Sash? Did ye make yours?

[Katerine_La_Rose_Noire]

So I've looked online at several sashes ranging from $50-$9. Yesterday at the fabric store...I found satin on sale ($2.50 per yard) and grabbed some fringe from the drapery dept. No my question is fer ye weathered seamstresses....How long should I make the sash (I've seen 10 ft. online for orders...but is this the optimal legnth for about a 33" waist)? and what width should I cut the fabric to?

Thank ye

Kat

[Duchess]

And the anwser be: What ever you want!

There aren't any rules about sash lengths or widths. In general ten footers are meant to be wrapped around several times, and leave a good length to hang down . Shorter sashes wrap fewer times and/or have less hanging down. So play around with your fabric and decide which look and style suits you best.

The sash I wear most often actually started out as part of a turban. It is olive green heavy silk, about eleven foot long and one foot wide. It wraps several times and hangs down to my knees. I do have several shorter lengths of fabric that I wear occasionally, depending on what I'm doing. Sometimes having that much "bulk" and loose fabric can get in the way, or even be dangerous.

The Duchess

[Lady Seahawke]

For those that like a bit easier way, I found that by going to the women's accessories and looking though the rectangular shoulder scarves/shawls...especially if you want either silk, cotton or a woolen one. (discount shops of course)

They are wide enough to double over once, thereby, creating a pocket for either flints or daggers tucked in, and long enough to wrap about twice. If you want longer you, I am sure, can take two and connect them together.

The edging/fringe is nearly always a perfect length to hang by your side and not get in the way of your cutlass etc.

And yes gents, in my humble opinion, you can do this too as the colors are proper for you. Dark blue, blood red, and black as well as other neutral solid colors are available; as well as stripes and other patterns.

I got several at the end of the year clearance sell at a Close out clothing store...each was only $4.00 a piece for the three that were 100% wool, another for $8.00 for 100% silk. Cheaper then buying all the material, fringe etc.

[Stynky Tudor]

My suggestion for length is to get some string and wrap it around your waist a couple times. Then allow for some extra material, so that both ends of the string can hang off your hip to a comfortable height. Then untie – unwrap yourself and use the string as your measuring stick. For my guy, it’s something just 3.75 yards.

["Broadside" Long]

I believe my sash is about 11 feet long and about 11 inches wide. I double fold it, wrap it around myself and tie like a karate belt, only on the side instead o' the front. I'm not sure but I think I used 2 yards of standard width fabric split lengthwise 3 times. I then sewed the 3 lengths together end-to-end to make one really long piece.

Hope that makes sense and here's a pic of the finished product:

Cheers,

Broadside

[Patrick Hand]

I got a table cloth at a thrift store for 50 cents. cut it into long strips, then sewed the whole thing together......

Unfortunatly..... I tried to dye it red.... it has a bit to much synthetic in it..... and I didn't rince the dye out very well so it ran when I got soaked at Ojai.... oh well... maybe another trip to a thrift store...........

[Bloody_Mary_Bonney]

i dont have one yet working on that but its last on my list

[Guest SirenSong]

Mine is 3 yards of gold satin. The width is 45 inches wide and it has black fringe at both ends. And to make it intresting one side has small golden coins dangling. ill post pics when I get some good ones. Wal-Mart has their fabrics at 1.00 a yard. That is where I got my satin. They also had a lovely teal and hunter green. you just have to shop around.

This is not a good one but you get the idea anyway..

[Hawkyns]

Mine is 18 ft x 12 inches, which is what the 17th cenury officers sashes were, more or less. It wraps 3 times round, and has plenty left to tie a bow with decent tails.

Sashes were originally a mark of rank for officers, and the colour frequently identified what side you were on in a battle. English Royalists wore red or blue, Swedes wore blue, Dutch wore orange, and so on. The length was because if you were wounded on the field, your sash could be used to carry you off as a sort of stretcher.

Obviously, this applies to national armies and military units. I would surmise that pirates wore the sashes in order to ape the rank of the gentry, although I have never seen that in primary source documents.

Hawkyns

[Ace of Harbor Bay]

Aye. My sash is also about 19 feet long and a little more than a foot wide. I had to hand paint the stripes since I just couldn't find the right material out there.