Cap of St. Birgitta

Welcome to my new Project/Dress diary blog. A major goal for myself this year is to practice documenting my SCA projects, so I figured this could be an excellent tool.

I have wanted a better coif for awhile, something to keep me 'proper' in my dress, and to keep my hair clean and out of the way. I also am planning on cutting my hair shorter this summer, so having implements ready to disguise that fact was a no brainer.

The lovely Idonia was working on a few of these caps while I was over at her house and I was inspired to create one as well. She has done some fairly extensive research on the cap, there is one extant cap of this style, known as the Cap o St. Birgitta. There is a fairly extensive article on it in Medieval Clothing & Textiles IV, edited by Robin Nethington. These caps are also well represented in period art. I must admit that I did little to no research of my own on this project, rather borrowing from Idonia's expertise and methods, however I feel that it's a fairly accurate portrayal.

Mine is 3.5 weight linen, hand sewn with poly thread. The blackwork is a simple chain stitch done in silk.