I can really only address one part of this. On Feb 2, 2010, at 12:45 PM, Julie wrote:
2. If I have to make my own hoops, where do you recommend I buy the hoop material?
My first farthingale was sturdy cotton twill, and when it wore out, I made my second one of medium-weight linen. I try to use linen as much as possible because it "breathes" better than tightly woven cotton and also tends to last longer.
I have actually used 1-inch steel lumber strapping, carefully straightened, for the hoops. If you have skirts of heavy velveteen or wool, modern "bridal" hoops are sometimes not strong enough to hold that weight of cloth properly. Best of all, it's usually free. The downsides are that it can rust if it gets wet a lot, and that it's rather heavy. If you are trying to minimize the physical weight of your 16th century clothing it's not the best choice.
Do ask around a bit about how big to make your hoops -- especially if you're working to someone else's costume standards. Some of the Victorian hoops can get pretty big; the Elizabethan ones (at least according to the costume guidelines in my Renaissance guild!) are seldom more than about 90" to 120" around at the bottom.
____________________________________________________________ O Chris Laning <clan...@igc.org> - Davis, California + http://paternoster-row.org - http://paternosters.blogspot.com ____________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
