Adventures in Dagging 14th Century Dagge Manufacturing Techniques From Archaeological Examples

Adventures in Dagging; 14th century Dagge manufacturing Techniques from archaeological examples
Adventures in Dagging; 14th century Dagge manufacturing

Techniques from archaeological examples
About the class

This is a short, hands-on, experimental archeology workshop in which we will recreate documented period dagges
from archaeological examples and period artworks, based on my guesses on how the dagge fragments seen in
_Textiles and Clothing_ were constructed. All you need are fulled wool (or modern felt) and scissors. It's fun art's and
crafts for medieval costume geeks!
Materials and handouts provided:

Sample strips of fulled wool are provided for each archaeological example we will reproduce today.
1. Intro, materials provided, tools needed, references 1p

2. Simple Leaves 2p
3. Complex Pinked Leaves 2p
4. Oak Leaves 2p
5. Modern tools and techniques 1p
Tools needed:
In addition to what is provided in the workshop kit, you will need:
1. Scissors
2. Note-taking materials
All examples are drawn from items illustrated and described in _Textiles and Clothing_, except the “Arnolfini” dagges
and William of Hatfield's cloak, which are drawn from contemporary artworks . For more examples to try, comb
artworks of the period, especially depictions of horses and revellers.
Instructor:
This workshop is taught by Branwyn M. Townsend, known in the SCA as Lady Marguerie de Jauncourt.
I've been in the SCA for eight years. I have been studying and re-creating historic clothing for twice that
long. My area of special interest in the SCA time frame is 12th Century clothing, but I have a fondness for
the era of dagges and silly hats.
Copyright ©2004-2010 Branwen Maura Townsend. Please email for permission to reproduce. jauncourt@gmail.com
Simple "Leaves"
My three example pieces, l tor: #248, #249/250 (cut structure only - grain and seam not taken into account for this
sample), #51
All three are done on fulled wool, though the #249/#250 sample is done on a very lightweight green wool worsted that
fulled very little, and the #248 and #51 samples on a lightweight blue fulled wool worsted.
Description:
The original pieces are several 14th century artefacts shown in _Textiles & Clothing_:
• Item #51, several fragmentary but related sections of a dagged strip. Cut not quite on the straight of the grain,
with very shallow, sharply angled cuts. Probably cut freehand, also probably recycled from an older garment.
The strip had ornaments sewn to the center section at some point.
• Item #248, six fragmentary dagges in a medium weight woad-dyed tabby. Cut on the straight grain, with larger
leaves than the previous example. Possibly had ornaments sewn to some parts of center section.
• Item #249, Fragments with center seam, cut on the straight grain. Probably recycled, or cut from scraps for
economy. Leaves are cut freehand and unevenly, shallow and wide, and center section is almost 2.5 times as
wide as leaves.
• Item #250, fragments with center seam, cut offgrain. Center strip is about 1.5 to 2 times as wide as leaves.
Leaf structure is nearly identical to previous example.
Methods used to reproduce these dagged strips included working "freehand" (cutting into a flat strip with a scissor
trying to keep the leaves as identical as possible) and folding the strip in half, then snipping at regular intervals to get a
fairly uniform result. I theorize that thinner fabrics could have been dagged using the latter method, providing that the
taylor's shears were sharp. Try both methods.
After snipping, I pulled and twisted the strips and individual leaves gently to stretch and shape them. This produced a
pleasantly curly structure, like the edges of a lasagna noodle, which catches the air nicely. It also stretches the fulled
wool so that the individual leaves stand out more, though the final effect is lost when they are pressed flat to scan. Try
pulling and shaping your strips gently.
Diagrams:
Notes: Notes:
Notes: Notes:
Complex Pinked Leaves
Figure 2, l to r: sample a in lightweight fulled dark blue wool Figure 3: This is a single-thickness
(pinking work incomplete); sample b in medium weight dark sample of Arnolfini-style complex
red fulled wool (pinking work complete). dagging. It is done in lightweight
dark blue fulled wool. When held
Both samples are worked after #252, with differing leaf
up, it does hand somewhat like the
pitches. All pinking is done with simple scissor snips, as
dags seen in the Arnolfini Portrait.
surmised in T&C.
Description:
This is described in _T&C_ as being so complex that it is unlikely to have been part of an actual garment:
"It is alone in having almost all of its edges scalloped or pinked, presumably snipped with shears or
scissors. Whether this represents idle doodling on an already discarded scrap or is the only evidence for
the most elaborate decorative dagges, is now difficult to assess."
I cut these samples first and last, just to see if they were, in fact, more difficult to cut than, say, simple "leaves" or oak-
leaf shapes. As it turned out, these really aren't any tougher or more time-consuming than oak-leaves, which I would
think puts paid to the idea that they are so hard to do that no-one could wear them.
The methods I used were to cut the simple leaves first (as above) and then I tried both snipping the pinks individually
and folding in half and snipping, with similar success. Results were slightly more uniform with the fold-and-snip
method, as they are for simple leaves, but also only acheivable with very sharp scissors.
Mrs Arnolfini's elaborate, many-layers-deep fringe of double-layered strips of elaborate dagging is apparently of a
related design, which forms crosses instead of "wings." Each strip is made eight crosses deep, and they are sewn to
another strip to make them double-thickness. It appears that some may have been folded rather than simply doubled
to produce the effect seen in the painting.
The method used for the sample is similar to the fold-and-cut method used for one sample of T&C #252, except that
every other initial cut is reversed. Pinking is also done this way. The strip was finished by pulling and twisting gently.
Diagrams:
#252:
"An item in this late 14th-century assemblage of
textiles which, in the absence of any more likely
explanation, is currently interpreted as being
connected with dagges, is of a fine, fulled, rich brown
cloth. It now resembles a headless bird and could
have come from a strip of dagges like #248."
Notes: Notes:
Enlarged detail of some of the decorative dagges on Mrs.

Arnolfini's gown.
Notes: Notes:
Oak Leaves
Figure 4: 2 samples:
Top: Freehand cut individual oakleaves in various stages of development: roughcut, developed,
snipped (unclear in image), rough shape. These are worked on medium-weight fulled wool.
Bottom: Reconstruction of the corner of the cloak worn by the effigy of Willaim of Hatfield,
showing angled "oakleaf" compound leaves on the vertical edge and individual oakleaves on the
horizontal edge. This is worked on heavy (melton) fulled wool.
Description:
Item #70 is the first entry in the section of the chapter entitled Sewing techniques and tailoring in T&C. It is
described as being a 6cm long oakleaf in a a "well-fulled light brown tabby" wool. It is on the straight grain and may
have hung from a sloped edge of a cape or hood. It has 8 lobes. The original item is considerably less regular than my
diagram, which is an idealized shape, and the one I strove for in my samples.
Related to this little wool oakleaf is the cloak (and caped hood, which I didn't try to cover here) of the stone funeral
effigy of William of Hatfield in York Minster. The vertical edge of the cloak has oak-leaf like complex dagges cut into it,
while the horizontal edge has individual, shaped oa k leaves like #70. At the corner is a sort of blend of the two shapes.
To make the oakleaves, I first cut pendant ovals of hopefully identical sizes along the edge of my cloth. Next, I snipped
around the edges of each oval to define the lobes. Finally I rounded the edges of the lobes with my scissors, first by
snipping the corners off and lastly by carefully rounding a few of the lobes. I used the same method for both oakleaf
samples.
To make the complex dagged leaves along the vertical edge, I first snipped angled cuts into the edge, then cut the
secondary cuts.
After I did this, I made a decision to try and round the lobes, which I am now certain I was mistaken to do. Though it
looks nice, it's not accurate to what I was trying to reconstruct. After having looked closer at my source, I think the main
'leaves' were slightly rounded at their outer top edges and no further deliberate rounding was done. The diagram is
much closer to the original depiction than my example.
Diagrams:
Notes: Notes:
Notes: Notes:
Modern Tools and Techniques

An idea for speeding up dagges production using modern tools and techniques. Try this at home, but remember to be
careful.
Diagram for using rotary cutter to create “Arnolfini” or maltese cross dagges in quantity.
Description:
Steps for making maltese cross dagges with a rotary cutter and mat.
1. Lay out your fulled, pressed wool on your cutting mat. For surface safety, it should already be cut into a long
rectangle narrower than the width of the cutting mat.
2. Mark out strips and a diagonal square grid with chalk along the entire length of the rectangle. It should look
something like the diagram above.
3. Work on one section at a time, being careful to stay on the mat.
4. Cut the “x” shapes with a straight rotary blade, being careful not to cut too deeply into the centers of the strips.
5. Trim the inner edges of the “x” shapes with a rotary pinking blade (or wait and hand cut with pinking shears).
6. Cut the strips with a rotary pinking blade.
7. Move up the strip to the next section, continue as above (4-6) until done.

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Adventures in Dagging; 14th century Dagge manufacturing Techniques from archaeological examples

Adventures in Dagging; 14th century Dagge manufacturing

About the class

Materials and handouts provided:

1. Intro, materials provided, tools needed, references 1p

Complex Pinked Leaves

Enlarged detail of some of the decorative dagges on Mrs.

Modern Tools and Techniques

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