Thoughts on breastfeeding in medieval kit and bump support while pregnant: solving the leeking boob issue

I was talking to a friend of mine on the phone last night I was telling him about the ideas I've had for Kit and Caboodle. During this conversation I came up with the idea of making the plastron/stomacher for the bump into a bump support, similar to the ones you can get out of jersey to support your bump during pregnancy. I've had an idea that uses elastic as well as an idea that uses all natural fabrics. I've managed to get them down in my notebook this morning, plus drawings (when the scanner is working I shall copy them and post them up here.)

I've also managed to get the variations of breastfeeding shifts down. I've got three so far. I'm meeting a fellow re-enacting Mum this afternoon; we're taking the children to the park for a picnic, so I' shall run them past her and see if we come up with anything else.

I'm rather enjoying getting my ideas drawn and written down on paper. The next step will be to make toiles for fit and then make mock-ups/ trial runs. I think I'll have to size them by breast size as well as height.

Playing around

I've been playing around with the layout. I hope you like!

Speaking of playing around I've been helping a friend with her husband's hose for the past couple of weeks. We've made a new pair (almost finished bar the bod piece and point holes) plus I've repatched the two old pair and darned them. I think when I have time I'm going to have to borrow a camera (found mine then smallest one broke it) and show people how to darn wool cloth properly!

I've started a note book for the craft ideas and I've bought the yarn for a tickle spider.

Right, I'm off to bed. Speak soon! Cx

medieval kit, pregnancy and breast feeding

I recently started a group on facebook called re-enactment babies:
 https://www.facebook.com/groups/417762901587073/418526614844035/?notif_t=group_activity
 It's for friends who have kids and other members of the re-enactment crowd

We've got quite a few new Mums in the group asking about breastfeeding. I breast fed Bella but finding contemporary evidence was hard. I'm not massively well endowed and was able to lift mine over the neck line of my shift to feed Bella. However some of the new Mums are extremely buxom and it's proving challenging.

Not the most flattering picture of me but you can
see that my kirtle isn't massively low cut;
my shift comes just below the neckline of my kirtle.

You can see on this also not flattering picture how high my shift
comes as it's the white just above the burgundy on the neckline

This has inspired me. I've come up with some thoughts for expecting Mums and breastfeeding Mums. One friend said she'd got contemporary evidence for shifts with splits in, so I've asked for the evidence. But I thought why not make plastrons to fit inside the opening of a front fastening kirtle with extra long laces. That's what I had to do while pregnant and it meant little alteration to kit. A side fastening over kirtle I have evidence for, and the lacing on that could be loosened off  as the bump expands.

I'm front row right in orange, less than two months off having Bella. Although my kirtle fit on my chest my bump was massive, so I made a white wool plasteron to cover the gap. Looking at this picture, maybe I should have used a better colour, or even some spare fabric left over from the kirtle (though I didn't have any for this particular one)

Back home with inspiration

I am back from London feeling rested (mentally) though tired (physically). I had a fabulous time with two of my best and closest friends. We didn't go anywhere apart from Ella's house but we did needle crafting and I finished my knitting.

Ella is my best friend and fellow crafter. While we were there I introduced her to needle felting. She's hooked (excuse the pun)  Ella is a fabulous crafter and theatre designer (wardrobe and props) and costume maker.

http://ellabellew.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/#!/bellewcostumes
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/bellewcostumes

 

Ella has made the most awesome quilt cover I think I've ever seen. It's made from her partners old T-shirts. He has a passion for T-shirts with funny, witty or cool designs on. He wasn't wearing them any more so she up-cycled them. I challenge anyone to walk through his "Man-cave" and not stop to read the quilt, which is covering his sofa. 

My awesome Maid of Honour, Ella, Left and Benji, also known as Jen on the right.
Ella made the bridesmaids hats for our wedding

Ella's house is amazing. She's so eclectic. It's got steamlings, fairies, gnomes, a dessicated rat, bats, old toys, Dr.Who memorabilia, Harry Potter memorabilia, pretty ornaments and random stuff everywhere. There is a large rubber snake under their bath and a gong on the wall in there, and a full size skeleton in shirt and tie in their dining room. But as it's Ella's home, it just works and suits her perfectly. 

She's helped me clear my head and come up with some great new ideas. Though I'm not sure how popular a tortoise cosy will become! (She wants me to knit one for her tortoise!)

Well I didn't make it up to the castle yesterday as Bella and I spent the afternoon in Mum's back garden. I haven't had such a chilled afternoon for ages!

So last night I was in fine fettle for going round to see my friend Lindsay to help make her husband's hose. We're making joined Fifteenth Century Hose. We'd already done the body block and cut out the wool. Last night we did the lining and fittings. He might have new hose by the end of April! We have to join the lining and the outer together and put the gusset in, followed by point holes to point it to the doublet.

Pete, my beloved husband (and king numpty as he spend the entirety of last night playing Angry Birds) needs a new pair of hose for the weekend. I'm away tomorrow and Wednesday, I'm off to London to spend time with two of my best friends. Pete needs to be in Leeds for Good Friday. That doesn't really leave me any time to make them. I'm good, but I'm not that good!

Thinking and pondering

It seems I've caught the blogging bug! Smallest (Bella) and Biggest (Pete) are asleep having naps as we've had another restless night. However, as it was my turn to stay in bed this morning and they were a noisy pair it's given me time to think and ponder. I've come up with the following ideas:

• steampunk: knitted fingerless mittens with cogs woven in. My fab book on knitting has some gorgeous lacy knits in it and I thought they would be rather fab.
• knitted wire. Nothing new here but would be fab if I can give it a steampunk twist. A knitted brass wire hat would be fab!
• knitted medieval hats: I've got to spin the wool first, and for as much authenticity as possible I should spin our rare breed  fleece on my drop spindle as it spins differently to on a wheel. I want to make Pete one first. I'll need wooden double ended needles that are rather fine as it seems from the research I've done the knitting was very fine. I then need to wet felt/full the hat once it's done. I want to try doing a "henin" (the one that looks like an upturned flowerpot) and see if that works as it would stay on my head a lot better!
• mobiles based on nursery rhymes: in multi-media, so knitted, crochet, felted and sewn. I got a needle felting kit for Christmas that I haven't used a massive amount as I caught the knitting bug (plus it's easier to knit when Bella is up, I don't trust her around a felting needle!)
• Pete came up with an idea for the tickle spider, that is add three legs that are joined to the thumb. Only trouble is I'd have to add at least the base of the fingers on the glove. I think having the legs separate from the fingers gives more ease of movement. I could do different bugs too and make hats to go with them!

Stafford Castle as seen from Doxey Marshes, just over the road.
I'd have almost this view from my bedroom except a tree has grown in the way!

View from the castle on a clear day across to the Wrekin near Telford, Shropshire.

My favourite view of the castle, seen from Billington Bank to the west of Stafford.
You can see the traffic on the M6 Motorway, you can see the castle from there, but it is a blink and you'll miss it if you don't know what you're looking for.
My Nan lived in Haughton,, a village about 4miles outside Stafford, for many years and this was the view on the way home.
The street lights on Castle Bank would look like a Swan's neck at night and the castle would be basking in a faint golden glow.
Growing up next to this it's no wonder I ended up being passionate about history and becoming a re-enactor!

I'm off to see my parents today and as it's a wonderful day I may, if we have time, go up the castle. It's  an amazing place and I'm so lucky to have grown up next to it. It's given me so much inspiration and let me day dream as well as enjoy the nature up there over the years. It's one of my favourite places. The weather is gorgeous today so we might be able to see past Telford and the Wrekin across to Welshpool and the surrounding hills. You can just about see Birmingham when it's this clear and up to Leek as well. If it's hazy we can have a nose at the reconstruction of the castle walls. Last time we went up there were stone masons there mending the walls as they had started to become a potential hazard. I may get some more ideas while we're up there, whether it's from the seclusion of the wood, the amazing vistas or the warmth of the sun is anyone's guess, but I always leave there feeling calm and rejuvenated.

Craft ideas and some of the things I've made

I've been thinking for a while about setting up a small business making medieval clothing. I did start a while back with the name "CW clothing" but my depression and anxiety got in the way and I ended up putting it on hold. I've made medieval clothing for friends and partners, as well as taught classes. I'd like to find a way to do it that no-one else does at the moment. I've got good friends who make 'kit' and I don't want to stand on anyone's toes, especially as the people I'm friends with are very good at what they do.

Bella and I in kit, Stafford Castle September 2011
I made everything Bella and I are wearing with the exceptions of my belt and shoes and Bella's drinking pot

Bella on a medieval wheelbarrow, Stafford Castle September 2011

I'm the one on the right, Spinning. I made everything I'm wearing except the leather belt, though I did alter it.
The tablet weaving lomb on the table is mine. Barley Hall 2009

Necklace I made for a friend for her wedding. It's made from freshwater pearls and semi-precious stones and based on the necklace worn by the child in the below picture
(Sts Margaret and Mary Magdalene with Maria Portinari (detail) 1476-79 Oil on wood Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence: By Hugh van Der Goes)

I made the kit worn by the lady on the right and the doublet and hat on the left

However, since having Bella, I've noticed that apart from Sarah Thursfield's patterns, there isn't a lot out there for children. People tend to make their own children's clothes, and maybe they'll be passed on within a re-enactment group, but there's no-where to buy them off the peg. So Pete and I thought about maybe making them ourselves, to sell. I've got enough sewing experience and have done a lot of research, especially with having Bella. I've thought of ways to adapt the clothes to make them last longer (and it does help if you don't do what I did and forget to wash the wool cloth before using it so it shrinks the first time it needs washing!)

Me, with only a couple of months to go, and Pete at the Warwick Castle Easter even 2010.
I made the clothes I'm wearing and helped Pete with the doublet he's wearing.

Front view of my gown. You can see my kirtle underneath. Uttoxeter 2009

Pete, Bella and I are on the left of the Tardis.
Apart from Pete's hose and straw hat I made or help make everything the three of us are wearing.
Most of us inour re-enactment group or DrWho fans or Whovians, so this was a must. Avoncroft Musuem, 2010

We've thought about schemes where if you've got a baby who is growing at a vast rate of knots you can put a deposit down and get the next size up at a reduced rate (this came about when I had to make Bella a couple of sets of kit for a single season as she grew so quickly!). There's already a scheme with a shoe maker, so why not with clothes as well? We've even thought of doing a couple of price ranges: one where it's all machine made, one where it's hand finished, and one where it's completely hand sewn.

I made this dress for a 70's night we had at Blore Heath Farm Event in 2009.
I didn't know I was pregnant at the time. The children belong to friends!
I had bought thte fabric but hadn't used it for a long time, but it spoke MAXI DRESS to me.
It was made without a pattern and inspired by  the character Margo from the BBC series the Good Life and my Mum. I was able to wear this for our engagement party while heavily pregnant 7 months later! I was pregnant when this was taken, but I didn't find out until the following Thursday!

Our re-enactment group, The Clarence Household at Warwick Castle Easter event 2011.
I made the blue doublet three in from the left on the back row. Made the clothes under the livery coat (but not the hat, on the chap sixth in from the left on the middle row, have assisted the lady in green on the front sitting row on the left and helped/instructed on body blocks for the two chaps in the centre on the same row. I've helped the lass in the purple hood with the blue gown she's wearing and made a body block for the lass in pale pink sitting on the floor.... and that's just in our group!

We've already got the fabric and I've got the time now I'm not working. We've considered selling from etsy to start with and the Living History Forum, before we try out a fair or market. We think there is a market out there, it's just tapping into it. The biggest thing though is finding a name! We need one that will apply to other era's when we get to the stage where we can start to expand. We also need a name that will relate to both boys and girls clothes.

An LRP mock medieval gown I made for some friends

Me in some LRP mock medieval gear

a maids outfit I knocked up in a week for a Rocky Horror Picture Show Theatre trip

Some of my closet goth wear! The picture doesn't do it justice

From this I also want to make clothing for children for themed weddings. We had a themed wedding last year. We went with Steampunk as we had friends who do LRP and who just love dressing up as well as re-enact. We didn't want to do medieval as we do that anyway and as a closet Goth and lover of the Victorian and Edwardian eras it appeals greatly. When I mentioned it to Pete he was delighted! The only problem was the flowergirls dresses (the bridesmaids we had made bespoke by our friend Jane Ramsey, (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Janes-Wardrobe/90480871633) who has experiance with Steampunk as well as tailor made historical dress (She also made Pete's outfit) I wanted something for our flowergirls  that was something akin to Alice's dress in the original Alice in Wonderland illustrations. As my Mum was helping we ended up with the following (it took us an age to get her to agree on anything as well as to come to terms with having the wedding themed. At the end of the day though Mum and Dad said it was one of the best and most enjoyable weddings they'd ever been to. Yay!) So to make sure people get what they want, I thought it would be good to do an on request service for anything historical or themed.

My fabulous neices, Holly, Emma, Grace and Ellie, in shop-bought cardies, but home-made dresses and bags.

My wonderful nephew Harry. He didn't have a specific role in the wedding so I made him a waistcoat out of the silk
left over from Pete's waistcoat and Bella's christening Gown.

Pete wants to look at doing something with fleece, especially rare British breeds. It would be great to be able to source, spin and weave the fleece, or at least be able to pass it on to others who would spin or weave it. We've got contacts already, it's just finding out where to start! And being sure of the market, which we're not at the moment. We've got a name: Cloven Hoof, as we could then deal with Alpaca as well as sheep fleece. We want to promote the British Wool industry as well as provide historically correct fleece to re-enactors and historians.

The last craft idea I've got is, well it's ideas really. I've recently caught the knitting bug and want to make things to sell. I've found some books on how to knit flowers, birds, leaves etc. and thought about knitting stuff for kids and babies; things like mobiles and cot blankets. I've also had a brilliant idea for a tickle spider; basically a fingerless glove/mitten with a knitted/crafted spider on the back in fun bright colours. That way the spider is less scary and it enables the person wearing it to tickle their child. I already do the tickle spider with Bella (Inspired by incy wincy and by round and round the garden nursery rhymes) and thought a puppet type glove would work well. Something for me to ponder on anyway.


Well I think two blogs is enough to start with and my wrists are beginning to hurt as I've not typed this much in one go for a while! At least it's got my ideas down. Time for tea and toast (and probably a dose of  game playing on Facebook) before bed.

 PS: Going through the pictures to find stuff I've made has made me realise I've got very few pictures of things I've made! I've made frock coats, a cardinal's outfit, various bits for LRP including tabards to a firebird type outfit. I've made various necklaces based on originals and medieval kit until it's coming out of my ears as well as fancy dress outfits. It's made me realise I really need to take pictures of things I make! Hopefully now I have this blog that will change!

Hi!
I'm Catherine Sears alias CraftyWench/MedievalCraftyWench or HecatesCat.

I'm a child of the early 70's, married (managed one year so far!) and have a gorgeous and wonderful daughter who will be two in May and is the apple of my eye. I've recently given up my work in counselling and am looking to work from home doing crafty things.

Pete. Isabella and I walking down the aisle at St.Mary's Church, Stafford. from our wedding to Bella's Christening.
We had a steampunk themed wedding and had a fabulous day

I've been making and sewing things for as long as I can remember. My Mum knitted and sewed for us (I have  younger brother) as children and I copied from fairly early on. I can remember remaking dolls clothes and still have my first try at cross stitch!

My brother and I with his dog Poppy (who unfortunately recently passed away)
This was taken at Stafford Castle, for my parents Christmas present)

In 1992 I started doing Medieval re-enactment and I can't believe it's 20 years this year! I literally started the week I finished school and haven't looked back. Although the small person is currently restricting attendance, it's something I love. My passion for sewing has led me down the route of Fifteenth Century Fashion and I'm lucky enough to be good friends with Sarah Thursfield who wrote the Medieval Tailor's Assistant (the re-enactors bible when it comes to clothing). I've worked with her on projects for museums, been to her classes, helped with classes and researched for her. I wouldn't be as accomplished (and I still have a lot to learn) as I am now if it wasn't for her.

This is our Medieval Group, the Clarence Household. Pete and I are the ones in Orange on the far right. I'm rather heavily pregnant.
I've just realised it's the same kirtle as the one I'm wearing in the picture below!

Sarah's sister Ruth Gilbert, has been a massive inspiration to me over the past couple of years as I've got to know her. Ruth has recently got her M.Phil in knitting, I believe the first in the UK! She has helped me with my drop-spinning (Spinning with a drop spindle) and encouraged me when it comes to textiles. She is an amazing knitter and weaver and one of these days I'm going to borrow her for a week!

This is me learning to spin at a market with Ruth and Sarah.
I'm in kit, though I don't wear the masses of stuff from my belt any more.
I am actually enjoying what I'm doing, I'm just frowning because I'm concentrating!

While I was pregnant with my daughter I started to crochet. I'd done a little  (I've managed a hat) before and my fabulous friend Kellie Sweeney helped me to learn (Kellie spins, knits, dyes and sews. She's a member of her local spinner, weavers and dyers guild and a fount of knowledge) and I managed a baby blanket.

This Christmas my Mum gave me some knitting needles and my lovely husband, Pete bought me a book on different knitting techniques and stitches. I'm slowly working my way through the easy ones so far, and I'm loving it. I'm making squares and they are going into a blanket as I finish each one. My wonderful Mother-in-law, Joan, has helped me enormously. She is very encouraging and has helped me when I've got stuck. I've recently started going to a  knitting and crochet group at a local cafe and cake shop called the cupcake queen. They are absolutely lovely and very inspiring

I decided to start this blog as a place to write and talk about inspiration, what motivates me and what my ideas are. At the moment my lovely husband Pete and I are both out of work, mostly for health reasons. Pete has a passion for cloth (wool fabric that is) and helps, voluntarily, our friend Lindy on her market stall, the Cloth Hall, selling cloth. He's become incredibly interested in sheep and the differences in fleeces. We've recently found a fabulous place where alpaca and a couple of rare breed sheep fleece is easily available. Unfortunately it's in Lancashire and we're in Staffordshire, but on the other hand it's a five minute drive from his parent's home. So oh dear, another trip to the see the In-Laws (who I adore) what a shame! Kellie has offered to lend me a spinning wheel so I don't have to drop spin everything and who knows, we might actually manage to spin the fleeces we have in the loft! I say we as Pete wants to learn too.

I want to do more sewing, knitting and crocheting. I want to make medieval (fifteenth century) children's clothes and try selling them, as well as make bespoke medieval clothes. I'm hoping the childrens stuff we can expand to other era's and periods eventually, but only with much research as we want to make things as accurately as possible for a reasonable price.

Bella in her medieval kit, Stafford Castle, September 2011
I handsewed her linen shirt and kirtle, which is wool and fully lined in linen. She's also wearing handsewn breeches underneath
Her shoes are hand sewn and made from an old Beaverlamb coat.
I tablet wove her belt in linen from the Mulberry Dyer and fingerbraided her cord.
Her drinking vessel/pot is from Jim the Pot at Trinity Court Potters

I'm hoping to update this blog a couple of times a week, so please bare with me as I'm rather new to all this!