Tag Archives: 18th century

Drawn Thread Work Tutorial

21st May 2017Sewing & Crochet18th century, 1920s, DIY, edwardian, embroidery, hand sewing, lace, lace tutorial, sewing, tutorial, upcycling, victorianLina

Learn to make drawn thread work by hand! Drawn thread work is a beautiful whitework embroidery! It’s easy to make but it takes time.

‘Drawn-thread work forms a connecting link between embroidery and lace work […] it is very durable, and washes well.’ (Every Woman’s Encyclopaedia, 1910-2)

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to make basic drawn thread work by hand. Drawn thread work is a counted thread embroidery: Warp or weft threads are removed and the remaining threads are grouped together with hemstitches.

Drawn thread work has been popular for a long time. It was already used in the Middle Ages (source), and was still popular in the Victorian and Edwardian era and the 1920s. Continue reading Drawn Thread Work Tutorial →

Making A Clocked Stocking Pattern

29th November 201618th Century, Sewing & Crochet18th century, DIY, sewing, tutorial, underwearLina

I used my stocking pattern to make a pattern for 18th century clocked stockings. Continue reading Making A Clocked Stocking Pattern →

Turn Leggings Into Stockings – Refashion Tutorial

29th November 2016Refashion18th century, DIY, finished historical costume, sewing, tutorial, underwear, upcyclingLina

Today I turned my old leggings into stockings. It’s perfect to repurpose ill-fitting, outgrown tights or old leggings with holes along the seams – no need to throw them away! I’ve written a tutorial, so you can also refashion your old leggings into thigh high stockings. Continue reading Turn Leggings Into Stockings – Refashion Tutorial →

10 Victorian Bread Recipes Without Commercial Yeast

5th October 2016(Historical) Cooking Recipes18th century, bread, chickpea, edwardian, fruit, medieval, pea, recipe, roundup, vegan, victorian, wild yeast, without commercial yeastLina

Victorian bread recipes without commercial yeast and without sourdough starter – you don’t need commercial yeast to bake a loaf of bread! In the Victorian era it was quite common to make yeast substitutes at home. Here you’ll find 8 recipes for homemade yeast substitutes: hop yeast, fruit yeast, grape must yeast, flour yeast sponge, pea yeast, bark yeast & salt rising bread.

I often make homemade sourdough bread, but since I made Victorian Graham bread (with commercial yeast) for the Historical Food Fortnightly two month ago, I was interested in historical homemade bread recipes which were made without commercial yeast. So here I compiled Victorian bread recipes which are all made without commercial yeast and without traditional homemade sourdough starter.

‘Home-made liquid yeast is exceedingly easy to prepare. It simply requires a mixture of water and some material in which the plant cells will rapidly grow.’ (A Handbook Of Invalid Cooking, 1893)

In the Victorian era, yeast was usually made at home with boiled hops and mashed potatoes. But nearly all Victorian yeast recipes made with hops say to add some commercial yeast as well; but finally I found two Victorian yeast recipes without commercial yeast, which you’ll find below. There are also recipes for Victorian salt-risen bread, Roman bread made with grape must, Turkish pea bread and Siberian bark bread. Continue reading 10 Victorian Bread Recipes Without Commercial Yeast →

Alkanet Root Oil Recipe

27th September 2016Historical Natural Beauty Routine & Products18th century, beauty recipe, edwardian, homemade natural makeup, tutorial, victorianLina

A week ago I made alkanet infused oil to naturally color a Victorian lip balm. Continue reading Alkanet Root Oil Recipe →

Heavenly Sky-blue (Or Blood-red) Summer Sauce – Historical Food Fortnightly

27th September 2016(Historical) Cooking Recipes18th century, blue, dairy-free, fruit, gluten-free, medieval, natural dye, natural food coloring, recipe, savory, veganLina

For the Historical Food Fortnightly challenge 18 – ‘Let’s get saucy!’ I tried to make a medieval natural blue sauce. I found the recipe in different languages all over the internet: in French it’s called ‘Sauce bleu céleste d’été’, and in English ‘Heavenly sky-blue summer sauce’ or ‘Summertime cerulean blue sauce‘. It’s a 1450s or 1460s recipe from the book ‘Libro de arte coquinaria’ by Maestro Martino, which is the most influential cookbook in the 15th century. The cookbook contains mainly sauce recipes, and it’s the first book which mentions a piece of cloth to strain sauces. The cookbook is written in Latin and the recipe I’m now making is called: ‘Sapor celeste de estate’. Continue reading Heavenly Sky-blue (Or Blood-red) Summer Sauce – Historical Food Fortnightly →

Victorian Nettle Beer And Kvass – Small Beer Recipes – Historical Food Fortnightly

27th September 2016(Historical) Cooking Recipes18th century, dairy-free, drink, gluten-free, recipe, vegan, victorian, wild yeastLina

For the Historical Food Fortnightly challenge 17 – Myths and Legends, I made small beer. Small beer was drunk in medieval Europe instead of water, as water wasn’t safe to drink. Small beer contains less alcohol than beer; it was homemade; drunk by all, even children and servants, and the consistency was sometimes rather like porridge. Small beer is mentioned in “The Three Heads of the Well” by Joseph Jacobs published in English Fairy Tales in 1890: The king’s daughter says to the old man: ‘In my bag I have got bread and cheese, and in my bottle good small beer. Would you like to have some?’ Continue reading Victorian Nettle Beer And Kvass – Small Beer Recipes – Historical Food Fortnightly →

16th Or 17th C. Braided Hairstyle – Tutorial

4th August 2016Historical Hairstyle Tutorials18th century, hairstyle, tutorial, victorianLina

This medieval braided updo is suitable for a 16th or 17th century lower class woman. 16th and 17th century lower class women always wore their hair covered with a coif, so it’s not easy to know how they dressed their hair, but they might have worn a similar braided updo according to these two 16th century paintings – a great source about 16th/17th century hairstyles + free coif patterns.

And this historical braid hairstyle is made without hairties or hairpins! Continue reading 16th Or 17th C. Braided Hairstyle – Tutorial →

Hardtack As Dog Food – Historical Food Fortnightly

4th August 2016(Historical) Cooking Recipes18th century, bread, dairy-free, dog, edwardian, recipe, savory, vegan, victorianLina

Hardtack, also called ship’s biscuit, is a hard cracker made with flour and water. It was used on long sea voyages, and soldiers in the American Civil War were sometimes supplied with hardtack rations instead of flour. But hardtack is also an early form of dog food: ‘Dog-biscuit is a hard and well-baked mass of coarse, yet clean and wholesome flour, of an inferior kind to that known as sailors’ biscuit; and this latter substance, indeed, would be the best substitute’ (The Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, 1841, p. 244).

Hardtack will keep much longer than flour (in museums there’s still hardtack which is over hundred years old! 😮 )- so it’s my entry for the Historical Food Fortnightly challenge 12 (food preservation). Continue reading Hardtack As Dog Food – Historical Food Fortnightly →

History Of Dog Food

22nd July 2016Themes Across Eras18th century, article, dog, edwardian, victorianLina

Since millennia, humans and dogs lived together – dogs are the oldest domesticated animal. In ancient times, dogs guarded flocks and farms. Later they were used as hunting dogs. And especially since the 18th century and Victorian era, lap dogs became fashionable. So there’s a long history of dog food. For many centuries, dogs were just fed with barley flour soaked in milk or broth. Then in the 19th century, the first dog biscuits factory opened. But the Edwardians thought dog biscuits weren’t an ideal food: meat mixed with flour or bread and vegetables was considered the best dog food. Continue reading History Of Dog Food →