The first garment in the ensemble is a white cotton lawn qamis (chemise), pictured at right.

This item was based on the image of a Moorish woman in a sheer qamis from the Libro de los Juegos (Book of Games) of Alfonso X of Spain, as seen below. The full out fit the day of the vigil was the sheer qamis, white sarawil (trousers) and a white veil.

Because Tala was using a mobility scooter for Pennsic, I wanted her clothing to be easy to move in, and also comfortable in the heat. The original garments as seen in the Libro image most likely would have been made of silk or a very fine wool, but there is ample evidence of the use of linen and cotton for outer clothing.

Note: there’s another detail that comes into play later - you will notice that the two women playing chess have dark or brownish markings on their hands. This is henna, which was a common personal adornment of the period, especially for significant life events.

I let Tala rummage through my (extensive) fabric stash to choose what fabrics she wanted for her elevation tunic. She chose a deep eggplant purple linen that I honestly do not even remember purchasing at this point.

The tunic is extremely simple in cut - like the qamis, it is two rectangles for the body, two wide rectangular sleeves, and two trapezoidal side gores to add width. I originally cut the side gores too narrow, and ended up going back and adding two more triangular gores between the trapezoid halves.

I also turned up a scrap of this Laurel wreath block printed cotton from Çok Güzel. I took a bit of liberty and used this as tiraz bands (usually tiraz bands are seen on men’s garments, and contain bits of prayers or poetry)

I love this image of Tala on her faithful steed, outside the Pennsic classroom where the African track of classes that she organized were held.

The tunic is cut short enough to show a bit of the sarawil beneath, and provides a measure of safety when working around mobility devices. I wanted Tala to be comfortable enough in this garment to wear it frequently, and to not have to worry about hems getting caught underfoot or in moving parts.

The original garments would have been much longer and much fuller - fabrics were cut in their entire width to show off rich patterns and colors. However, as craftspersons, we have to make choices that accommodate our clients and their health and safety. Personal philosophy: I would rather “do it wrong” and have my client be happy with the result than insist on absolute accuracy and give them an item they can’t or won’t use. Hopefully, the fact that she wore this the very next day means I succeeded!

As a sneaky little gift, Suphunbal rabat, my partner in “show Tala all the love” and vigil co-coordinator, arranged for her apprentice to henna Tala’s hand. It was both an historically-appropriate touch we thought she would enjoy, and gave her a bit of a breather before the whirlwind activities of vigil and elevation started.

Salvia Repentina came to camp about an hour before the activities were planned to start. She and Tala sat down in the vigil tent - which was not sequestered, by Tala’s request - and discussed the design and placement. Tala chose the appropriate Amazigh designs, and her hand was fully hennaed before the handwashing ceremony began.

One of the traditional items of regalia given during Atlantian Laurel elevations is a cloak. The cloak, as I mention when I am asked to speak on a candidate’s behalf, represents both the weight of the responsibility we now take on as Peers, and also the warm and protection that we can offer to those we teach.

However. I hate cloaks. As a person with sensory issues, I find the constant fussing to keep them straight and tidy, the weight, and the general bulk to be absolutely overwhelming. I usually suggest some other garment, and in this case, Tala was of the same mind.

We started with the fabric. We found this gorgeous garnet red wool flannel on Renaissance Fabrics, and Tala’s steadfast partner Ben snapped up the very last 3 yards they had. Instead of washing and drying the wool yardage, I ran it through a hot dryer with several wet towels. This steam set the fabric so that it didn’t full; instead, the shrinkage is minimal and the fabric retains its lovely drape.

(Note: if you opt to steam set wool this way, be aware that the resulting garment CANNOT BE WASHED. It will immediately shrink. Instead, it should be spot cleaned to remove stains and aired to remove smells. At most, it can be dry cleaned.)

I also had a packet of silk die cut Laurel leaves in my stash, purchased from Ollamh Lanea Inghean Uí Chiaragáin, my favorite quilter.

Finally, I had a scant handful of gold metal flower fabric studs leftover from my own elevation dress.

I went with a somewhat loose interpretation, although the lines of the body are very close to the original. Because pattern matching was not an issue, I added more seams for structural stability, and ran the side gores all the way up to the shoulder. The overall size is reduced - the original garment would have been ankle length on the wearer, and the width would have been enormous to capture as many repeats of the large embroidered pattern.

The cote is bound with an olive gold silk taffeta, and the gold silk leaves were first bonded in place and then stitched down with silk perle thread.