Pennsic Dresses!

I've now finished my 1500's orange linen Venetian.  I've posted about the 1570's green linen and I've also finished my own 1570's purple linen that is similar to my sister in laws.   These are the photos my brother took for me of each of the dresses.  Unfortunately, I didn't lace the purple linen one correctly and didn't realize it until I took the dress off.  It is the only one that is 100% hand sewn.  The other two are a mix of hand sewing and machine sewing.

The green one is really a linen cotton blend.  The purple is purple linen that I made into a bias tape to use as trim.  This dress was very pieced as I only had a little over three yards to deal with.

I'm not completely happy with the purple linen one - the back came out a bit wonky.   However, it fits and it is hand sewn.  Even the lining is linen.  

I know, I have my eyes closed in the first photo.  :-)  I love, love this style because it's so comfortable and easy to make.  The trim is one I've had in my stash for years.  This only took me a day to make - I machine sewed the seams for the sides of the bodice, the sides of the skirt, the hem of the skirt, and attaching the hand gathered skirt to the bodice.  The skirt was hand gathered, the neckline was whip stitched closed, and the trim was hand sewn on.  Of course, the inside of the bodice and the eyelets were hand sewn as well.  

Right now, I'm working on another Italian dress - 1490's this time- which I hope to share by the end of the week.  

Medieval Apple Pie Perfected!

Long time readers will know that for years, I've tried to work on making a good, yummy, apple pie that was also period correct for the SCA. My favorite recipe is a 16th c one. And while the filling is delicious, the crust always left something to be desired. Until now.

Earlier this year, I tried a new way to make a 15th C pie crust but it wasn't quite there. However, I knew I was finally on the right track. This is what I did this time.

First, the recipe for documentation purposes:

then make a dough of sugar, flour, oil, water and salt, mix them together to make the dough, spread it over the bottom of a low pan, and put the mixture in so that it is no more than a finger deep; cook it in the oven or on the fire as is directed for the other tortes; when almost cooked, get wafers, crumble them over the Tart - those wafers should be made with good sugar; when cooked, garnish with sugar and rosewater. (Italy, 15th C)

Then, what I used:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of oil
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/2 cup ice cold water

Basically, I cut the oil down from last time and dramatically increased the sugar in the crust. I also kneaded in more flour than is shown here before rolling it out. After mixing everything together and rolling out the dough, I put half the dough in the pie pan and baked it for about 12 min at 375F. The other half I cut into strips to add as the cover for the pie.

The filling was the same as always, sugar and cinnamon on top of the boiled apples. It's simple, it's period, and it's delicious.

The nice thing about this crust is it's thin, it's flaky, and it's pretty good on it's own - basically, everything you want in a crust. Also, it's period correct for the 15c and it's correct for Lent. Yay!