Purple Houppelande and Hennin

updated ?

This houppelande and matching hennin were created for the Monsters of the World themed Masked Ball at War of the Wings 2015. I decided to go as - wait for it - a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater.

I got the Casa Collection 100% polyester shantung in Eggplant from Jo-Ann. I believe I ended up with 8 or 9 yards, over 5.5 of which were the body of the dress. I also got some black 100% cotton velvet for the collar and the lappet on the hennin. I found a wide black velvet belt at a thrift store.

For the dagged sleeves, I cheated and used fabric glue. Between the unravel-y nature of the fabric and the small window of time in which I had to work, I opted for the less stressful option! For the hem, I used single fold bias tape like so.

The hennin was constructed using plastic canvas as a frame, then buckram over that, then the satin from the houppelande over all of it. Then I added a strip of black velvet for the lappet(s?). I cut the outer piece waaaay too small and had to do a lot of piecing - next time I'll cut a huge piece, stitch it down, then cut the edges to fit.

I used some felt in purple, white, brown, and black to make the mask. I cut out the pieces and stitched them on using a blanket stitch. I used some black embroidery floss to make the ties - I can't remember if I did a 4 loop spiral fingerloop braid like this one or a sort of rope twist but it looks like probably the latter.

I somehow lost track of which patterns/tutorials I used to make this. I know I definitely used Mistress Cynthia du Pré Argent's pattern here, and I also found Duchess Bronwyn ferch Gwythyr's post here helpful.

I have yet to find any evidence of a hennin like this one being worn with a houppelande like this one, but since it was for a costume I'm not too worried about it.

Reference Image Gallery

Virgil Master

Harley 1319, fol 2 (Jean Creton, La Prinse et mort du roy Richart)

c. 1401 - c. 1405, France, Central (Paris)

Master of the Coronation of the Virgin

BNF Français 12420, fol 93r (Giovanni Boccaccio, De mulieribus claris)

1401-1500, France, Central (Paris)

Master of Luzon, Orosius, the City of Ladies, or the Adelphes

Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Ms-664 réserve, fol 210v

(Publius Terentius Afer, Comedies)

c. 1411, France, Central (Paris)

Unknown illustrator

BnF Ms. NAL 1673, fol 38v

(Albucasis, Tacuinum Sanitatis)

first half of the 15th century, Italy, Pavia or Milan

Hieronymus Bosch

The Adoration of the Magi

early 16th century, Netherlands

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Accession number: Inv. 1321

Photo Gallery

The hennin finished	Inside of hennin - you can sort of see where I stitched the edges of the plastic canvas together. The middle layer is buckram and the outer layer is the shantung.	Front of hennin - there was no time to troubleshoot the wrinkles, unfortunately.
Back of hennin - you can see where I had to cut another piece to cover the gap, and I was struggling so much with the fabric and the time crunch I didn't even fold the fabric over when I did the seams. The result is NOT pretty!	Sleeve - with the sleeve inside out, I used the fabric glue around the edges of the dags. When it was dry, I used a pencil to turn them right-side out.	Sleeves and body finished - I believe at this point it was still unhemmed, and obviously the collar wasn't on yet.
Showing how the "wings" look	Just goofing off a little!	This mask was created by cutting the pieces out of felt and stitching them together using blanket stitch.
A wide black velvet belt I found at a thrift store	Front view without the mask	Front view with the mask
Right side	Left side	Back
Collar	Collar	Collar
Yule 2016	Yule 2016: back	Yule 2016: back