Super easy facings for tunics

Super easy facings for tunics
March 10, 2019

Start with a grid-marked quilting template, 12 inches by 18 inches.

Find your favorite neck-hole; if you've been making garb for a while, you might have one of these in your sewing kit. If you don't you can just copy mine based on the measurements. This is a good size for my partner with an 18 1/2 inch collar size; and for me wearing a women's size 22 plus.

The hole is your STITCHING LINE, not your cutting line. If you have a favorite neck hole, trace it and add seam allowance. Note that the hole is located 4.5 inches down from the top edge, and the shoulder line is offset by about an inch front-to-back.

NOTE: If you're confused about why the neck isn't centered, lay out a t-shirt. You'll see more of the hole is in front of the shoulder seam, instead of being equal front-to-back.

I've cut narrow slits in my template where I mark out shoulder seams, plus center front and center back. You can spot the slit right below the label "shoulder line". Trace the marks with chalk or slivers of soap (I like soap because it washes out, but doesn't brush off as fast during sewing).

I cut my facings at 12" x 18".  If you want a keyhole facing instead, you can add 2.5 inches from the edge of the circle and down the slit.


On the garment, sew your shoulder seam together, but don't sew the rest of the body together yet. It's much easier to do this when it's flat. Iron and finish your shoulder seam. (Practice making these facings with a few scrap pieces of fabric first. Sew two pieces together to make an imaginary shoulder seam, and then sew a practice facing to it.)

Carefully line up the shoulder seams to your chalk marks, and make sure to center the facing left to right. If you put it on the right side of your fabric, it will not be seen when you're finished.

Pay extra attention that the center slit is straight on the grain of the body-side of the garment. Sometimes I pin right down the line to see if it looks straight when I flip it over, then go back and pin across.

USE YOUR PINS.

Stitch on the circle. At the center front slit, stitch an eighth of an inch away from the line. Turn and make two right angles at the bottom, not a V.

Does your circle look wonky?  Does your neck slit look straight on the other side of your sewing? You can fix it now, before you cut your fabric. That's what makes this super easy, because you're not sewing two curved and cut edges to each other. You're sewing two flat pieces of fabric together.

Cut the neck out, leaving a seam allowance. You can see that my edges along the rectangle are already turned on my facing. Sewing the facing and garment right-sides-together puts your facing on the inside of the garment (hidden).

Cut the center slit. In the corners at the bottom, cut into each corner, but don't cut through the thread.

Cut notches across the corners. Clip into the seam allowance around the circle, but don't cut the thread.

Start turning the facing towards the middle

Tuck all the parts through, turning out the corners carefully. In this example, the camel-colored wool is the right side of the fabric, and the facing won't be seen. If you want to know why the body panel is so narrow, check out my pattern for general 11th century tunics across Europe and the Middle East.
It's linked from the front page at idlelion.net.

Flipped through so the seams are all on the inside.

Ironed to within an inch of its life. I'm an advocate that pressing your seams while you sew is what makes your clothes looks neat and well-made. Turn off the steam while you're doing this. You can still blast the steam with the button when you want it, but you're less likely to burn your fingers doing the futsy stuff if your steam is off.

This facing will be stitched around the edges by hand so it's not visible when it's done. In this case I'm adding a linen facing to a wool tunic.

Tunic for an Elevation in the Norse Style: Material Culture 30: A&S50 Challenge

Tunic for an Elevation in the Norse Style: Material Culture 30: A&S50 Challenge
Orchestrated by Baroness Samia
Completed by Dame Marwen's Super Team
Julia May

At Twelfth Night 2015, Baron Viði was placed on vigil for the Order of the Pelican. His wife, Dame Marwen, began coordinating efforts for his sitting in state, and the ceremony of his elevation. Many efforts were abuzzz, headed by many able people. Several additional sets of hands were made available to assist on these projects.

We began with the image of King Cnut, in the lower right corner. 

King Cnut and Queen Emma presenting a cross to the altar of New Minster, Winchester, Stowe 944, f. 6. British Library, London. See more at: http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2011/06/the-new-minster-liber-vitae.html#sthash.uat0Bdzq.dpuf

And used a tunic pattern which Viði found to be comfortable already. This style is one of my favorites because it is well suited to luxury-sized people. The center panel is not as wide as the shoulders, therefore it's not slumping down the arm as though the wearer is "dressed in dad's clothes". It also allows for a better fit around the upper torso, providing greater ease of movement (as a side note, this same pattern appears in the Middle East during this same time period). Many times the tunics are seen with sleeves too long for the arm and ruched at the wrist. Viði's preference was a tunic with standard-length sleeves for his comfort.

Norse tunic pattern. http://simbelmyne.us/sca/court/norse-tunic-pattern.htm

We used a silk-wool twill for the body of the garment. Mistress Cassandra provided the brocade for the facing, and we selected two silk taffeta fabrics to use as the accents. Finally, blue silk Trebizond, garnets, and pearls were used for details.

Vidi heralded by Lady Ejya who composed a Norse poem to celebration the occasion, and flanked by the archery community. He is wearing a belt made by Dame Marwen, Norse pants made by Lord Njall, and shoes made by Master Hrodir.

The shape of the facing and the additional adornment was informed by the 11th century manuscript "'The Arundel Psalter". British Library, Ms Arundel 155, Fol. 93r. Detail.

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=5

In all, many hands were utilized in completing this outfit. Baroness Amalia, Baroness Ellen, Duchess Anne, Honorable Lady Una, Lady Ulricka, Mistress Gunnora, Lord Njall, Maaster Hrodir, Dame Marwen, Dame Siobhan, Mistress Cassandra, Baroness Eruiaut, Baroness Ekatrina, Countess Guinevere, and more.

Coronation Tunic for King Hrodir III: Material Culture 31: A&S50 Challenge

Coronation Tunic for King Hrodir III: Material Culture 31: A&S50 Challenge
Orchestrated by Sayyeda al-Kaslaania
Completed by House Wortham and friends
Julia May

King Hrodir III and Queen Anne II of Northshield

In preparation for his Coronation, when Hrodir was asked what clothing inspired him, he pointed to the Coronation tunic of King Roger II of Sicily.

Blue Tunicella (Dalmatica). Palermo, 2nd quarter of the 12th century. Blue and red velvet, gold embroidery, gold appliqués with cloisonné enamel and filligree, pearls; l. 141,5 cm, 343 cm wide at hem. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum http://www.khm.at/Archiv/Ausstellungen/nobiles/en/02/main.html

I enlisted the help of Baroness Deja, Mistress Ainsleigh, Mistress Gunnora, and Lady Niamh to determine the best resources for copying the adornment. We quickly determined how to do it, and that it would take hundreds of hours more than we had.

Instead, we looked to our stashes of fabric to see what would suit a King, and consulted the Queen's Royal Clothier, Mistress Cassandra, on the colors she was choosing for Queen Anne.

We settled on the silk brocade as primary ornamentation which would be used for both, and selected colors to coordinate. The black is a velvet brocade provided by Baroness Deja. The tan silk-wool twill (bottom of the picture) was in my collection.

I used my favorite tunic pattern (opens a .pdf) to make the garment. This pattern is great for prosperous men because the center body panel is narrower than the shoulder width. The shoulders don't slump down arms with the pattern, allowing a neater fit and great ease of movement. The pattern was used throughout Europe and the Middle East in the Middle Ages.

While the Honorable Lady Lyneya was tablet weaving the alpaca/silk trim for the neck line, I started making the tunic. Functioning by rote, I made the facing wrong. Thankfully I had enough fabric that I could make a new one!

The original tunic has an offset neck opening.

Meanwhile, many artisans started working on adding pearls to the brocade pieces. We finished each section of brocade individually, then appliqued the final pieces to the garment. This allowed several people to be working on the pearling at their own homes all at the same time.

Mistress Gunnora and Lady Niamh worked out the design for the cuffs. Baroness Ellen and I worked out the design for the sleeves. Mistress Cassandra provided the enameled "coins" in the sleeves.

Together, dozens of hours were put into this garment. Baroness Ellen, Baroness Deja, Lady Niamh, Dame Siobhan, Dame Marwen, Dame Medb, Baroness Khadijah, Baroness Amalia, Baroness Ekaterina, Lady Ulricka, Lord Oswald, Sayyeda Samia, and others all laid pearls and jet beads in little rows for hours. We created garb fit for a King.

Prince Hrodir III, claiming his right to the throne of Northshield

a Recreation of an Ayyubid Women's Face Veil Cairo: 1171-1250: Materal Culture 27: A&S50 Challenge

a Recreation of a possible Ayyubid Women's Face Veil Cairo:A Recreation: 1171-1250
Recreation by Julia May
Photos by Chris Schumann
Revised September 2018


The paper describes the possible recreation of Middle Eastern headgear from the Middle Ages which is suitable for a wealthy woman to wear while attending ceremony in an urban public venue.

Figure 1 Ms C 23, Maqāmāt al-Hariri, detail. St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies. Dated 1225-1235. Note: woman in buraq, upper left.

More than half of a Cairene Jewish woman’s trousseau consisted of head gear in the eleventh century [1]. The Scholar Yedida Stillman suggest that similar experiences has would be had by Islamic and Christian women of the same time period and location. [1.1]

Despite many extant images of women; and many extant written accounts of garments, researchers today cannot discuss with certainty the connection between the named garments and the depicted garments. Even pioneering work such as Stillman’s analysis of scores of trousseaux does not provide the details that a re-enactor looks for [2].  For the purposes of communication, I have used the speculative names for garments that other researchers have agreed upon.

The most prominent feature of this headgear set is a full face veil, likely in the style of the medieval burqa. Today’s garment bearing the same name is very different from its medieval counterparts. It does, however, serve the same purpose: concealing an adult woman’s face.

I chose to make several pieces for this face veil ensemble, include a kerchief and a head veil. The attempted recreations are matched intentionally, as headgear garments in trousseau lists are commonly listed as matched and coordinated. Overall, garment ensembles could consist of up to 15 matched pieces [3].


Full face veil— burqa, to conceal the face

Figure 2 Extant face veil, Eastwood.

My re-creation goal was concealing the identity of the model so she could attend a public ceremony (SCA court) but without heat-stroking during the summer. The probable-burqa style was chosen over other faceveils because its narrow shape permits breezes to get by.

Recreated burqa

   
During the Middle Ages, it is believed that the burqa was as wide as the face. [3.1] Based on extant finds and extant images, it is made in two pieces, upper and lower, connected in three places: at the bridge of the nose, and outside each of the eyes. Along the nose there is a ridge seam created to shape the garment to the face. In the two extant garments, the upper and lower pieces of fabric are touching each other; however, period images do not always portraying this same proximity [4].

The extant garments are unfinished, both in the same way as each other [5]. Despite this, I chose to finish the whole length of the veil and make it shorter for a few reasons. First, both of the veils were coarsely made overall; they may have belonged to poor women who did not have time or inclination to complete the garments.

Second, my garment will typically be worn so that the hem is visible, whereas the existing garments are believed to always be concealed beneath a large overwrap [6]. These two garments (the burqa and the overwrap) went hand-in-hand during the Middle Ages. In the modern context of the SCA, women generally do not wear the body-concealing overwraps while out-of-doors. Women in the SCA spend more time out-of-doors than wealthy women are described as having done in the Middle Ages.

Third, Vogelsang-Eastwood describes this garment as sometimes being decorated with beads, coins, chains, shells and so forth [7]. Having worn other face veils of my own construction, I believe that this sort of adornment would help to keep the veil under control while walking or standing in a breezy area, functioning like the weighted hems on draperies. I believe the added weight is an alternative to the additional length, which would provide the same function.

Kerchief—mandīl, foundation headwear


According to trousseaux records, most women had several head-kerchiefs, called manadīl (singular mandīl), in their head-gear collections [8]. It is described as one of the foundation garments available for head-gear, and often served as the foundation for men’s turbans as well. This kerchief type of mandīl protected the other head-gear from the oils of the hair and skin. Another option for a base-garment would be a skullcap. I selected the mandīl for the flexibility of passing it along to another person to wear in the SCA. In the Middle Ages, the word “mandīl” is also used for a number of napkin- and towel-like objects; some are garments, others are household linens [9].

To wear the re-creation of it, this is folded into a triangle and tied around the hair-line with a double knot at the base of the neck.

I make little braids (antenna braids, located about where a Martian's antenna are) to have a stronger foundation for pining veils into place. The mandil is about the size of a modern kerchief.

Veil—Bukhnuq, to conceal the hair

The description of this veil occurs in a woman’s trousseau as a garment “whose primary purpose is the cover the neck.” In my speculation, this garment was triangular because a triangular shape would allow the garment to “covers the head, [go] down along the cheeks under the chin, and falls over the shoulders” as is described in Stillman’s research. It would remain a comfortable, tug-free neck covering when “the two ends might be brought again over the head and there attached [10].” This could be achieved with little waste by cutting a rectangle crosswise and sewing the two short ends together.

Figure 3 Suggested design of the bukhnuq.

My re-creation of wearing the ensemble:Two small standard braids (not French-style) are made at the crown of the head. The hair is gathered into a pony tail, braid, or bun and secured. The re-creation mandīl is tied around the head. The burqa is tied around the head so that the eyes are exposed. Finally the re-creation bukhnuq is draped over all, with pins securing it to the little braids at the crown of the head.

The bukhnuq pinned to the antenna braids, and wrapped with the two ends over the head.

Fabric Choice for Headwear

Many trousseaux survive from this period and give us a snapshot of women’s wardrobes at the time of their marriages. Several of the garments listed have the fabric described as “jari al-qalam” (literally, "the flowing of the pen") which is defined by Stillman as a fine pinstripe [11]. Another trousseau indicates that an entire ensemble of garments is made from one striped fabric [12]. In the Islamic Middle Ages, many matched garments were a sign of prosperity, this being a period where textiles were liquid assets and sale of second-hand garments was a thriving trade [13].  Therefore I selected a fine fabric with narrow pinstripe.

The trousseaux also tell us that people in this period had a “tremendous range of highly refined dyes [14].” Blues (and whites) were the most common of these colors [15]. Extant textiles, excavated at Quseir al-Qadim (a port city used in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries), also show a preference for blue and blue-and-white textiles [16].

Linen was chosen because it was the most produced fiber of Islamic Egypt. Most of the textiles excavated at Naqlun (eleventh and twelfth centuries in Egypt) were linen [17]. Further, trade records indicate that “flax was produced in greater amounts than all other fibers combined[18]” during this period.

For the anchors and ties on the burqa, I did not copy the methods used in the extant garment above (several strings stitched over cross-wise, see Figure 2). Instead, I used lengths of corded silk. This choice not only maintains consistency across the piece, it also served as another step to raise the quality of the garment above the coarseness of the original. The silk fibers chosen have a “sticky” feel to them—with the goal of clinging better to the hair of a weekends-only (and therefore less experienced) veil-wearer.



The Ensemble

Overall, this ensemble of headwear meets the needs of the modern re-creationist while staying true to the original designs and goals of the Middle Ages. I believe the departures I make (in size and closures) do not significantly alter the feeling of the garments.


[1]  Stillman, Yedida K. “Female Attire of Medieval Egypt: According to the Trousseau Lists and Cognate Material from the Cairo Geniza”. Unpublished doctoral dissertation: University of Chicago, 1977.
[1.1] Stillman, Yedida K. “Importance of the Cairo Geniza Manuscripts for the History of Medieval Attire.” International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol 7, Num 4 (October 1976): 582. "Jewish and Muslim women dressed alike during the Fatimid and Ayyubid period. This is not too surprising since the sectarian Fatimids showed a comparatively tolerant attitude toward their dhimmi subjects.... The Geniza trousseaux give every indication that the Islamic sumptuary laws for dhimmis were also not enforced. The same garments are mentioned in the Muslim sources."
[2]  Stillman, Yedida K. “Importance of the Cairo Geniza Manuscripts for the History of Medieval Attire.” International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol 7, Num 4 (October 1976): 579-589. Note: For a modern comparison, saying, “there are 4 neckties in x colors,” does not indicate how a necktie was worn, when it was worn, how it was cut on the bias, how it was tied, or which specific garments it was worn with.
[3] Cortese, Delia and Simonetta Calderini. Women and the Fatimids in the World of Islam. Edinburgh University Press, 2006.
[3.1] Collated from a number of sources. Baker, Patricia L. "A History of Islamic Court Dress in the Middle East." Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy (Faculty of Arts), School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, 1986. Page 179.Mayer, L. A. Mamluk Costume: A Survey. Geneve: Albert Kundig, 1952. Page 73, and describing the burqu' as covering the face below the eyes.Stillman, Yedida K. Arab Dress from the Dawn of Islam to Modern Times: A Short History. Edited by Norman A. Stillman. Boston: Brill, 2003. Page 142.
[4] Eastwood, Gillian. “A Medieval Face-Veil from Egypt.” Costume/London Costume Society 17 (1983): 33-38.
Stillman, Yedida K. Arab Dress from the Dawn of Islam to Modern Times: A Short History. Edited by Norman A. Stillman. Boston: Brill, 2003. Page 82, referencing: Scene in a mosque; illustration from the 7th maqama of al-Hariri Maqamat, manuscript copied and illustrated by al-Wasiti, executed in Baghdad 1237. MS. ar. 5847 f. 18v., the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

[5] Eastwood.
[6] Vogelsang-Eastwood, Gillian and Willem Vogelsang. Covering the Moon: An Introduction to Middle Eastern Face Veils. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters, 2008.
[7]  Vogelsang-Eastwood.
[8] Stillman, “Female Attire".
[9] Rosenthal, Franz. “A Note on the Mandil” Four Essays on Art and Literature in Islam. Leiden, 1971.
[10] Stillman, “Female Attire".
[11] Stillman, Yedida K., Norman A. Stillman, ed. Arab Dress: a Short History. Brill 2003, p 59.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Goitein vol 1, p 222-3, 245.
[14] Stillman, Yedida K. “New Data on Islamic Textiles from the Geniza.” In Patterns of Everyday Life. Edited by David Waines. The Formation of the Classical Islamic World: 10th ed. Ashgate Variorum, 2002, p. 204.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Earl, Graeme. “The Textiles: Quseir al-Qadim Project.” University of Southampton, School of Humanities. 2000. http://wac.soton.ac.uk/Projects/projects.asp?Division=1&SubDivision=2&Page=17&ProjectID=20 (accessed 4 April 2011; now inactive).
 Helmecke, Gisela. “Textiles with Arabic Inscriptions excavated in Naqlun 1999-2003.” Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean/Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, Warsaw, POLOGNE 16 (April 19, 2004): pp195-202. http://www.pcma.uw.edu.pl/fileadmin/pam/PAM_2004_XVI/218.pdf (Accessed 19 April 2001).
[18] Goitein, S.D. A Mediterranean Society: the Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza, Vol. 1. Berkley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967.

Using the bias of woven fabrics: Advanced T-tunics

Using the bias of woven fabrics
Advanced T-tunics
Sayyeda al-Kaslaania
February 2013

Clothing is amazing when we stop to think about it. In the middle ages, someone spent hours weaving threads back and forth to carefully craft yards of fabric. Plus there was all the time taken to spin the fiber—and even to harvest it. People then decided they had enough extra time to make curtains, blankets, napkins, mattress covers, and rugs! Textiles were considered liquid assets in the middle ages, as good as money. They were passed on in wills, recorded as taxes, and gifted in dowries.

Woven fabric is composed of warp and weft threads. Warp threads run the length of the loom and are strong enough to be worked under tension. Weft threads are passed up and down through the warp (or through a warp shed) to bind the fabric together.

The grain line always follows the warp of the fabric. Conveniently, this can be identified by the selvedge edges, which also follow the warp of the fabric. Selvedges typically don’t unravel. Measuring from selvedge to selvedge yields the width of the fabric (modern fabric is typically 44/45”, 54”, and 58/60”).

The crosswise-grain follows the weft of the fabric. On modern cotton broadcloth, warp and weft threads are generally identical. On other fabrics, the crosswise grain is considered weaker than the grain.

The true bias is 45° from the grain. This cuts across both the grain and crosswise grain equally. When cut, this edge will distort quickly when handled. Caution should be used to keep a bias edge from stretching while one sews.

The garment bias is anything other than a 45° angle. An isosceles triangle is an example of a typical bias used in garment construction. Caution should still be used to guard against stretching the bias.

A gore is a triangle with two edges sewn into place, and one edge left free as part of a hem. As a triangle, at least one of the sides will be cut on the bias. A garment will tend to fall in folds and “flow” towards the bias edge of the gore. You can use this to your advantage to accent or diminish aspects of your body shape.

“Side flow” is applying a gore so the straight edge is stitched to the body panel. This keeps straight lines down the center of the body and visually creates more fullness toward the outside of the body. This can balance a natural fullness in the center.

“Center flow” is applying a gore so the bias edge is stitched to the body panel. This will smooth the fabric over the hips and draw the weight of the fabric toward the center

Tunic in the style of a 10th Century Norse Skald: Material Culture 25: A&S50 Challenge

Tunic in the style of a 10th Century Norse Skald

Material Culture 25: A&S50 Challenge
Samia al-Kaslaania

A friend requested a barter commission for his Norse persona. The criteria were that it be suitable for a skald (bard) to wear, and mainly be red. For reference I primarily utilized Gale Owen-Crocker’s book Dress in Anglo-Saxon England.

Having said that, I reached outside of Owen-Crocker’s text to find the pattern used. The basis is an adaptation of Middle Eastern garb from the same time period. Marc Carlson shares an extant version of the same panel-and-gore pattern from the European Middle Ages (noted as a few centuries later). I made the choice because I find the cut more flattering for prosperous men. The otherwise common pattern has the body panel cut as wide as half of the fullest measurement on the trunk. On a luxury-sized body this makes the shoulder seams sag halfway down the bicep, and can feel frumpy to the wearer. In further support of my choice, in the redrawn images Owen-Crocker offers, garments are generally fitted around the body, which can be seen under raised arms (with a few exceptions).


Figure 1 Calendar, London, British Library MS Cotton Tiberius B, v. fol 4r.

The idea that this cut of tunic is known to the Norse is not impossible. Owen-Crocker discusses that furs were traded with the Islamic lands at this time. Gifts of clothing from local leaders are common in the Islamic lands at this time, and the practice grew to include the merchant class power-brokers as well. Norse traders plausibly could have received tunics as gifts from their trading partners in the south.

Tunic style choices and deviations, based on Owen-Crocker:
·    This tunic comes to below the knee, which is in the common range for the 10th century court scenes. 
·    The hem is cut level to the ground to match the redrawn examples Owen-Crocker offers, thus avoiding the “shark-bite” shaped hem.
·    In keeping with images from this period, the hem is intentionally quite full for someone who is not in warrior gear.
·    The sleeves are not so long so they can be pushed up to show wrinkles at the cuffs. While most period images likely display wrinkles at the cuffs, the modern person wearing it is also a volunteer who moves tables and chairs. Therefore he requested standard length.
·    The neckline is “keyhole” style. Whether or not period images show this kind of access slit at the neck opening, all of the garments have close-fitted necks which would require some sort of additional opening.

The construction is a combination of modern and period techniques. The seams are sewn with a machine, and then finished by hand with decorative stitches so that only hand-finishing on the seams is seen on the outside of the garment. The seam decoration is the Mammem herringbone stitch, from a 10th century Danish find at Hedeby. These are worked in Silk Splendor embroidery floss, three strands. The choice for silk decoration was driven by the concept that the skald is an important member of a royal court—he is the historian, spin doctor, and praise-bearer in this period.


Figure 2 Tenth to eleventh century, life of St. Radegund. MS 250 Fol 24r. Bibliotheque Municipale, Poitiers, France

In addition to the decorative seam finishes, this garment is adorned with tablet weaving at the neck and cuffs. The fiber is 100% wool from the retired DMC De Medici collection. The pattern is a simple 7-forward-7-back, with same-color border cards. This simple repeat produces a nice chevron pattern that lies flat when removed from the loom. The fine quality of the wool fibers coupled with the simple repeat allows it to be curved around the neck and steam-shrunk into place.

Finished Tunic

A Fatimid Hexagonal Neckline?

A Fatimid Hexagonal Neckline?
Sayyeda al-Kaslaania
January 2014
Revised September 2018

I have accumulated several images of hexagonal necklines. As I look at them with an eye to recreate one, I notice that they all appear to have distinct facings, in other words: they're not just shaped like a hexagon, they also have an outline that possibly represents a facing 1 -1 1/2 inches wide. Some are adorned, some are just a different color from the garment.

Having made a garment with this shape neckline, I am cautious about it's use. The facing requires clipping at every point in the hexagon, making it very weak around the neckline, almost fragile to pull on and off the body. Scholar Margaret Deppe suggests that the artist could be attempting to depict a square neckline.

 11th century Fatimid bowl. Woman dancer. Identified as a woman because she has painted-in eyebrows; curls at the temples; performing the 'dance of the veils'. Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Inventory number 46.30. 
http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_document.php?do_id=1225

11th century Fatimid bowl fragment. Woman playing a lute. Identified as a woman because she has painted-together eyebrows; an 'isaba around her head gear (decorative band with a loop at the back); curls at her temples.

Late 10th-early 11th century restored bowl. Lute player. Likely woman, unknown headgear causes hesitation. Otherwise has painted-in eyebrows, and curls at the visible temple.

10th-11th century Tunisia. "Bas relief with a prince and a flute player" sculpted marble. Right side figure likely a man because of shape of crown; "king pose" convention, typically used to depict rulers. Museum of Bardo, Tunis. Inventory number E 16.

http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_document.php?do_id=450

11th century Fustat (near Cairo). Fresco on stucco. Identified as a man because of turban; "king pose" convention; lack of temple curls; lack of painted-in eyebrows; researcher's thoughts about the location of the fresco. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo. Inventory number 12880.
http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_document.php?do_id=803

11th century plate. Figure has conflicting gender markers--turban, painted-in eyebrows, curls at temples. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/horemachet/380410339/in/set-72157594510322599

11th century plate. Figure has conflicting gender markers-- Possible exposed navel?, turban, painted-in eyebrows, curls at the temple. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/horemachet/375913187/in/set-72157594510322599

12th century Fatimid painted ceiling panel. Likely depicting King Roger II of Sicily. Note: "king pose" convention. Capella Palatina, Palermo, Sicily. In sutu.

Ayyubid Urban Woman’s Garb, an Interpretation: Material Culture 24: A&S50 Challenge

Ayyubid Urban Woman’s Garb, an Interpretation (Cairo, twelfth century)
Material Culture 24: A&50 Challenge
Sponsored by Baroness Ellen de Wynter
Artist: Sayyeda al-Kaslaania

My model is a wealthy patroness of the Kingdom, Sayyeda Hannah. She employed me, under the sponsorship of Baroness Ellen de Wynter, to create a Middle Eastern outfit suitable for her rank that she could wear to a ceremony in a public venue.

Her outfit features a full face veil, the burqa. The garment bearing the same name in modern context is very different for our medieval counterparts. It does, however, serve the same purpose: concealing the face by swathing it in fabric serves to protect the honor of the family.

More than half of a woman’s trousseau consisted of head gear in the Middle Ages[1]. Researchers today can do little more than speculate about the connection between the named garments and the depicted garments. Even pioneering work such as Yedida Stillman’s analysis of women’s trousseaux does not provide the details that a re-enactor looks for[2]. For modern comparison, saying, “there are 4 neckties in x colors,” does not indicate how a necktie was worn, when it was worn, how it was cut on the bias, how it was tied, or specific garments it was worn with.

Figure 1 St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies. Ms C 23, detail.

Other headgear elements include a kerchief and a head veil. They are matched intentionally, as headgear garments in trousseau lists are commonly listed as matched and coordinated. Overall, garment ensembles could consist of up to 15 pieces[3].

The headgear is augmented by an undertunic, a tunic, and an overwrap.


Full face veil— burqa, to conceal the face

My goal was concealing the identity of the model so she could attend a ceremony in public without

Figure 2 Extant face veil, Eastwood.

heat-stroking her in July. The burqa style was chosen over other faceveils because it allows for easier use of modern eyeglasses, and permits breezes to get by.



During the Middle Ages, the burqa is as wide as the face. It is made in two pieces, upper and lower, connected in three places: above the nose and outside each of the eyes. Along the nose there is a ridge seam sewn in to shape the garment to the face. In the extant garment, the upper and lower pieces of fabric are touching each other; however, extant images do not always portraying this same proximity[4]. The distance I included allows for the eyeglasses of the model to be worn comfortably.

While the existing garments are unfinished in the same way as each other[5], I chose to finish the whole length of the veil and make it shorter—despise two extant pieces to the contrary—for a few reasons. First, both of the veils were coarsely made overall; they may have belonged to poor women who did not have time or inclination to complete the garments. Second, my garment will typically be worn so that the hem is visible, whereas the existing garments are believed to always be concealed beneath a large overwrap[6]. In the context of the SCA we do not wear the large concealing overwraps while out-of-doors that women did in period. These two garments (the burqa and the overwrap) went hand in hand during the Middle Ages.

Third, Vogelsang-Eastwood describes this garment as occasionally being decorated with beads, coins, chains, shells and so forth[7]. Having worn face veils of my own construction, I can say that this sort of adornment would be beneficial to keep the veil under control while walking or in a breezy area, functioning like the weighted hems on draperies. I believe this added weight is an alternative to the length, which would provide the same function.

Figure 3 Child's Tunic as it appears in Scarce, Jennifer.  

Women's Costume of the Near and Middle East. 

London: Unwin-Hyman Ltd, 1987, p. 118.

Kerchief—mandīl, foundation headwear

Most women had several head-kerchief mandīls in their collections[8]. It is described as one of the foundation garments available for men’s turbans as well. This type of mandīl protected the other head-gear from the oils of the hair and skin. Other options would include skullcaps. The mandīl was selected for the flexibility of passing it along to another person to wear in the SCA. In this period, the word “mandīl” is also used for a number of kerchief- and hand towel-like objects; some are garments, others are household linens[9].

Veil—Bukhnuq, to conceal the hair

In my speculation, this garment was triangular[10]. This shape would allow the garment “whose primary purpose is the cover the neck” the ability to do so as it “covers the head, goes down along the cheeks under the chin, and falls over the shoulders” and remain a comfortable, tug-free neck covering when “the two ends might be brought again over the head and there attached[11].”

Figure 4 Child's tunic from the Mamluk period. 

Jameel Center at the Ashmolean Museum, 

Univ of Oxford. No. EA1984.353.

Fabric Choice for Headwear

Many trousseaux survive from this period and give us a snapshot of women’s wardrobes at the time
of their marriage. Several of them list the fabric jari al-qalam (literally, "the flowing of the pen") which is described by clothing expert Yedida Stillman as a fine pinstripe[12]. Another indicates that an entire ensemble of garments is made from a common striped fabric[13]. In the Islamic Middle Ages, matchy-matchy garments were a sign of prosperity, this being a period where textiles were liquid assets and sale of second-hand garments was a thriving trade[14].

These trousseaux also teach us that people in this period had a “tremendous range of highly refined dyes[15].” Blues (and whites) were the most common of these colors.

Instead of copying the method of creating the anchors and ties, I used lengths of corded silk. This maintained consistency across the piece, and served as another step to raise the quality of the garment above the coarseness of the original. Not only was this a faster option, the specific fibers used have a “sticky” feel to them—with the goal of clinging better to the hair of a weekends-only (and therefore less experienced) hijab-wearer.

Tunic—Thawb

Garments from the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages were generally loosely fitted tunics for both men and women, augmented by unseamed rectangular lengths of fabric. Yedida Stillman refers to this as a Pan-Islamic style of dress because the basic elements were the same across Islamic communities, excepting Persia.

The shape of this tunic garment is drawn from extant sources[16]. I find it allows for greater movement because it fits a round body instead of a flat one. This works because the sleeve and side body intersect in an unusual way (see Appendix A). The pattern I chose to use is copied from several extant sources[17].  Tailored clothing such as this was a mark of an urban-dweller in the Medieval period, and fitted garments are listed among items in period trousseaux[18]. This pattern is strikingly similar to contemporary European clothing, and was intentionally selected for that reason (as the model also wears Saxon garb). One could speculate this is either from a confluence of ideas, or the active Mediterranean-European trade system.

Figure 5 Woman with sleeveless dress, 

head veil wrapped around her shoulders. 

Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. 

MS. Arabe 5847 , fol. 138v. Detail.

Sleeveless undertunic –Badan

The badan is a short, sleeveless tunic often mentioned in women’s trousseaux[19]. Descriptions include white garments with a single-colored border decoration. I believe an illustration from a twelfth century Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī[20] depicts this garment (fig 5). In this image, the woman’s scarf is wrapped around her hair and drapes across her shoulders, visually connected by the decorative band.

Wrap--Izār

The overwrap is a required garment for any woman leaving the house in an urban setting[21]. Of the several options available, the izār is a large rectangle of fabric geared toward being enveloping. Often they are plain garments, usually of wool, and can double as a blanket. This izār is purchased from a used clothing merchant, a common practice in the Middle Ages[22].

[1] Stillman, Yedida K. “Female Attire of Medieval Egypt: According to the Trousseau Lists and Cognate Material from the Cairo Geniza”. Unpublished doctoral dissertation: University of Chicago, 1977.

[2] Stillman, Yedida K. “Importance of the Cairo Geniza Manuscripts for the History of Medieval Attire.” International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol 7, Num 4 (October 1976): 579-589.

[3] Cortese, Delia and Simonetta Calderini. Women and the Fatimids in the World of Islam. Edinburgh University Press, 2006.

[4] Eastwood, Gillian. “A Medieval Face-Veil from Egypt.” Costume/London Costume Society 17 (1983): 33-38.

[5] Eastwood.

[6] Vogelsang-Eastwood, Gillian and Willem Vogelsang. Covering the Moon: An Introduction to Middle Eastern Face Veils. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters, 2008.

[7] Vogelsang-Eastwood.

[8] Stillman dissertation.

[9] Rosenthal, Franz. “A Note on the Mandil” Four Essays on Art and Literature in Islam. Leiden, 1971.

[10] This could be achieved with little waste by cutting rectangle crosswise and sewing the two short ends together.

[11] Stillman dissertation  p 124

[12] Stillman, Yedida K., Norman A. Stillman, ed. Arab Dress: a Short History. Brill 2003, p 59.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Goitein vol 1, p 222-3, 245.

[15] Stillman, Yedida K. “New Data on Islamic Textiles from the Geniza.” In Patterns of Everyday Life. Edited by David Waines. The Formation of the Classical Islamic World: 10th ed. Ashgate Variorum, 2002, p. 204.

[16] Godlewski, Wlodzimierz. “Naqlun: Excavations, 2000.” Polish archaeology in the Mediterranean/Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, Warsaw, POLOGNE Vol. 12 (April 19, 2000): p. 149-161. http://www.centrumarcheologii.uw.edu.pl/fileadmin/pam/pam_2000_XII/53.pdf (accessed 19 April 2011). ; Ellis, Marianne. Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt. Ashmolean Museum: University of Oxford, 2001.; Syria, Materia Medica of Dioscurides, 1229, Two students; frontispiece. Iraq or Syria; Alphonso X's Book of Games (In Spanish: Libro de los Juegos" or "Libros del Axedrez, Dados et Tablas) commissioned between 1251 and 1282 A.D. by Alphonso X, King of Leon and Castile.

[17] Ellis, Marianne. Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt. Ashmolean Museum: University of Oxford, 2001. ; Syria, Materia Medica of Dioscurides, 1229, Two students; frontispiece. Iraq or Syria; Alphonso X's Book of Games (In Spanish: Libro de los Juegos" or "Libros del Axedrez, Dados et Tablas) commissioned between 1251 and 1282 A.D. by Alphonso X, King of Leon and Castile.; Baghdad, Maqamat al-Hariri, Late Eleventh to early Twelfth Centuries.

[18] Stillman dissertation.

[19] Stillman, Yedida K., Norman A. Stillman, ed. Arab Dress: a Short History. Brill 2003.

[20] Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Ms. Arabe 5847, fol. 138.

[21] Stillman dissertation.

[22] Goitein, Vol. 1.