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Demonstrations>Accessories:Western
European>Ruffs
 Perhaps
no other accessory so exemplifies the Elizabethan era than
the Ruff. What began as a small, pleated ruffle on the shirt
collars of the very early 16th Century, ended as massive,
engineered wheel-like collars, requiring specialized tools
to keep them pleated. Only the very rich could afford the
huge expense in lace, materials and upkeep. Additionally,
as the ruff became larger, towards the latter part of the
16th Century, supports for these monsters became a matter
of necessity. Called 'rebatos' or 'supportasses', these were
generally half-moon shaped and were placed at the back of
the collar to keep it at a fashionable, upright angle.
For those of us who recreate this era, the Ruff presents
a specialized challenge. In period, ruffs were heavily starched
and then sewn to the neck band. They soiled easily and had
to be laundered often, requiring that they be unpleated, washed,
restarched, and repleated back on to the neck band before
they could be worn again. The partlet, a kind of dickie, evolved
during this era to alleviate the problem of staining from
wearing the ruff next to the face. The partlet collar extended
over the ruff, laying between the ruff and the neck and face.
Eventually, when the Ruff fell out of fashion, the collar
of the partlet became the falling collar of the early 17th
Century.
Materials -
The following is a list of materials used to make ruffs in
this particular method.
 Horsehair
braid -
Usually found in the Bridal section (used to stiffen hems).
Comes in 1/2" to 6" widths and is cut by the yard
or can be found in packages of various lengths. Most stores
will usually carry only white but it can be found in both
black and white by most mail order services such as Lacis
and Greenberg & Hammer.
For most ruffs, if you have an average neck size of between
12" and 15", four to five yards of horsehair will
be required. Generally speaking, the wider the ruff, the longer
the length so that the figure eight pleats are not squeezed
at the edge.
Silk or other types of Organza -
Silk organza comes in both black and white at most upscale
fabric stores. It washes up beautifully and wears extremely
well. However, polyester and cotton organzas will also work.
Always prewash the organza, no matter what type is used. Organza
is usually found in the Bridal section of most fabric stores.
Polyester and cotton organza comes in all kinds of colors.
Historically, ruffs were not always white. Fashion plates
of the period often had their laundresses add tints to the
starch so that the ruff could be pale yellow, pink, baby blue
or any other pale shade. There is evidence, from a portrait
of Marie de Medici, that ruffs could also be scarlet. Black
ruffs were rare, but were made and worn.
The formula for figuring out how much organza is needed is:
({Braid width X 2}+ seam allowance) X 3 for small ruffs; X
4 for large ruffs. In plain English this translates out to:
braid width multiplied by two and seam allowances added. Once
this number is found, multiply that by three if the horsehair
is of a narrow width or by four if the horsehair is quite
wide.
Lace -
Generally the stiffer the lace, the better. Avoid cellulosic
laces and any soft, cheesy lace. These usually won't hold
up to washing and are mostly unperiod in look. Metalic lace,
lace with points, or reticella-looking type laces work the
best.
 Fishing
Line -
50 to 20 lb. test works best. This can be found at some fabric
stores, if they have a craft section or at most craft stores.
Or, if you live in an area that encourages local fishing,
hunt up a fishing store. It will be the least expensive from
this source.
Fishing line is used to simulate the wire that was often
placed at the outer edge of the larger ruffs to encourage
the figure eight pleat. It is not completely necessary for
smaller width ruffs.
Helpful hints -
Use a stretch fabric needle on your machine. When you sew
the edges of the organza and the horsehair braid together,
you will need to be very careful not to let the needle either
pierce the horsehair fibers or grab it and shove it down into
your machine. The trick is to sew between the fibers, trapping
them between stitches. If you are at all paranoid, have a
machine that is hard to manage or enjoy hand sewing, you might
have better luck doing this step by hand.
If you have access to a serger, use it to finish off the
organza raw edges after the organza and horsehair have been
sewn together. Otherwise, you will need to turn these raw
edges over and finish them off by conventional methods.
The neck band -
Make your neckband by using cotton and interlining with a
stiff canvas. The neckband, especially for larger varieties
of ruffs, takes some stress. It is important that it be very
stiff. In period, the neckband was often embroidered, with
the embroidery stitches also acting to quilt the layers together.
White on white embroidery and blackwork were both common.
To help keep the ruff in place, a pair of eyelet holes was
often sewn at the very back of the neckband so that ties from
the collar of the outer garment could be threaded through
to secure the ruff.
Closures -
Hooks and eyes, ties, and brooches were all used. Whatever
method works best for you...
Methods of Construction -
 1.
Measure horsehair braid width and cut your strips of organza
at twice the width plus seam allowance. Cut organza into strips
perpendicular to selvedge edge. Cut at least three strips
for small ruffs and at least four strips for large ruffs.
2. Sew the organza strips together, selvedge edge
to selvedge edge, so that it makes one lone strip. Fold it
double lengthwise and iron flat.
3. Insert fishing line into fold crease and sew a
channel along the folded edge, completely encasing the fishing
line. Remember that this is your outer edge and that the fishing
line acts as wire to re-enforce the figure eight pleats.
4. If you are adding lace, open the organza back up,
place lace according to the edge and attach. Generally, if
the lace is stiff, you can place it fairly close to the edge.
If it's not very stiff, place it further back from the edge
so that it is somewhat supported by the organza and subsequent
horsehair stiffening. It is VERY important not to sew the
lace down on both layers of the organza; only to the top layer
so that the horsehair can be inserted in between the two layers
of organza all the way to the edge.
 5.
Refold the organza and insert the horsehair braid. Sew
along the raw edge of the braid and the organza, encasing
the braid between the fold of the organza. Catch the very
edge of the horsehair as you sew all the layers together.
This is the edge that will eventually be pleated.
6. Either hand finish the edge or serge the edge to
finish it. Finish side edges by hand. Most likely, these edges
will be selvedge edges and will not need a lot of attention.
Make sure you finish the ends of the fishing line in at this
point as well.
7. Prepare a neckband by cutting canvas interlining
and a natural fabric outer lining and sew together.
 8.
Pleat organza strip onto neckband as you go. This has to be
done by hand! This is the tricky part. The pleating diagram,
from Jean Hunisett's Costume for Stage and Screen,
shows how the pleats stack upon each other so that, when the
entire pleating action is done, the edge of the ruff forms
a very nice figure eight. Essentially, a full figure eight
pleat takes six folds, stacked one on top of the other. The
first three are folded one way and then the material is brought
back up on top of these first three folds. The second three
are folded on top of these in the opposite direction and the
material is brought back to the beginning position for the
 next
series of folds to make the next figure eight pleat. This
is where a bit of math needs to be done. The bulk of the fabric
usually dictates the size of the figure eight pleat and the
amount of fabric necessary to complete one pleat. I usually
do a test pleat and measure the width of this pleat. Then
I undo the pleat and measure how much material was necessary
to make the pleat. The number of pleats needed will depend
on neck size divided by the width of the FINISHED pleat. The
amount of fabric necessary to make the number of finished
pleats is determined by the number of finished pleats needed
times the length of material necessary to make one pleat.
If you find that you are having a tough time pleating and
attaching to the neckband at the same time, pleat the ruff
length first and then attach to the neckband after the pleating
action has been accomplished.
 9.
Once the pleating has been accomplished and the ruff attached
to the neckband, you will notice that the figure eights formed
at the outer edge are untidy and not in neat rows. At this
point, you will need to fuss with the pleats until they sit
nicely. Once you have them looking like they should, pin the
pleat to the next pleat. Do this for all the pleats in the
ruff until the ruff looks nice and the figure eights at the
edges are all the same size and uniform. At this point, you
can either hand tack the pleats together, using thread or
tack and attach a small pearl at each juncture. In period,
the pins would have been left in.
 10.
Add closures. I personally prefer to work without closures,
and have specific brooches whose sole purpose is to close
the neckband. You will also need one small pin to pin the
first and last pleats together so that the ruff closes completely.
Viola! A Ruff. This particular method makes a sturdy and
washable ruff. In the photo at the beginning, that particular
ruff is over five years old and has been laundered quite a
bit. When washing, always wash the ruffs by themselves or
with other ruffs in an uncrowded washing machine. Remove them
promptly and allow them to drip dry. Some laces will require
that you gently pull the points back out so that they can
dry nice and straight.
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