Yesterday I had a piece of marvelous news:

Our patterns have been endorsed by The Companie of St. George.

If you haven't heard of the Companie of St. George, it's probably because you don't reenact the 15th century. It's no exaggeration to say that every 15th century group in the world probably has taken inspiration if not outright information from the Companie of St. George. They have been doing high-fidelity late medieval living history for twenty years or so. And everyone in the hobby draws from them or from someone who has. They are 15th century reenactment's "Foundation Sire".

I didn't ask for this link. Frankly, I didn't know that anyone from the Companie of St. George had bought from us. One day I just got an order from Switzerland. But there are a lot of reenactors in Switzerland. And honestly, the idea that the Companie of St. George would buy from little ol' me was just beyond my wildest dreams. (That statement alone should let you know how important this is.)

So I thought, "Nice. Our first order from Switzerland. Sweet!" I packed the order and put a note in it thanking the customer for our first order from his country.

When he received the patterns, he emailed me that members of his group had been buying from me for years, just not directly (they were buying through our fine German partners, Nehelenia Patterns (Thanks Christine and Stefanie!). But he never mentioned his group's name.

Then about a month later, a friend told me he was talking about my patterns on his blog. I can't read Swiss German, so she translated for me. It was awesome!

But then the biggest compliment came. He email to me and told me how wonderful our patterns are. He said:
"I just want to give you feedback to your patterns: they’re great!
You have definitely done a good job! The bundle includes everything I wish: a fine working pattern, coherent instructions, historical notes with source examples, suggested fabric and all that stuff. It's great.
Thanks a lot, and perhaps you get my next order soon."

And then he said, "And you can tell your fans that the Acting Vice President of the Companie of St. George said that!"



You could have knocked me over with an f!

I was transported back 15 years ago when I was a newbie to the dress-up-and-play hobbies and one of the 15th century guys handed me fifth-generation photocopies of St. George's newsletter, The Dragon with its detailed sketches of proper 15th century clothing and accoutrements. I wanted to be them when I grew up.  I aspired to look as perfect as they did in the pictures.  I was completely won over by the historical side of things and that's really where my obsession with historical accuracy began.

In 1995, I rushed out and bought The Medieval Soldier

Yes. Gerry Embellton's group. Heard of him?

Yup.

See why I'm excited? These guys are such sticklers for authenticity and historical accuracy that they don't just add random links to their website. So this is more than a link. It's an endorsement by the best in the "business".

*beams* *preens* *beams some more*

If you go to their website and click "Artisans", we're at the bottom of the page (because we were the most recently added).

"We are quite sure that you have to come up with your own cut for a great variety of medieval costume. However, the beginner will be happy to get the good patterns from Reconstructing History. And also advanced taylors like to take one of these quality products as a starting point for their own design."

Good for beginners. Good for advanced tailors. Quality product. Could I ask for anything more?

So if you're looking for patterns for your 15th century impression, give our Medieval line a look. (More coming soon!)