Helm

[James de Avesnes]

Hi I'm new here, so this may have been answered before.  How does one make a trace and mantling?  Specifically, what materials were they made of and are there specific patterns for different time periods.  Thanks for your time.
Jim

[Sir Edward]

Hi there! Do you mean the torse and mantle? Basically linen, silk, or wool. Some of the mantles may have been leather. But the torse should be more of a fine fabric.

[Sir William]

Sir Edward, I think now would be a good time to show off the ones you and Sir Brian have crafted; quite good to my eyes and exactly what this man's looking for.

[Sir Brian]

I'll have to get back to this one as I'm running late to meet with my seamstress and then off to sword practice! 

[James de Avesnes]

Great!  I'm looking forward to seeing your torse and mantle projects.  Thanks for your help.

[ECOX]

James I hope this helps. I have been working on my first one. I still have some final sewing to do.

[Sir Rodney]

Nice little tutorial ECOX, thank you! 

Hi I'm new here, so this may have been answered before.  How does one make a trace and mantling?  Specifically, what materials were they made of and are there specific patterns for different time periods.  Thanks for your time.

Welcome and Well Met Good James!  I'm also very interested in learning if and how torse styling changed with the centuries.  Torse and mantling are well documented on great helms, sugarloaf helms, jousting helms and parade helms in historical context.  My specific question falls within James' broader scope; is torse and mantling historically proper for a mid-14th century English bascinet?  If so, can someone point to documentation?

[Sir Brian]

Hi I'm new here, so this may have been answered before.  How does one make a trace and mantling?  Specifically, what materials were they made of and are there specific patterns for different time periods.  Thanks for your time.
Jim

James I hope this helps. I have been working on my first one. I still have some final sewing to do.

Yep that’s the same pattern I based my torse on ECOX. I made some slight variations by using rope batting, which helped keep a uniform shape. My original mantle was two pieces of fabric in my primary metal and color of my COA. I sewed them together in a roughly 1’ X 2’ rectangle and then my wife did some creative pinning after I added it to the helm. My newest mantle is a core of thin leather sandwiched between two pieces of raw silk dyed in my primary metal and color. I cut the leather core in a more decorative pattern (a sort of wavy ringlets) and then had a seamstress sew the silk onto the leather.
Sorry I don’t have any updated pictures of my new mantle. I’m still using my original torse though!

Original mantle & torse:

[Sir William]

ECOX, nice man, nice...did you make that armor stand yourself, by the way?

[James de Avesnes]

Thanks everybody, for the input!  Hopefully I can get one setup here shortly.

[ECOX]

@ Lord Rodney, Thank you but it is not of my own making, but a web find.
@ Lord Brian, The rope batting would be much easier and better. I saw some the day after stuffing mine.
@ Sir William, The stand was a Garage sale find. cost me a dollar and would be easy to make some tubing and a pipe bender.
Not sure of the etiquette, did not mean to hijack post.

[Leganoth]

I plan on buying a mannequin for my armor, dunno how expensive thatll be though
 

[Sir Rodney]

I searched high and low for a used, reasonably priced mannequin to no avail.  Making my own turned out to be my only cost effective answer.  This thread contains several different armour stands and a bit of silliness:

Armour Stand

[Sir William]

ECOX, I like it...very utilitarian.

Leganoth, I've checked extensively...mannequins weren't built to hold the weight of armor...if you were only going to hang thin-gauge costume armor then yes, go for it.  Lord Rodney's is but one fine example of an armor stand...although I really do like his.

[James de Avesnes]

I was just looking at the mantles displayed in the Codex Manesse and I see that many of the helms display red cords hanging out of them.  Was this some sort of chinstrap that ties akin to Samurai helmets?