One of the things I’ve always thought is that for the SCA participant, no matter how good your costume kit looks, it always looks MUCH better with some kind of head covering. Whether it’s a complex cap and veil or a simple coif or flat cap, there’s nothing that can add to the Dream like a medieval headdress.
In that vein, I’m working on my veil kit. I now have all the pieces complete except one; I just have to finish rolling the hem on one piece. I’ve been looking at a few different web sites for 14th century (or thereabouts) head coverings. As you saw, I already had a fillet “pie” hat, a pleated fillet hat, and the barbette and coif (in the form of a St. Birgitta cap). These were pieces I made about a year ago, and they have stood up pretty well (although storage and transport has made them a bit wrinkley).
These are really quick and easy to put on when in a hurry to get out to court or a meeting. However, I decided I really needed to improve the set a bit and augment to the hat collection. Additionally, I wanted to add some variety and some extra sunscreen protection for my extra-fair skin.
I was looking at Katafalk’s site and decided to follow her instructions to make a more formal veil kit. First, I made some improvements to the St. Birgitta cap. I deconstructed it, re-shaped it, and sewed it back together. https://katafalk.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/st-birgittas-cap/
The old cap was cut square, gathered, and the slit up the back had pulled out some, so it was too long.
The fabric was cut at an angle and the entire bottom length was gathered, the slit shortened in the back, and the straps were re-attached. They’re still a bit long, but I will make more adjustments as I wear it.
This is what it looks like on. It’s still a bit poofy in the back, but it may improve with better straps or additional fitting.
Then I went to her Wearing-My-Veil tutorial and made the pieces she outlined in her blog post. https://katafalk.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/wearing-my-veil/
It includes an 8 cm x 44 cm forehead cloth, a piece that measures *approximately* 100 cm by 50 cm (hers was a little bigger, but I ran out of fabric), and a giant circle that’s about 90 cm in diameter. Note to those thinking about doing this project–get 1.5 yards of 55″ wide lightweight linen.
When finished it will look something like this.
I can also make a frilled veil to attach to it later, if I decide I want to try to make one. At this time, there are dozens of frilled veils around the Kingdom and I don’t want to look like a Bandwagoneer. In the meantime, I’m going to have more layers to protect my skin during the summer when I inevitably forget my sunscreen at home.
