Tutorial: Distaff spinning

Myself and other members of our reenactment group, the Cardiff Castle Garrison, have been going on a bit of a distaff spinning craze over the last few months. We set up The Evangelical Church of Distaff Spinning to spread the idea and to share hints, tips and information. However, this weekend we finally managed to get a video of what we've been up to.

Review: The Medieval Tailor's Assistant, 2nd edition

So, I have Sarah Thursfield's The Medieval Tailor's Assistant: making common garments 1200-1500 (1st edition) and my friend bought The Medieval Tailor's Assistant: Common Garments 1100-1480 (2nd edition - revised and expanded). So, as I'm sure many of you are absolutely dying to know what's in the new edition, we thought I should write a review and comparison.

Medieval Textiles and Clothing: Contents

I thought it might be useful to collate the list of contents for the book series Medieval Textiles and Clothing. These are available on the individual book pages at the Boydell and Brewer website. However, they are not collated anywhere (that I know of). Also, note, they are usually cheaper elsewhere, e.g. Oxbow Books, Amazon, AbeBooks, etc.

Tutorial: how to correctly reference manuscripts

I thought I might show you how to read that tangle of numbers and letters and often foreign-language words that might crop up in a book, article or blogpost that is referencing a manuscript and how to correctly generate that style of reference too. 

The Evangelical Church of Distaff Spinning (!)

Hello, everyone. Long time, no posting! How is everyone?

Recently, I've been quite focused on hand spinning with the distaff and spindle after I found the hypothesis of Cathelina di Alessandri at 15th Century Spinning. With some gorgeous reproduction spindles from Katrin Kania (reviewed here), I've learnt Cathelina's method, experimented with some alterations, spread it to my reenactment group and now we appear to be corrupting fellow reenactors and modern crafters alike at a slightly terrifying rate...

Hence, we now have a FaceBook group for spreading the idea of distaff spinning in reenactment and crafting and for coming together and sharing ideas, hints, tips, new information, etc.

You can find us at The Evangelical Church of Distaff Spinning (yes, it has a silly name ^_^).

And I'll now leave you with a fascinating image: the only image of a top-whorl spindle I know of that's from medieval Western Europe. It even looks like it might have a little hook at the top.

Woman spinning flax (?) with distaff and spindle whilst on ducking stool (?).
Rutland Psalter (British Library, Add. MS 62925), f. 86r.
England (London?), c. 1260. Source.

What about you? What have you been focusing on this season? Have you tried spinning with distaff and reproduction spindles? Have you seen any other interesting medieval spinning images?

Tutorial: how to make perfect facings

Facings are something that can initially seem quite tricky to sew, particularly if you are a beginner. However, they can add a lot to your garment, both aesthetically and structurally. So, here’s a tutorial that’ll show you how to sew perfect facings every time.