I’m a member of the SCA and was invited to join the Order of the Laurel in December 2023. I had two months to make my gown and family outfits for the ceremony! In this post, I’ll share some highlights of the gown-making process and some of the cool art from the ceremony. This is a speed build and not a research build.

Picking a Gown Style

I started with a painting by Conrad Faber von Kreuznach, who painted the wealthy of Frankfurt in the early 16th century. 16th c. Frankfurt-style is also referred to as a Rhineland. This dress is fascinating; it has a laced form front opening and brustfleck similar to a contemporary-style Cranach or Saxon Gowns. However the shape of the dress and guards were very much in the western style. I also liked the fancy cuffs, gollar (partlet), and brustfleck embroidery. I had some excellent brown silk damask from renaissancefabrics.net with a pomegranate pattern that would be perfect for it! I used silk velvet for the black guards. About a month after my Laureling ceremony, I reworked the gown and replaced the silk with Kaufman lush cotton velveteen, which produced a much more appropriate drape.

I started planning the gown by taking the painting and highlighting some of the style elements, and getting a better understanding of the cut.

Dress Construction

I developed a drawing and started patterning and planning out the dress. For a lot of the internal seams I used my sewing machine. Howevrer, I also used waxed linen thread for some of seams and internal finishing. I used a lightly waxed heavy weight silk for the outward facing sewing.

The Bodice

I started with the bodice and patterned the general shape off the white supportive under-dress. I went with 2 layers of black mid-weight linen for the lining of the silk damask bodice. I don’t have to make my dress too firm with lining since I wear an underdress, it does most the work. I also added horsehair canvas (hymo) to the inside layer and pad-stitched it for shape. I did not do a traditional toile, I just used the lining to finalize the fit. I transferred the pattern to the lining and tried that on to figure out the final fit; then, I finished it with an inner extra layer of linen with the horse hair canvas for shape. Once I was happy that the guts of the bodice fit properly, I added the silk outer shell.

For the sleeves, I did make a toile with some old pillowcases. I first fit it with the seam on the underarm. The seams in a lot of 16th c. clothing is in the back of the arm, but my modern brain says under, so I do it that way first, then adjust. I then based it into the bodice. Once, I was happy with the fit, I transferred it to the linen and silk. I moved the seam to the back of the arm. I attached the velvet to the bottom of the silk demask portion of the sleve allowing excess to be folded over and attached into the linen lining. This way when I fold back the cuff you see more silk velvet, not the linen lining. I hand-sewed the sleeves into the arm scythe of the bodice and finished the seams.

Lastly, I cut and opened the front to the planned shape for the brustfleck and lace-up section. This is a different style opening for me, you can see from the photo below it cut way out on the shoulder and in, before rounding out for the brustfleck. I whip-stitched the lining and silk along the edge. I then added lacing rings along the opening. I tested the fit and look with a stand-in brustfleck and opening panel. I also added 4 hooks on each side of the upper opening to secure the brustfleck.

The Skirt

I went on to finish the skirt. I planned very deep knife pleats for this gown and needed a ton of fabric. I started by sewing two lengths of the fabric together and lining up the pattern.

I used my makeshift compass method to mark the panels with a slight curve for the waist and bottom. I later attached a wide black guard panel to the bottom of the skirt. To make the makeshift compass, I use a point on one side of the room about 10-15 feet away from the fabric I’m marking. Depending on how far I go and how extreme the round will be, the farther away the less he curvature. I then tie a non-elastic string to a point ( I usually use the base of my mannequin for the attachment point). I center the point at the top center of the skrit panel. I use chalk on the other end of the string and mark the fabric on the sweep of the compass. It creates a perfect rounded edge for the panel at the top and the bottom, and allows me to mark the edge of the side panels for the seam.

Next, I marked and cut the black silk velvet. I layed the velvet slightly under the silk damask panels, and marked the velvet to fit the shape of each panel at the top and used the compass to shape the bottom of the velvet that will be the hem. I left a train on the back of this dress, so I flared out the back panel hem. I cut top-weight black linen for the lining of the silk velvet panels. Then, I sewed the velvet panels together and attached them to the skirt’s bottom. I did this seam by hand as I wanted it as straight as possible and hemmed the skirt’s bottom.
Once I had the skirt panels marked, I proceeded to cut them. To address my concern about the silk being too thin, I decided to use a very light grey linen as an interlining, instead of a full lining. Interlining is where lining is sewn into each panel seam. This choice proved beneficial when I wanted to switch the silk guards with velveteen. At this point, I also attached the front vertical guards, which were also interlined with the light grey linen. I used my machine to sew the long straight stitches, and then hand-felled down the seams on the inside.

Once the skirt panels were finished and the pleats pinned, I attached them to the bodice. I used a whip-stitch and some heavy upholstery thread and attached the top fold of the skirt directly to the bottom of the bodice. I tie off about every 10 inches.
I put the guards around the neck and front opening of the dress, I didn’t document this portion well. I discovered I had made a mistake and could not make the guards go under the arm because I would have need to do it before I attached the sleeves and the silk velvet really sucked to worrk with. Since I was pressed for time I moved the guards on the bodice up a little. I used some card stock paper and created templates directly on the bodice for the shape of my desired guards. I transferred those to the silk and linen and pressed the edges. I then used a hidden stitch and sewed the guards into the bodice.

Replacing the Silk Velvet with Velveteen

As I mentioned, I replaced the black silk velvet with black Kaufman Lush cotton velveteen. It was easy since I had gone with interlining. I also replaced the guards around the bodice, sleeves, and skirt. Additionally, I added a gore at the elbow; my first version was a little tight in the elbow. After the fix, the fit and the way the fabric lays is great!

The Brustfleck

A SCA friend, the very talented Amie Sparrow (https://amiesparrow.wordpress.com/) offered to design and hand embroider a brustflect for me. We went with the Latin saying “Ars longa, vita brevis” which roughly translates to “skillfulness takes time, and life is short.” Here embroidery turned out amazing! I lucked out, and she had a perfect piece of taffeta hanging around! I also was able to make a goldhaub with the leftovers. I went with black silk as a plasteron under the brustflect, in this gown it isn’t white like Cranach style gowns.

Gollar (Partlet) and Cuffs

I went with a gollar and separate cuffs to match the source image. I omitted the initials on the ribbon trim but used some cool tear-drop spangles from https://www.tiedtohistory.com/. I used linen voile from Tied to History for the fabric. I also got the cool Laurel buttons from Tied to History. I ran the collar and cuffs through the pleating machine. I added soutache to the edge and trimmed them with Greek ecclesiastical ribbon.

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The Goldhaube

I am not a massive fan of the goldhaube style in the inspiration painting. I decided to go with a different style that was popular at the same time. I couched pearls in a diamond pattern and added my name along the top band. I also added spangles to the front edge of the haube. I had lined the taffeta and it ended up quite heavy. I had finished this very fast, not the best execution. It worked, but is not the most comfortable thing to wear.

Other Accessories

My friend Rowan gifted me a beautiful purse that matched the outfit, check out write up on it https://rowantreeworkshop.com.au/1530s-german-noble-womans-purse/2024/. I also bought a lovely gold plate belt from Archeo Studios on Etsy.

The Finished Dress

Families Laureling Outfits

I wanted to have my family in the Laureling ceremony and to be matchy matchy, so I used some of the pomegranate silk damask for them as well. I made my husband a skirted upper-class coat in black cotton velveteen. I used the pomegranate damask as an accent in the front panel and trimmed it with the ecclesiastical Greek Trim. He is very picky about wearing historical costumes, so I mde adjustments to the cut to make sure he was comforatble. For the kid, I took one of her older velveteen dresses and replaced the brocade guards with the pomegranate silk damask. I also machine embroidered a brustfleck similar to mine.

Fun Photos of the Laureling Ceremony

I also wanted to include some other cool art from the day.

My Laurel Linden commissioned this wonderful flag of my heraldry with the Holy Roman Empire imagery. Duke Floki Geirrekkson created this flag. The saying is “Wenn Sie mit Widrigkeiten konfrontiert sind, fahren Sie fort” – “When faced with adversity, keep going”. Linden also made some heraldry flags for my procession to carry walking in. They worked great. Linden was also on it with my scroll, and she created a beautiful scroll that was very appropriate for my SCA persona.