On Thursday 26 July 2007, Beth and Bob Matney wrote: > Thanks Cathy! You're welcome!
I wouldn't mind starting a discussion about this find. I stumbled across the article while I was and work (and, admittedly, while I should have been doing something else) and in my first hurried scan thought that they had actually found an intact, whole apron dress. They haven't, but they found a much bigger piece than anyone else has found to date. On the other hand, the fragment they found poses some serious questions. The holes the researchers believe to be stitching holes indicating where the front loops were are in locations that are 85 cm apart. That's about 34 inches! If you've ever tried to make an apron dress, you'd know that it's difficult to make the dress stay put if you put the front loops much further apart than about 20 cm (the distance of the loop locations in one of the Birka finds, according to the summary). That's about 8 inches, and that's roughly the distance I've used for mine. The summary notes that the researchers posited wearing a narrow (i.e., 20 cm or so) apron over the apron dress. The problem with that is that it would almost completely hide the silk--and why would you want to do that? I'm wondering if the only surviving bit of the apron dress isn't the loops inside the brooches, and if the silk isn't part of a different garment altogether. Alternatively, the "stitching holes" may have been misinterpreted, and the loops may have been sewn onto a linen area above the silk applique that didn't survive. I'm thinking of attempting my own re-creation based on the summary and the pictures, just to see what I can learn thereby. -- Cathy Raymond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "You've got to have the proper amount of disrespect for what you do." -- George Mabry _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
