Most women in the period of the SCA went about their everyday lives with their head covered.  In my particular area of interest - Great Britain pre 14th C - they always had veils or wraps especially if they were Christian.  This has always been an issue for me cause I hate having my head wrapped up and only showing the face.   I also hate having bulky things on and having to fiddle with it / worry about it when trying to run a kitchen, etc.  I can see the logic for headcoverings due to hygeine reasons, etc, - just hasn't been my cup of tea.

Now this is a sticking point when trying to be accurate in period.  Women and men in the SCA period wore coverings on their heads.  Very rarely did they not.  It's quite visible when you're at an event and can see who has and who hasn't got headgear.  I have been in the past one of those who hasn't got headgear, but I'm trying to reduce that from happening in the future.

So, I decided to do some research into headgear that didn't weigh a tonne, had lots of wrapping/fiddling, etc.  And I came up with the Cap of St Birgitta.  There's a number of blogs around where people have done investigations on this style of linen caps so I won't duplicate what they have got.  But I will put a lovely link to my blog of inspiration here.  While these caps don't come from my chosen area/time I'm happy to be a little inaccurate for the sake of being within the SCA time frame.

This has been an interesting project in that alot of instructions I found weren't in English so a number of prototypes had to be made while I made sense of Swedish measurements and drawings.  It's probably still not quite right based on the original but I have an event in 2 weeks to attend and it'll keep my hair out of the way for it.

So here's how I eventually ended up with this:



Step 1 - Make a toile.



This is my third attempt at making this.  First one was too long around my head - it crossed over at the back when I put it on.  I had measured from my hairline at the front to the base of my skull but I forgot that when you add the gatthering it added about 2 inches to it hence the need for the right length to be about 2 inches shorter than the left slope length.  First one had the slope too round, second one had the slope too steep.  I think I have it mostly right now.

Step 2 - cut out 2 pieces in linen based on the toile and pin the hems on the slope pieces.



Remember to check that you have pinned on opposite sides - not the same side twice.  Otherwise you end up with the hemming showing on one side once it's been put together.  Did that on the second prototype by accident.

Step 3 - Pin the 2 halves together and whipstitch from the top down to about 8cm from the bottom.





Now a proper St Birgitta cap has embroidery between the 2 halves.  A - I haven't found a detailed example of the embroidery used on the extant piece, B - I still consider this another prototype even though it is made of linen fabric and silk thread, and C - don't have time right now .  If and when I make a good one it will have embroidery between the 2 halves and embroidery on the edging.

Step 4 - gather the 2 halves separately into small cartridge pleats.



I seem to be doing alot of these lately.  I haven't even bothered to mark before sewing them this time.



Step 5 - Sew on band all the way around the front bit making sure to include the gathered bits.



Gathering sewn into the band.



Handstitching on the band.  I think I made the band a bit small.  It wouldn't fit much embroidery on it.

Step 6 - whipstitch string extending from band.



After trying it on your head attach the string to the starting end of the band.  Ends up in a circle as seen in the very first picture.

Final result:





I put my hair into 2 plaits and shoved one plait in each half.  I don't like where the join of the string ended up cause I used 2 lengths of fabric.  Next one I'll cut the string off at the end of the band and make the string one long piece so the joins are hiding underneath.

Relatively quick project - probably around 2 days worth of sewing spread over 2 weeks.  I can wear it as is or can put a veil over the top of it.   I'm happy with it as I will have my head covered at Sapphire Joust.  I'll probably do some more research and experimenting in the future but not tll after Pennsic.  One more item to cross off the to do list.