the whole thing simmer for several hours and then sit overnight. When I finally rinsed the wool this afternoon, the colour was almost identical to the original. I have more husks in the basement, so maybe I’ll try following actual instructions, like these: Walnut dye.

Instructions would also have been good for my Day 26 clean-up project. My friend Lucia had grape vines that are taking over her yard and wanted them gone because her dog kept eating them. When I was at her place a few weeks ago, everything was still quite frozen so I said I would come back later to deal with them. Then spring happened. When I went to her place today, the vines were in leaf and already had tiny grapes starting. Undaunted, I spent several hours cutting them down so I could get to the roots. But the roots were too much for me so I ended up filling my car with branches and heading to my community garden plot. First, though, I made a quick stop home to check the internet to see how to transplant grapes. I have done it all wrong. I should have cut my rootstock earlier in the spring when they were still bare. Undaunted, I picked the best pieces and dug holes for 31 of them along the chain link fence separating our garden from the playing field. I trimmed off all the little grapes so more energy will go to root production, but left the leaves because I figure that they are needed by now. They could have done with bigger holes, enriched soil, and more space between them, but I have done what I can. Hopefully some will take and in a couple of years we will be able to harvest grapes. I have one vine that Lucia had grown in a pot that I hope will grow up the hydro pole at the front of my house. Right beside it, I have planted a proper piece of root stock that I ordered from a gardening company. If all the garden vines fail, I will follow these instructions on Propagating grapes using my vines for next year.

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100 Days of A&S, Days 22, 23 and 24

Day 22 – Finished putting lace onto the camicia (at last!)

Day 23 – I pulled out an old tunic that I may have worn once, and started working on how to remake it so I get more use out of it. The hem will be shortened significantly, and I will use that fabric to make some sleeves. I won’t be able to get the nice tight sleeves I would like, but I can work on making a somewhat more period sleeve pattern. I read a really good article about fitting sleeves last week and I want to test it out.

Day 24 – Today I am clearing out a couple of ancient projects in anticipation of something new. A couple of years ago, I was given black walnuts to make dye. I dutifully put the green husks into water and got a lovely black liquid that has been sitting on my work bench ever since. Even before that, I was given several fleeces that turned out to be mostly useless. However, I did clean and card some of it with the idea of making felt. That didn’t happen. However, I recently got excited about the idea of making the medieval equivalent of a French beret. I don’t want a knitted Tudor flat cap (at least not yet). My inspiration is more along the lines of the Italian Renaissance caps. Many are red, and none have the shape of the stereotypical French beret, but this one has that little tuft at the top, and might flatten to a French beret shape, so this is my goal.

Man with Red Hat, attributed to Vittore Carpaccio (1490-93, Museo Correr, Venice)

I soaked my wool to get it good and wet, heated my walnut dye in an iron pot, and added the wool to the pot. I didn’t have enough dye for the amount of wool I added, so I expect to get more of a brownish grey than black, but that’s okay. It will still be more interesting than plain yellowish white. Once it has simmered for a while longer, I’ll let it dry and then figure out wet felting.

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100 Days of A&S Days 16-21: Garden Things

This has been a mixed bag of outdoors activities. On Day 16, I did some weeding and pruning in my garden. The weeds went into a pan as part of my supper. I find my motivation for weeding is much higher if I can eat what I pull. The branches were saved to be used as the uprights for a set of storage baskets  I’m making.

On Day 17, I started stripping the bark off the branches and fitting them into the holes my friend Aelfwyn drilled into the first of three pieces of pine that will serve as the base of one of the baskets. It wasn’t much A&S, but it made a splendid pile of shavings on my kitchen floor. I also spent some time planning and pricing materials for a garden bench to go around my big tree. The Medieval Garden, by Sylvia Landsberg, has information on different kinds of benches, and even some plans for simple benches.

Day 18 started out with a clean up of my oil paints. I have started doing a little oil painting with some friends, after nearly 15 years of not painting. Someone posted a question about how to open stuck tubes of paint in an oil painting group I follow, so I followed Somme of the helpful advice and was able to rescue almost all the paints. I put them lid down in a bowl of boiling water and let them sit for a minute or two. Then I used a pair of pliers, wiped all the paint off the necks and lids of the tubes, and sealed the tubes again. Then it was back to the garden (sort of). I spent the better part of five hours walking the fences and making repairs in the fields where my horse lives. It was hard work and had me thinking a lot about the work involved in making fences without the aid of power tools.

Day 19 was spent hunting for asparagus, planning, planting and weeding my gardens, and cleaning up various projects (finally finished that camicia and finished the first storage box).

Day 20 was bliss. It’s a long weekend here, so I had a free day. First up was the annual set-up at my community garden plot. I added manure to, and planted more things in, my little plot and helped set up the rain barrels. Then it was working on my own garden – mostly weeding, but also planting most of my herb seedlings.

Yesterday, day 21, I finished the basket. It is based on a square base found in the medieval level in York (Coppergate). You can find a picture of it in “Wood and Woodworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York” by Carole A. Morris (York Archaeological Trust, 2000, p. 2272). Some of my uprights and woven rods are willow, but most of the woven rods are lilac since I seem to be coppicing a lilac bush in my back yard. I keep cutting it down but it just won’t die, and the branches come up nice and straight. They don’t have quite enough give to weave easily, however.

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100 Days of A&S Day 15: Pupusas

When I lived in Central and South America, I got quite interested in indigenous cultures that were contemporary with medieval Europe, as well as the early colonial period of the late Renaissance. I also got addicted to pupusas, a traditional Salvadoran tortilla stuffed with fillings such as flower buds, cheese, beans, and pork. Tonight I am making pupusas for dinner, so today’s research project is on the history of the pupusa.

According to Wikipedia, pupusa may be a Spanish rendering of popotlax, which is a combination of the Pipil or Nahuatl words popotl meaning large, stuffed, bulky, and tlaxkalli which means tortilla. It may also come from the Pipil language, pupusawa. Wikipedia also claims that they were created by the Pipil people, and the evidence comes from the instruments for their creation found at Joya de Cerén and other archaeological sites. I don’t find that argument compelling, as the required tools are pretty simple, and they are used for other things too. The key items are a metate to grind dried corn, some sort of bowl for the nixtmalizado (lye-treated) cornmeal and water to form dough, and a griddle to cook the pupusas over a fire (comal). Comales may have been introduced to El Salvador by Nahuat speakers migrating from Mexico (Before the Volcano Erupted: The Ancient Cerèn Village in Central America, p 196). This migration (or possibly multiple migrations), however, took place some time around the 9th C (The Indigenous History of El Salvador, 03/02/2014). Cerén was inhabited by Maya, and the site was destroyed by a volcano in about 600 AD.

Cerén has at least five metates (Dwelling in the Ancestral Joya de Cerén Village, p 29) but no comales, and I couldn’t find any clear notes on what other cooking containers might have been found as the museum is currently closed. I couldn’t find any pictures of the metates from Cerén either, but a fancy one from about the same period was found at Chiltiupan (Dwelling, p. 24). The metates from Cerén are all described as being groundstone, so likely volcanic basalt, of the type that was used up until very recently.

Comales do show up at other sites, such as Ciudad Vieja, the original capital of colonial El Salvador (The End of Pre-Columbian Pipil Civilization, Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador, p 21). I also found a reference to censer plates at Cerén (Volcanism, Household Archaeology, and Formation Processes in the Zapotitan Valley, El Salvador p 167), and a note in an article on Guatemalan late Classical ceramics that comales are sometimes referred to as censer plates, though they have very different purposes (Late Post-classic Period Ceramics of the Western Highlands, Guatemala, pp 113-114). Another clue that cornmeal was used in dough form for pupusas comes from small water dishes set by the metates. The water dishes were used to keep the maize moist (Exploring Culinary Practices Through GIS Modeling at Joya de Cerén, El Salvador, p 114), and one of the water dishes actually had finger swipe marks in it (Volcanism, p. 171).

Here is a picture of my metate, a gift from my friend Salvadoran Francisco, along with an earthenware comal, and my pupusas.

One of the wonderful things about this research project has been the discovery of how much work has been done to preserve the archaeological treasures of El Salvador. Joya de Cerén is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is often described as the Pompeii of the Americas. It has the only pre-colonial domed roof structure in the Americas, among many other interesting features. I loved going there, and the neighboring site of San Andres as often as I could. Sadly, both needed significant infrastructure investments to protect the artifacts and improve the visitor experience. The two links below show what it was like when I lived in El Salvador, and what has been done since. Other sites that weren’t even open to the public when I lived there are now tourist destinations and an important part of recognizing the Mayan and Pipil contributions to the country.

Upgrades to Joya de Cerén      San Andrés

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100 Days of A&S: Day 14

Since my last post, I have been doing some repeat activities: Day 11 was fixing the gathers on my camicia. Day 12 was more work on the camicia plus a bit of tablet weaving. Day 13 was my riding lesson, so I tried to apply all of Xenophon’s guidance on horsemanship. I’m pleased to say that it went pretty well, as I managed to get Fancy (my horse) to do leg yields at the trot, and she was excellent about paying attention to my leg and seat cues to start, stop and bend as required.

Tonight is my weekly belly dance class, so I am doing a little research about the history of Middle Eastern dance. We are learning to dance with trays on our heads, to the music of Rock the Casbah, so this is clearly not medieval dance! In fact, there isn’t solid much information about medieval Middle Eastern dance, through I did find a few interesting tidbits, plus some ideas for costuming.

It a appears that modern belly dance has its roots primarily in Egypt and Turkey (if we discount the European and Hollywood dances that were inspired by it and are now the most visible interpretation of Middle Eastern dance). In Egypt, the Ghawazee (Rom street performers) and Alawim (slaves and courtesans trained in the arts of poetry, music and dance, may have been the main “professional” dancers. Dance in family contexts, such as weddings, is a traditional activity that may also date back to the middle ages (1). In Turkey, there are references from the 1400s to traveling performers called chengis, who danced using intricate hip and torso movements (2). Elsewhere, I found references to a Turkish gypsy dance style called Tsengui (3).

From there, I started looking at possible dance costumes. I found three sites worth exploring further to understand what might have been worn. The first is available only on Scribd.com: A Step Further From Fantasy By: Lady Álfrún ketta (aka Umm Hurayrah bint Khalid). She offers lots of pre-1600 images and clothing items, as well as advice on patterns, fabrics, and a bibliography. The next is Rashid’s Persian Patterns, with patterns for an undershirt, pants, caftans and footwear, along with advice on appropriate accessories such as belts and hats. Finally, Mistress Rozalynd offers pattern construction advice in two documents: Persian Pattern Layouts and Persian Underwear. These are class notes so they include extensive bibliographies and lots of pictures, but not all the detailed instructions on how to measure and construct the patterns.

Detail from ZIGUENERS (Gypsies) Part 1 of 2 . Flemish Tapestry probably from Tournai c1501-1525. Currently in the collection of Gaasbeek Castle, Belgium. [ “.Detail from ZIGUENERS (Gypsies) Part 1 of 2 . Flemish Tapestry probably from Tournai Currently in the collection of Gaasbeek Castle, Belgium.

 

 

 

 

 

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100 Days of A&S: Day 10 – Nougat, or Turron

I love nougat. To me, it is the quintessential food from the south of France. Therefore, I couldn’t wait to try a nougat recipe after the frustration of the meringues earlier this week.

Ib Rabin al-Tujibi, in Fadalat al-Khiwan, a 13th C Arabic cookbook (from La cuisine andalouse, un art de vivre XIe-IIIe siècle by Lucie Bolens) offers this recipe for turron blanc et tender:

On verse du bon miel dans un pot, a feu doux, tout en remuant avec une a cane a sucre ou une ferrule ayant a son extremite un revetement de cuivre. Quand il est bien chaud, on le retire du feu, tout en continuant a remuer, sans arreter jusqu’à ce que cela commence un s’epaissir. On verse ensuite quatre blancs d’oeufs pour chaque livre de miel et on bat pour un bon mélange. On remet sur feu doux, sans cesser de remuer jusqu’au debut de l’épaississement. On peut, si on veut, y verser des noix et des amandes pelees. (Rabin, number 380).

Put good honey in a pot, over low heat, stirring with a sugar cane or a rod coated with copper at one end. When it is good and hot, remove from fire, continuing to stir constantly, until it starts to thicken. Then add four egg whites for each pound of honey and beat until well mixed. Then return it to a low fire, stirring continuously until it starts to get thick. One can, if one wishes, add nuts and peeled almonds.

The Medieval Spanish Chef offers an Irresistible nougat recipe, which is what I used as the basis for my recipe. I didn’t have enough rose water to use the Spanish Chef’s recipe, but too much to simply halve it. I also didn’t have a candy thermometer, so I just eyeballed it.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 lb rose water
• 1 c egg whites (approximately 8 egg whites)
• 1/4 c powdered sugar
• 2/3 lb sugar
• 1/2 lb almonds

Mix together the rose water and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Let it boil for a few minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool a little. Meanwhile, line a cake pan (I used one that was about 7 x 13 x 2 inches) with aluminium foil. Coat the foil with oil and then sprinkle with the powdered sugar. Beat the egg whites until they form peaks (or until they are nice and airy, at least – I got tired of waiting for peaks). Add the sugar and rose water mixture a tablespoon full at a time to the beaten egg whites, while continuing to beat. When they are fully combined, keep beating for another five minutes. Return the mixture to the heat and reheat it while continuing to beat. When it’s nice and fluffy white again, add the almonds and stir quickly, then pour into the pan. Let the mixture sit for 24 hours before cutting into pieces.

 

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100 Days of A&S: Day 9 (tablet weaving)

I’m feeling very proud of myself. I successfully set up a new pattern – a simple 10 card design that turns continuously in the same direction – despite lots of “help” from my string-loving cat. This pattern is based on a find from Viking-age Oseberg. My only regret is that the patten is a little too subtle. I like the blue and yellow combination and think it will work well for the modest clothing appropriate to my station. However, the original was in silk and linen, which may have been brightly dyed for contrast as would have been appropriate for the high status of the person in the rich grave where the band was found.

You can see where I had the threading pattern wrong at the beginning, giving me rectangles instead of parallelograms. I fixed it so the last three repeats are correct and it should be fine going forward.

 

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100 Days of A&S: Day 8

Today was belly-dance class so I didn’t get home in time to do any serious A&S. I did do a little more research on the late-Merovingian/Carolingian antler salt holder I will be making for my White Wolf Fian project. You can see a picture of my model here: T shaped antler salt container. I will need to buy a big piece of antler. The largest in my collection is about half the size required to make this object, which is 15 cm in length.

I also spent some time considering options for how to close the ends. I think it would have been some sort of plug in antler, bone or wood, pegged into place. The smallest hole, at the bottom, may have had a smaller plug in the first, so that only a small amount of salt would pour out. I doubt that the plugs would be easily removed, although one would need to be removable in order to add more salt. A cover of leather might also be an option for the smallest hole, though I can’t quite decide how it would be attached to all those peg holes without letting the salt escape or get damp.Theoretically, metal might also be an option, but since this likely held salt, metal would corrode over time. I’m also considering ways to suspend this, as it was most likely worn hanging from a belt.

There are no obvious wear marks, no grooves, and no holes carved for suspension. Other examples do have them.

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100 Days of A&S: Day 7 (Medieval Dressage)

Medieval Dressage

Since I have my riding lesson tonight, I have decided that today’s 100 Days of A&S challenge is researching dressage.

The first thing I learned was that much of what we think of as dressage today is actually quite modern, but there are some elements that predate the Middle Ages, and others that appeared in the Renaissance. The best article I found on this was “A Brief Outline of the History of Dressage: Xenophon to Antoine de Pluvinel”, by Dr. Thomas Ritter (2009).[i]

The oldest written source that includes elements of classical dressage is a treatise by the Greek general Xenophon (430 – 354 BC). His On Horsemanship includes a few passages on the development of an animal for those riders wanting  “a showy, attractive animal, with a certain grandeur of bearing.” Xenophon insists that the rider has to win his horse’s friendship and willing cooperation. “For what the horse does under compulsion, as Simon (an earlier writer, whose work has been lost) also observes, is done without understanding; and there is no beauty in it either, any more than if one should whip and spur a dancer. There would be a great deal more ungracefulness than beauty in either a horse or a man that was so treated. No, he should show off all his finest and most brilliant performances willingly and at a mere sign.” He describes simple equitation (“It is a good thing also for a rider to accustom himself to keep a quiet seat, especially when mounted on a spirited horse.”), but also more advanced concepts of schooling, including collection and passage:

“What we want is a horse with supple loins… That is the horse who will be able to plant his hand legs well under the forearm. If while he is so planting his hindquarters, he is pulled up with the bit, he lowers his hind legs upon his hocks and raises the forepart of his body, so that any one in front of him will see the whole length of the belly to the sheath. At the moment the horse does this, the rider should give him the rein, so that he may display the noblest feats which a horse can perform of his own free will, to the satisfaction of the spectators.”[ii]

He gives instructions on seat, with legs quite straight and using the thighs to grip (riders did not use a saddle). The upper body above the hips should be as supple as possible. He then gives instructions on starting at the walk, then moving into a relaxed trot, the timing for giving a cue to canter on the left lead, and exercises such as the Volte (circles) to build suppleness in both sides of the horse. Riders are reminded that the horse must be collected (ie working from their hind ends) at the turns because it is safer and easier on the horse. The rider’s posture and even reins are noted as being key to having the horse steady, so neither horse nor rider fall. I get feedback on virtually all of these things at every lesson.

Xenophon’s approach to riding and training seems to have been largely forgotten until he was rediscovered in the Renaissance. On Horsemanship was published in Florence by the mid-16th century. The earliest known English edition was translated by John Astley and published by Henrie Denham in London in 1584.^[iii]

The next book on horsemanship was written by King Dom Duarte I (1391 – 1438) of Portugal. His little known book “Livro da ensinança de bem cavalgar toda sela” – The Instruction of the Art of Riding in Every Saddle – was published posthumously in 1438. Sadly, Dom Duarte wrote only seven out of sixteen planned “recommendations” for riders before he died of the plague.

More than a century passed after Dom Duarte’s death before the tradition of classical equitation was resumed. The economic, political, cultural and artistic center of Europe had moved to Italy during the 15th century. Aristocrats from all over Europe sent their sons to the academies in Naples, Rome, Ferrara, Florence, and Bologna that were set up to teach dance, fencing, and classical literature, as well as riding. Perhaps the most famous riding master of the time was Federigo Grisone who taught at the academy in Naples. His book “Gli ordini di Cavalcare (The Rules of Riding)” was published in 1550 and translated into most European languages. It was the first manual on manège riding, the ancestor of modern dressage. Grisone’s treatise and the riding masters trained at his riding academy in Naples, Italy, spread the practice of the art of manège riding to courts throughout Europe. ^[iv] Grisone’s book was translated into English by Thomas Blundeville in 1560; it was the first riding manual in English.^[v] Clear cues, keeping straight, and using circles, all show up in the translation of a few sections that I was able to find.^[vi]

Grisone, widely considered to be the founding father of classical equitation after the Middle Ages, already recognized the importance of the trot work for the training of the horse. The goal of the trot work, according to Grisone, is to make the horse straight and light, with a soft mouth and a good rein contact, which is the basis of his entire method. He wanted the rider to carry the rein hand low, and he emphasized the importance of connecting the base of the horse’s neck to his shoulders. This allows the rider to align the horse’s hips and shoulders. Grisone followed Xenophon in his emphasis of the importance of the horse’s correct posture and the rider’s correct and effective seat. Similarly to Xenophon, Grisone recommends training with gentleness and patience, but unlike the former, he condones excessively harsh punitive methods when the horse resists. He used harsh methods to subdue the horse, using severe spurring and harsh bits (of some of which he was the inventor). Other examples of his cruel methods include placing live hedgehogs under the animal’s tail, punishing a horse by placing a cat strapped to a pole under its belly, and forcing the horse’s head under water to the point of near-drowning if it showed any fear of crossing water.[vii]

Cesare Fiaschi, a contemporary of Federigo Grisone, founded a riding academy in Ferrara in 1534. His book “Trattato dell’imbrigliare, maneggiare e ferrare cavalli” (Treatise on bridling, training and shoeing horses) appeared in 1556. Fiaschi was the first author who mentioned the importance of a steady rhythm and tempo: “without tempo and rhythm nothing good can be accomplished”. [viii]Fiaschi wrote that “it seemed necessary that the good rider recognize the nature of the horses he wants to train” and that the rider “should always proceed with reason and with a good temperament in everything he does”, a point of view that is reminiscent of Xenophon’s philosophy. Fiaschi was also an authority on farriery and his book on the subject remained in use until the 19th century.[ix]

The next important authority who greatly influenced the course of dressage was Giambattista Pignatelli (c. 1525 – c. 1600). The Portuguese author Carlos Manoel de Andrade (1790) credits him with discovering the gymnastic value of riding circles on a single track. The work on circles of various sizes is the centerpiece of bending the horse in motion, which helps to unlock the horse’s abdominal muscles. It also plays an important role in developing straightness, as well as equal suppleness in both directions, and the engagement of the inside hind leg underneath the body mass. [x]

One of Pignatelli’s most famous students was the French écuyer ordinaire de la Grande Écurie du roi, Salomon de la Broue (c. 1530 – c. 1610). De la Broue was concerned about protecting the horse’s mouth and started the training of his horses with a snaffle bit. He is the first author who mentions flexions of the neck and poll. De la Broue believed that the lightness of the horse’s mouth has to come from the overall posture and steady rein contact with a vertical head position.  The right level of even contact in the mouth allows the horse to balance evenly on all four legs and keep straight.

The last, and possibly greatest, of the Renaissance horsemen was Antoine de Pluvinel (1555 – 1620). Pluvinel studied under Pignatelli from the age of 10 until he was about 16. In 1594, Pluvinel founded the Académie d’équitation, which was located close to the French royal stables. His treatise on riding was published in 1623 under the title “Le Maneige royal”. A second version, with an improved text, entitled “L’Instruction du Roy en l’exercice de monter à cheval” appeared in 1625. Today, Pluvinel is probably most famous and admired for his emphasis of treating the horse as an intelligent being and teaching it with kindness and gentleness. The following quotes illustrate his philosophy: “But in so far as the perfection of an art lies in the knowledge of how to begin it, I am very well advised in this regard, to teach the horse his first lessons, since he finds them the most difficult, in searching for a way in which to work his brain, rather than his thighs and shanks, while being careful not to annoy him, if possible, and not to rob him of his gentleness: since it is to the horse as the blossom is to the fruit, which, once withered, never returns.”

“I concentrate mainly on exercising his mind and his memory, in such a way that I achieve what I want: so that it is the horse’s mind which I work the most: the mind of the rider must work perpetually as well, in order to detect all kinds of opportunities to arrive at my goal, without letting any movement pass unnoticed, nor any opportunity unused.”

“If possible, one must be sparing with punishment and lavish with caresses, as I have already said, and I will say it again, in order to make the horse obey and go out of pleasure rather than discomfort.”[xi]

Beside his rather modern sounding training philosophy, Pluvinel also advanced the technical, gymnastic side of training over his predecessors. In order to supple the horse more effectively, he worked on two tracks, rode voltes, as well as turns on the forehand in motion and passades around a single pillar. He is also said to have invented the work between two pillars, which is a highly effective tool for suppling the hips laterally, flexing the haunches longitudinally, and for developing the piaffe as well as the levade. These are all moves that have me looking at YouTube instructional videos, as this is a level of dressage I will never achieve on my little horse. That leaves aside the even more complex moves that came later, and are largely seen only at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna today.

Here I am on my girl Fancy at the end of the lesson. Tonight we worked on exercises to ensure a steady contact with her bit, collection, and clear commands so that she would respond eagerly and consistently. Xenophon would have been proud.

Facsimiles and other Sources:

https://archive.org/details/artofhorsemanshi00xeno (full text of the 1893 edition with notes by Morris H. Morgan)

http://www.alvarenga.net/lealconselheiro.pdf (excerpts in modern Portuguese and a facsimile copy in older Portuguese of the full text copied from a manuscript and published in 1843).

http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/history-spanish-riding-school-vienna

Endnotes

[i] http://www.artisticdressage.com/articles/history1_p.html

[ii] http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/xenophon-forefather-dressage

[iii] http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/xenophon-forefather-dressage

[iv] https://networks.h-net.org/node/28086/pdf

[v] https://alchetron.com/Federico-Grisone-2582712-W

[vi] http://www.artisticdressage.com/blundeville-quotes.html

[vii] https://alchetron.com/Federico-Grisone-2582712-W

[viii] http://www.artisticdressage.com/articles/history1_p.html

[ix] http://www.artisticdressage.com/articles/history1_p.html

[x] http://www.artisticdressage.com/articles/history1_p.html

[xi] http://www.artisticdressage.com/articles/history1_p.html

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Apron Dress

I had planned to write about this quite some time ago. This is a dress that I made for the elevation of my apprentice Eluned, back in February. I wanted to experiment with a slightly more fitted style and lots of gores. I had some leftover pieces from making a panova (Russian skirt – I still need to write up that project too) last year. I didn’t have quite enough to have the nap work all one way, or even enough to make all the large sections without piecing, so I took a very medieval approach of not wasting fabric.

At the top of this, you can see a tiny bit of trim. It was my first attempt to make a tablet-woven belt. I messed it up so badly that I had to cut it off my loom, but there was just enough to stitch as decoration between my brooches. Waste not, want not.

 

This shows how the nap is different between the gores and the main body. When worn, it doesn’t show too much, so I’m happy.

Here you can see how I needed to piece one back section. Again, the nap is a little wonky.

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