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Your best introduction to this is the recently published 'The Tudor Child' from the team at the Tudor Tailor. Might I ask where you are intending to do Tudor reenactment?

None that I am aware of in the visual record (remember we have limited resources for England and most portraits are not full length) and have not checked any dig reports or inventories for them. I don't do anything vaguely posh for pre-1485 as I am a camp cook and gunner's wife. The best clothing bo...

Hooks in the record seem to come in two size groups IIRC - small for hooking rather than tying woven garters (seen this used successfully by the Hampton Court Tudor Cookery Team) and larger ones for skirts which as Mally says work a treat. They are mainly copper metal alloy. I bought my copper metal...

If you are looking for clothes made of more accurate cloth you need to find someone who will make them out of a medium to light weight 2:2 twill with a good firm finish. This cloth was known as Kersey in period and sometimes referred to as hose cloth. You can make them out of a plain weave cloth but...

Coming late to this one. I generally find it is better to actually ring Karl as when I last spoke to him (organising to have a couple of old stuff made by him mended) he was really busy with work for commercial customers. Lead time will depend on how his order book is.

IIRC they had to wear a yellow wheel badge in Strasbourg and were periodically expelled and ended up in Rosheim and such places. We really ought to get together at some point and compile a definitive list for Medieval/Early Modern mainland Europe just for the hell of it!

Sorry - cannot help there, have also previously talked with a friend who has done a great deal of research and has found nothing. I am working on the basis of a knowledge of traditional artisan bread baking techniques used in Europe (Luxembourg is interesting as it sits between France and Germany so...

Thanks for that Marcus - wasn't sure exactly when the silly hats/badges were introduced!

Long fermentation simply refers to bread dough which is left to work for a longer period. Prior to the introduction of modern industrial production techniques most bread was more or less long fermentation. Also it tends to use less yeast. Most peoples homemade bread whether made by hand or in a brea...

For future reference unless you are in a compulsory silly hat or badge area you are basically looking mainly at local dress. Married women will on the whole cover all their hair even when it is not fashionable and generally have higher neck lines and long sleeves even when fashion differs. All men w...

There are two types of bread at this period: Sourdough which uses a pre-existing culture of local wild yeasts in the form of a starter. Bread made with Ale Barm, the yeasty residue skimmed from the brewers' vats, which as they were brewing on a regular basis was easily obtained. Block yeast or dried...

Ooh! May need to talk to you when I have some money, could really do with marchpane and quince paste mould in various shapes.

There are details and sources for Trencher Bread in Brears, P. 'Cooking and Dining in Mediaeval England' - hope this helps!

Lightweight wools lined with pure linen with pure linen shirts/shifts and braies under them are the way to go. Any stiffening canvases should also be pure linen. The linen will wick the moisture away from the skin and the wool breathes. Do not use cotton as it swamps. If you have a pure linen garmen...

Please also complement Tam on her stays which really show that at this period they are fitted to the body and mould, rather than reducing like Victorian viewers.

Indeed - My C16th hat seema to be firmly stuck to my head at the moment.

Very interesting Foxe. This is a good example for stays in a period (C17th) where they are attested at all levels of society and emphasizes the importance of a good fit. This in and of itself is an issue as not everyone is good at making stays or can afford the services of a stay maker. This is prob...

As I said in my email to you, it is very difficult to give a costing without more precise information and a definite time scale. Made to measure clothing takes time and there is a whole scale of levels of authenticity and types of cloth that could be used which all have varying prices. If you give a...

The lighter shades of woad are relatively cheap, deep shades particularly on wool or silk are luxury items. IIRC the lighter shades are predominantly associated with serving men and apprentices, particularly for coats and jerkins in C16th (think Bluecoats school). Woaded cloth may well have been mor...

I have heard good reports of these people http://www.jacquardproducts.com/idye.html

Indeed the results I have seen have been very nice (quick nod to Jackie Phillips at http://www.cloakedanddaggered.com/ for showing me the results she obtained).

Staffordshire oatcakes are 50/50 wheat and oatflour and raised with yeast. Normally contain milk and lard or similar but can be adapted for veggies/vegans. Plenty of recipes on the web.

Details about Kentwell here. Best event is the June/July one as that is when the largest number of things are happening. Open to the public on the weekends.

Weld is your cheapest natural dye as it grows very well on disturbed/wasteland so once you know what to look for you can find it for nothing in a lot of places, even in town. Just don't randomly park your car on a roundabout or lose your keys in the field when picking it :wink: The actually results ...

If you need to piece you can however put a waist seam in each of your four panels - the flat piece should be the same. Can be useful if you are using an even weave cloth with no direction, just ensure that the bodice section is cut as woven as it carries the most stress.

Tod - on the matter of washing the fleece I suggest you stick your face deep in your fleece and take a deep breath and then imagine the odour once it is brought up to body heat or slightly above. Basically unwashed fleece is pretty stinky to say the least remember it will all sorts of assorted fluid...

Put a little fat on the bake stone - a solid lump of bacon fat is good as you can easily wipe it over the surface. When it comes to shaping the cake wet your hands before hand as it will stop the mix sticking (you may need to do this in between as well). To turn them whittle yourself a wooden spatul...

I have been recommended Ecover Delicates Liquid for washing raw fleece (not quite gotten round to it due to life and bad weather). Spread out and pick over fleece first, then put a modest amount in a bucket with the correct amount of liquid for the volume of water (cold will do), then swoosh gently ...

For Kentwell you will need to focus of specific Suffolk/Essex border's styles if I have understood him correctly!

Also try and find a twill cloth (recognizable by the visible diagonal in the weave and as fine as possible for wool) even if it a little more expensive. Hose are cut with this diagonal running vertically down the front of the leg which maximizes the elasticity of the cloth. You can use a plain weave...

Get on Jstor and construct some search strings based on your query, you will be amazed at what turns up