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Sewing Tutorial:
14th Century Plain Fillet To Use Under A Veil

UNDER CONSTRUCTION


The fillet can be usually NOT seen in medieval art in the early 14th century, usually pre-1350s. It's what we think was worn like a head band to keep the hair back and give something to pin the veil onto. Their exact manufacture is unclear as there are no existing ones, so all we can do is make them with techniques which are known from materials which were used. I have seen them made as a circle and also with ties, and as best I know, neither is incorrect.

This tutorial is only one potential method of making these to look like the images we see, and it's the way I've done it with the best results.


What you need:
All you need is thread, a needle, pins, scissors,ruler, pen or pencils, a long strip of linen the circumfrence of your head plus about 1.5cm overlap, a strip of canvas or aida cloth the circumfrence of your head plus 1cm.

  Step 1
You will need to decide how high you want your fillet to be.

If you're not sure, wide ruler can be a good guide.
 

Step 2
Cut your linen.

I made mine a ruler width and 62 cm long so it goes around my head. 62cm was my TOTAL of all of those combined. I have a small head.

Mark it out with a pencil and then cut to size.

This is what you will be using as a base for the linen, and will provide a little bit of stiffness.

 

Step 3
Mark your linen

Cut it out. It should look like this now.

 

Step 4

 

Step 5

 

Step 6

 

Step 7

 

Step 8

 

Step 9

 

Step 10

 

The end result!
I'm pretty pleased with this.

Happy sewing!

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