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!