Linen fabric used within Lord Grey’s Retinue must be 100% pure linen and not a blend. Plain weave please, until we can document otherwise. ***We only use bleached white or natural colored linen***. We have not yet been able to document the use of any dyed/colored linen in England of 1471. (*If you have any evidence to prove otherwise we would very much appreciate your sharing that information with us!)
The following items are *always* to be made of bleached white linen:
The following items may be made from either bleached white or natural linen:
Heavier weight natural linen is ideal for use in making bags and ticks (a “tick” is fabric bag that forms a mattresses. We usually stuff ours with straw on site.)
We often buy our linen from abrics-store.com
For garments we most recommend using the IL019 (5.3 oz.) or 4C22 (7.1 oz.). Be sure to buy the “bleached” white and not the “optic” white please. The softened version is easier to work with. (side note: Most of us do not “pre-shrink” our linen before cutting and sewing. Linen will shrink up some when washed but then return to it’s original state when ironed or worn. By pre-washing you are creating an unnecessary amount of work in ironing the yardage before the garment is cut or sewn)
For smaller personal storage type bags any of the medium weights will do. Choose either the “mix natural” color or “Bleached white”.
For large storage type bags and ticks we prefer the natural heavy IL090 (8 oz) in the “mix natural” color. I believe only the “softened” is available – which is fine because it is much easier to sew then the un-softened.
Our instincts want us to purchase the soft and lightweight linens for our undergarments but the heavier weights of linen will prove more durable after several washings. The more you wash linen the softer it gets because the fibers break down and shed from the repeated washings. You can make your linen items last much longer by not putting them in the dryer. So we recommend that you wash linen either by hand or machine but always hang it to dry. Ironing will return the softness. If you have the budget, dry cleaning is the least work as it returns a clean pressed garment to you – just be sure to request no starch.
Linen costs between $10 and $14 per yard on average
All wool for use within Lord Grey’s Retinue must be 100% wool and not a blend with any other fiber please. This is not just for authenticity but for fire safety as well. Please check the fiber content of all fabrics before you purchase or use them. Do a burn test if possible to check fiber content.
How to burn test a swatch of fabric suspected to be wool: Do the burn test somewhere safe, like a metal sink with water, so you may extinguish the flame quickly and safely if necessary. Take a small swatch of your fabric, hold with a tweezer or similar, and light it on fire. 100% wool fibers will not want to catch fire and you will need to hold it in the flame for a bit – then it will quickly self extinguish once it does catch. The smoke will smell of burning hair and the remaining burnt edge will be soft and ashy.
**No super bright or fluorescent shades of any color**, Though some extremely vivid shades are obtainable with historically accurate natural dyes of the period – they would have faded and lost their vibrancy very quickly. Generally the more muted, muddy or light colored the fabric – the more affordable the dye would have been. Darker and highly saturated colors would have been more expensive to achieve as they require much more dyestuff and processing. So, consider the wealth of your persona when choosing the color and quality of the textiles you use. Do not let your 21st century tactile and color preferences influence your decision.
Solid or heathered colors only please – no patterned fabrics unless we can document and prove it’s common usage – (this is possible – just hard to prove. So we avoid it).
Choosing the correct 100% wool fabric is tough, especially if you are somewhat new to fabric shopping. You can always mail or bring swatches to Lara for advice. We can also mail you swatches to help you shop and identify wool weaves. I apologize for the complexity of selecting a correct wool fabric. It is difficult to simplify.
Types of wool which are preferred:
Types of wool which *MAY* be good, choose carefully:
“Worsted” wool should generally be avoided. Worsted wools are when the wool fiber is spun and made into a smoother yarn before the weaving process. This often makes for exceptionally fine and smooth fabric – especially lovely for modern suits and such. Perhaps the wealthiest of our gentle people may have a garment of such exceptionally fine cloth, perhaps, but not us regular folk. If you have a worsted wool which is not at all like a smooth modern suiting fabric – it may be ok to use. Send a swatch to Lara and we will talk about it.
*** Do not buy any wool described as crepe, stretch, novelty weave, tricotine, metallic, lurex, plaid, check, houndstooth or stripe ***
(We are on the fence about Tweed wools – hold off on those for now please)
Ordering wool online can be difficult since it is very hard to know the weave, fiber content and weight for absolute sure. If possible order a swatch or small cut of a fabric to test or submit for approval. I am very sorry that online retailers are not more accurate or specific, nearly half of the wool orders we have dealt with from assorted websites have proven to be other than represented.
However, there have been a few reliable online sources which we can recommend:
Sources for Boiled wool (**always make sure it is “100% wool” and not a blend**):
Not at all period correct for England of 1471.
England’s main industry and main export of the 15th century was wool production. While it is *possible* that someone somewhere may have purchased some fancy animal textiles elsewhere and traveled it back to England – it is not documentable and very unlikely to have landed in our part of the country or with our people.
We use very little silk fabric in Lord Greys Retinue. Yes, there was imported silk available in 1471 but the price was well beyond the means of those whom we most often portray.
We rarely use damasks or brocaded fabrics in Lord Grey’s for three reasons:
Cotton was not yet in common use in clothing in England of 1471. Raw cotton tufts were used for stuffing and padding. (***Research is ongoing on this subject. If you have any documentation to contribute on this subject or any other mentioned above, we would love to hear from you)