Renaissance Gloves - The Mock-up and Patterning



The mock up in progress

I've started on a new project.  For years I have been interested in making gloves.  They are such lovely things and really are a Ladies Accessory.  Gloves have recently gone out of fashion but you can still find many lovely examples at Flea Markets and Yard Sales.  This is helpful when you want to look at something and see how it is made.  I've collected them for many years and had a pretty good idea how construction should go.  I beefed up my common sense with some patterning research on the Internet of other peoples links who had made period gloves and even ran across an extent pair or two on line.  Armed with that research and Butterick's "Making History" pattern B5370.  I set out to make myself a pair.

Plasic sheeting pattern

I used the Butterick pattern to the extent that it was a helpful guide to drawing up my own pattern.  This I have cut out of plastic sheeting.  The kind you use for covering tables at quaint Italian restaurants.  The thicker the better.  I make all of my patterns from this wonderful stuff.  But I'll write more about that later.

Cut pattern pieces

The first attempt was my mock-up of a ladies small glove with a flanged cuff.  I made it out of felt.  Felt was a very period fabric for the early Middle Ages on into the Renaissance.  But the real reason to use it is to get a feel for what your going to need to watch out for while making gloves.  Since your working with small seams and tight corners all of your work really should be done by hand.  I understand that there are glove machines that can sew these seams with great ease.  But really that wasn't what I was going for anyway.  Felt doesn't fray.  It stretches just enough to provide help in fitting. And it is cheap.  Materials for this project cost me about $2.50 including the on sale .99 cent pattern. 

My next attempt will be with velvet.  Velvet gloves are very period for the SCA persona.  Velvet gloves have been found as extent garments all over Europe.  Since I have a surplus of velvet it only makes sense that I use it.  But keep in mind that the fray-ability of velvet is very high.  I am debating on waxing my seams. 

Waxing ones seams is a old way of keeping fine fabrics from fraying while you work with them.  This is particularly helpful when working with fabrics that are being hand sewn.  Hand work put a lot of wear on the fabric in its most delicate state.  The one issue I am concerned about is the bleeding of any waxy residue onto the fabrics fashion side.  I think this is going to take some experimentation.  But the smell of bees wax should lend a pleasant side to the project.  I'll post more on my waxed seam experiment later.