Fabrics, Part 1

The very earliest "fabrics" were skins and furs. I'll write more on those later, as the methods of their preparation is vastly different from other fabrics.

The fabrics of first handmade manufacture are the woolens and linens, so ancient that they are mentioned in the Bible. Cotton cultivation came later, along with silk, which, due to the difficulty of obtaining it during the Middle Ages, became very popular among the royal, noble and wealthy merchant classes of Europe.

Wool is sheared from living animals, especially sheep, goats (cashmere), camelids (camel, alpaca, llama, etc.), and musk oxen (quiviut). Primarily, however, the term "wool" refers to fibers sheared from sheep. (See below for a discussion of the "other" wools.) Sheep's wool is easily dyed, another plus. One of the earliest methods of forming fabric from wool is felting, where the wool is washed in hot water with some sort of soap and then rubbed by hand until the fibers mat together. Modern methods achieve this with machines, but you can still make your own felt today, either by using wool fabric or natural wool fibers.

Linen is made by gathering the stems of the flax plant, then soaking them until they swell. The process is called retting. Once the fibers are free of the outer stalk, they can be dried and woven. No good modern method of creating linen has been successfully developed, which is one reason why linen is so expensive.

Cotton is another ancient fabric, which, unlike linen, was made both in the Old World and the New. Harvesting used to be a time-consuming process, as did removing the seeds from the fluffy fibers of the pod. Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin, to remove the seeds by machine, greatly simplified the process, reducing the cost in the 19th Century.

Silk, according to legend, was discovered when a silkworm cocoon dropped into the teacup of a Chinese princess. If true, she must have been amazed at the long, lustrous, single thread she was able to unwind from cocoon. History records that the Empress Si-Ling-Chi was raising silkworms by 2640 BC. The only insect-produced fiber has many different variations in the weaves, one of the most popular of which is silk satin.

Ramie is another natural fiber, sometimes called China grass. It behaves somewhat like linen. Nowadays, it's often blended with other fibers, notably cotton and silk.

The "other" wools come from a variety of fur- or wool-bearing animals. Goats give us mohair and cashmere. Camel hair comes from (of course) camels. Other members of the camel family provide alpaca, llama, guanaco, huarizo and misti (crosses between alpaca and llama, the camelid versions of a mule and a hinny), and vicuña. Angora comes from angora rabbits, which are clipped just like sheep, only much more frequently. (No harm comes to the angora rabbits!) Quiviut is taken from the soft underwool of musk oxen.

Depending on your costume time period, you may choose one or more of the fabrics made from these fibers. In a future post, I'll also discuss historic fabric blends (such as linsey-woolsey). In the meantime, while you're doing your research, I recommend the following books:
Claire Shaeffer's Fabric Sewing Guide
Fabric Science, Fifth Edition
A History of Costume

What's the Bane of Your Costuming Existence?

I don't know about you, but mine is polyester thread! Sure, it stretches, which makes it great for things like swimsuits and exercise garments. The only problem with it is this:

It's stronger than the authentic fabrics we love to use in costuming! That means if you're experiencing problems with a seam being too tight, the thread won't break. The fabric will tear! Naturally, you don't want that to happen.

Unfortunately, finding 100% cotton, linen and silk threads can be difficult. They also cost more than 100% polyester or cotton-wrapped poly threads. However, it's worth paying more if your costume lasts longer, especially if you're planning to get several years of service from it.

If you're looking for 100% cotton thread, some manufacturers include

• Coats of Coats & Clark fame (who manufacture the aforementioned cotton-coated poly thread, which is great for many applications but not 100% natural fiber sewing)
• Gütermann, who also have a line of other natural and artificial threads
• Mettler also produces cotton threads along with their polyester Metrosene thread

Some of these also manufacture 100% silk thread. 

If you're looking for a good source of linen thread, try Lacis. They also carry silk and cotton threads, plus a goodly number of sewing and needlework accessories, many of which will be appropriate for your reenacting activities. 

So, what's your pet costuming peeve? Please feel free to share it here! I'd love to hear from you!

Ways to Get Into Costume

Once you have your costume era and silhouette firmly in mind, there are several different ways to achieve your desired look. Each has its merits, so don't dismiss any of them out of hand until you've explored the options.

• Pre-made costumes. These are available from costume shops and internet costume sites. Prices vary greatly according to quality, materials used, amount of handwork involved, and country of origin. The more it costs to make, the more it costs to buy.
• Costumes from a dressmaker or tailor. Here you'll pay the going rate for the sewing provider, and for all materials, including any patterns necessary. 
• Costumes you make yourself from a purchased pattern. Several pattern companies make costume patterns. In a future blog post, I'll discuss those in more detail.
• Costumes you make yourself from a book containing patterns to enlarge.
• Costumes you make yourself from a pattern you develop, either by flat drafting or draping.

If you don't have a single craftsy bone in your body, obviously your best bet will be to buy a costume, either premade or custom made. Premade costumes come in certain sizes, just like regular garments, so you won't have as much choice of how it fits you, unless you have it altered to fit, which can add more money onto the project. 

If you love to sew and make things, however, you should plan on making at least part of your costume. Depending on your skill level, you can come up with something quite wonderful.

And if you're terrible with a sewing needle, take heart. Not every outfit worn by our ancestors was perfectly sewn! Plaids weren't always perfectly matched at the seams. Seams weren't always perfectly straight. Perfection actually can detract from the historicity of an outfit, so feel free to make mistakes.