If I were a different person I wouldn't have been listening to the lyrical styling of Ludacris while researching hose, but I'm pretty terrible so there you have it!
As a part of my Twelfth Night 2017 project, I'm making items from an inventory I translated from 1579 Leiden (still in progress, I'll post the whole thing when it's done). Old Maria had "- een paer nieuwe hozen ende een paer oude (a pair of new hose and a pair old);" and I've decided that one of the items I'm going to make and display will be hose.
I recalled that Harald Deceulaer briefly mentions the availability of knit hose while discussing the ready to wear market in Antwerp in Entrepreneurs in the Guilds: Ready to Wear Clothing and Subcontracting in the late Sixteenth- and early Seventeenth-century Antwerp and how expensive they were, and even though Maria was from Leiden knit hose would have still been prohibitively expensive for a middle class woman. That means woven hose are what Maria would have worn. I wanted to understand hose material and construction, so I referenced the English summary of Textiel in Context which proved to be immensely helpful. I learned
This is an example of the double stitched seam with wide seam allowance. I had a hard time visualizing what Zimmerman was describing until this section. She writes "This makes the seam so strong that when being put on it can not tear (Fig 4:27 j). Hose are found like this without exception, so that finds exhibiting a piece of this type of seam as the sole characteristic can be determined to be a hose remnant." (Zimmerman 129).
Another stitch used on an extant hose fragment is the herringbone stitch. Zimmerman writes "The fragment 1977-V1-2 is 18x15 cm and consists of a fine 2/2 twill, K20Z, I 28S and contains the upper 6cm of the two gussets. These are inserted in a special way. The gussets are first sewn with a hem, then sewn with linen thread into the hose (the sewing holes are present) and finally the outside of the seam is sewn with a herringbone stitch in silk, thus reinforcing the seam and providing an ornamental accent (Fig. 4.98)." (217)
My plan for the hose I am going to sew is going to be to use some of the extra wool twill I have in a red orange achievable with madder, or using a brown remnant. Because it is a wool twill, I can use a silk or a linen thread on the seams. I will probably use a linen thread, but I will decorate the gusset with a herringbone stitch.
Finally I requested Zimmerman's Sixteenth-century Hose and Their Manufacture from NESAT VIII and the NESAT librarian sent me the article, but I am missing 2 pages from the scan. I requested the two missing pages, but I got an out of office notification. If there's anything mind blowing in the article I will update this post.
As a part of my Twelfth Night 2017 project, I'm making items from an inventory I translated from 1579 Leiden (still in progress, I'll post the whole thing when it's done). Old Maria had "- een paer nieuwe hozen ende een paer oude (a pair of new hose and a pair old);" and I've decided that one of the items I'm going to make and display will be hose.
I recalled that Harald Deceulaer briefly mentions the availability of knit hose while discussing the ready to wear market in Antwerp in Entrepreneurs in the Guilds: Ready to Wear Clothing and Subcontracting in the late Sixteenth- and early Seventeenth-century Antwerp and how expensive they were, and even though Maria was from Leiden knit hose would have still been prohibitively expensive for a middle class woman. That means woven hose are what Maria would have worn. I wanted to understand hose material and construction, so I referenced the English summary of Textiel in Context which proved to be immensely helpful. I learned
- leg of hose was always cut on the bias, and the back seam was doubled over with a wide seam allowance and sewn with a double running stitch or a Holbein stitch
- The basic gusset was triangular, but there were variations on the point.
- There were 5 sole types found, and on 2/3 of the finds the soles were a stiffer, sturdier material than the rest of the hose. The line drawings of the shapes of the soles don't indicate a left/right preference.
- Most hose were made of a medium to coarse tabby weave wool and sewn with linen thread
- but on the finer twill hose, silk or linen thread can be used.
This information is only the tip of the hose finds in Groningen, so I consulted the Dutch section on sewing technique and hose.
This is an example of the double stitched seam with wide seam allowance. I had a hard time visualizing what Zimmerman was describing until this section. She writes "This makes the seam so strong that when being put on it can not tear (Fig 4:27 j). Hose are found like this without exception, so that finds exhibiting a piece of this type of seam as the sole characteristic can be determined to be a hose remnant." (Zimmerman 129).
Another stitch used on an extant hose fragment is the herringbone stitch. Zimmerman writes "The fragment 1977-V1-2 is 18x15 cm and consists of a fine 2/2 twill, K20Z, I 28S and contains the upper 6cm of the two gussets. These are inserted in a special way. The gussets are first sewn with a hem, then sewn with linen thread into the hose (the sewing holes are present) and finally the outside of the seam is sewn with a herringbone stitch in silk, thus reinforcing the seam and providing an ornamental accent (Fig. 4.98)." (217)
My plan for the hose I am going to sew is going to be to use some of the extra wool twill I have in a red orange achievable with madder, or using a brown remnant. Because it is a wool twill, I can use a silk or a linen thread on the seams. I will probably use a linen thread, but I will decorate the gusset with a herringbone stitch.
Finally I requested Zimmerman's Sixteenth-century Hose and Their Manufacture from NESAT VIII and the NESAT librarian sent me the article, but I am missing 2 pages from the scan. I requested the two missing pages, but I got an out of office notification. If there's anything mind blowing in the article I will update this post.
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