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    • Home
    • Events
      • 2023 Calendar
      • 2022 Fur Trade Event
    • Photos
      • 2022 - Fur Trade Event
      • 2022 Spring Drill
      • 2022 Establishment Day
      • 2021 Encampment
      • 2021 400 Maritime Salute
      • 2021 June Drill
      • 2021 Establishment Day
      • 2020 October Drill
      • 2020 August Drill
      • 2020 Establishment Day
    • Resources
      • Men's Clothing Guidelines
      • Ready Made/Custom Clothes
      • Fabric Guidelines
      • Color Guidelines
      • Patterns, Construction
      • Fabric Suppliers
      • Weapons & Accessories
    • History
      • Recommended Reading List
      • 2020 - Pilgrim's Landing
      • Pirates Ashore
      • Navigation Lecture
    • Join Us
      • Mission & Bylaws
      • How to Join
      • Contact Us
      • Other Reenactment Groups

New Plimmoth Gard

New Plimmoth GardNew Plimmoth GardNew Plimmoth Gard
  • Home
  • Events
    • 2023 Calendar
    • 2022 Fur Trade Event
  • Photos
    • 2022 - Fur Trade Event
    • 2022 Spring Drill
    • 2022 Establishment Day
    • 2021 Encampment
    • 2021 400 Maritime Salute
    • 2021 June Drill
    • 2021 Establishment Day
    • 2020 October Drill
    • 2020 August Drill
    • 2020 Establishment Day
  • Resources
    • Men's Clothing Guidelines
    • Ready Made/Custom Clothes
    • Fabric Guidelines
    • Color Guidelines
    • Patterns, Construction
    • Fabric Suppliers
    • Weapons & Accessories
  • History
    • Recommended Reading List
    • 2020 - Pilgrim's Landing
    • Pirates Ashore
    • Navigation Lecture
  • Join Us
    • Mission & Bylaws
    • How to Join
    • Contact Us
    • Other Reenactment Groups

Fabric Guidelines

Introduction

Our group portrays events involving the English settlers in Plimoth  Colony between the years 1620-1645. Clothing in the group is “best  effort” and our philosophy is inclusive.


New members may rely on borrowed clothing, when available, for their first events. You can purchase some items from merchants who cater to  the reenactment market, commission clothing from others knowledgeable in historic tailoring, or make your own. For our portrayals, we are  looking at average people here in the colonies, not at high status lords  and ladies in England. These guidelines are intended to help you select  styles and fabrics that will help you with that. If you have any  questions, check with us before making a major investment.

 

Garments may be constructed using a sewing machine. They will have a  more authentic appearance if care is taken not to have machine sewing  visible. Visible stitching, including buttonholes, eyelets, topstitching, etc., can be done easily by hand. Hand sewing is not  inherently difficult. Even as a novice, if you work slowly and  carefully, you can achieve a nice result. (See The Modern Maker, in sources for an excellent description of period sewing techniques.)

Linen

Most undergarments (shirts and smocks) and neck and wrist accessories  (ruff, collars, etc.) were made of linen, as finely woven and bleached as white as the person could afford. A lot of linen today is coarser and  more loosely woven than in the time period. Look for hanky weight linen  for your collars and cuffs. Shirts and smocks can be of a heavier weight shirt linen, about 5 oz or so. Linings of garments may be of  coarse linen in natural colors (greyish or light brownish). 


The term  “canvas” applied to hemp, which is a similar plant fiber to linen. It  was very commonly used for doublets. Very heavy linen or hemp could be  used for sacks, sails, or other heavyweight materials. 

Wool

Wool was the most common fabric for clothes and furnishings, but  there is a tremendous difference in types of wool. A discourse on the  names and characteristics of wool fabrics of the time is beyond our  scope. We will focus on buying fabrics currently available that most  resemble historic ones.


Worsted wool was the type most commonly seen in kirtles and  petticoats – worsted means that the raw wool has a long thread that has  been combed and spun tightly, making a fairly light-weight but firmly  woven fabric. You can buy worsted wool today (it is commonly used in  men’s suits), but should avoid anything too “shiny” looking.


“Broadcloth” or just “cloth” was a woolen fabric that had been given a  great deal of finishing work that brushed the woolen weave to make a  nap that was trimmed to an even consistency. You can buy a historic type  of 18th century broadcloth from companies making products  for re-enactors, like Burnley & Trowbridge (see suppliers list). It  is dense material. An in-between option is wool flannel. This is  typically twill woven and has a little bit of soft nap to it. This can  be a good choice for woolen garments.


The cheapest type of wool and one associated with farmers and country  people was “russet.” Today we use that name to mean a rusty orange  color, but in this time period it meant an undyed, natural-colored wool,  in plain weave, with a somewhat thick and coarse woolen thread. Even  better quality people might have a bit of russet in their wardrobe for  practical use. Wool dyes well. Although natural “sheep’s color” was  common at the lower end of the scale, evidence from wills and probate  inventories and similar documents give a pretty good idea of favored  colors.


In general, avoid coating wool. It has a lot of filler and is generally too thick for most projects.

Silk

Silk was the fabric that was most coveted by elite people. Ordinary  people might have had a bit of silk ribbon or silk edging on their  garments, but were unlikely to have had garments made of silk. Rayon is a  modern imitation of silk. 

Modern Fabrics

The most common fabric today is probably cotton, which is spun from fiber of the plant Gossypium,  and which we will refer to here as “vegetable cotton.” In the 1620s in  England, “cotton” referred to loose, fuzzy wool, typically used for  stuffing. Vegetable cotton textiles were made abundantly in India and  the Middle East, but rarely came to Europe. The Italians got vegetable  cotton from Middle Eastern trade and made a blended fabric of linen warp  and vegetable cotton weft, one of the textiles that goes under the name  “fustian.” They also made a napped fabric the resembles vegetable  cotton velveteen. You will see terms like “fustian of Naples” to refer  to such fabrics. (Fustian is an acceptable fabric for this period, but  is exceptionally hard to find in modern times.) Printed vegetable  cottons from India kicked off the industrial revolution in the 18th  century as Europeans copied them and grew Gossypium in their colonies, but that is far in the future for the Pilgrims. Try to avoid using modern cotton, if you can.


A popular modern fabric for some Renaissance Faire costumes is what  people often call “brocade” or “tapestry” although neither term is  technically correct. These are patterned and multi-colored fabrics  typically made for drapes and upholstery, usually of synthetic fibers  and often quite heavy and textured. Patterned and multi-colored fabrics  did exist in the time period, but they were made of silk and much  lighter and finer than these modern fabrics. They were primarily made in Italy, Spain, and the Middle East, of finely spun silk, of damask or lampas weave, and were the most luxurious fabrics possible. The cost  would be far beyond the means of a typical Pilgrim.

Safety Concerns

 Because of their comfort and safety around open flames and firearms, any  fibers you use should be 100% natural fibers without any petroleum  based synthetic. Beware of wool blends that contain polyester. 

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