Head gear is the cherry on top

IMHO anytime someone has the correct head gear on with an outfit, this helps immensely to make the outfit look like it has walked off of the pages of history. Any attempt at all can help. I have a passion for this... for anyone in any culture or time period.

I have been lazy in my attempts with my iron age Finnish garb and using basic headscarf wraps, not the hood/veil being used in many of the recreated iron age garments. So in an attempt to up my game, I decided to make the correct hood/veil; sort of. I'll expand on that in a moment.

I'm using the term hood or veil because of Google translate. It is helping me to understand the booklet Perniön muinaispuku  or  as Google says, "Pernio's Ancient Dress, Manufacturing instructions." The booklet is not translated to English, so please forgive me if Google has translated something incorrectly. I'm relying on non-perfect technology to further my studies. 

I AM lucky that after 7 years or so, I was finally able to get some copies of this booklet.

Summer Weight veil

I live in the Southern United States. It gets hot and humid here year 'round; it is classified as humid subtropical. Whereas my Ravattulan persona, near Finland's southern coast, experiences a "humid continental climate [], with mild summers."1 But most of Finland is classified as subarctic. So "my" two climates are drastically different. It makes recreating items challenging, especially for summer. I decided, let me make the correct headgear, and I'll make the choice to use a loose weave, very light weight fabric.

1www.weather-atlas.com

Looking into what fabrics I had on hand, ​I found a loose weave vintage cotton I got at an estate sale; the weave was not the correct 2/2 twill, and it had black strands woven through it... but it was a good off white/ natural color and was nice and light.
I measured out the size needed per my translation, 85 cm square... well a tad bigger so I had enough to hem... and began pulling out all of the black threads. uuuff that took a hot minute, but it was rewarding. 
Before stitching, I folded the square to create the triangle as shown in the booklet. Then with linen thread I sewed 5 lines of back-stitch to provide stabilization. This was not discussed in depth in the text of the booklet, but is shown pictorially.

Picture from booklet. I based my fabric layout, stitching and braided "lattice band" placement on this drawing.

My translation said a "lattice band" was attached to the front edge and used to tie behind the head (presumably under the hair). I decided this lattice band is probably similar to the braided tape demonstrated in this same booklet for the necklage braid; this is an 8+1 braid. I made the decision to use a matching off-white wool in a 2 ply to construct this braid, as if it was for use in the necklage or head wrap braid. I have not seen the veils being constructed with contrasting color bands.
Using a whip-stitch to attach the braid to the front edge of the veil/hood and hide the stitches between the strands of the braid, this braid tape securely ties the veil to the head. 

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It is possible this band is supposed to be sewn to the inside of the veil and not visible.
This is something I shall continue to research and will experiment with in future veil/hoods.

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(I will make another in depth post on how to accomplish the 8+1 braid, and the details associated with it at another time. It is a similar technique like what is used for the 16+1 braid for the head wrap with the bronze coil adorned temple dangles, but this smaller braid uses a different pattern.)

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Conclusions

For a summer weight veil I think this will work perfectly. I feel it provides the correct look for my persona in shape and color. Also surprisingly it mimics the drape of the wool reconstructions I have found in source pictures from the Ravattula, Pernio and other Finnish national costume projects. (The originals are understood to have been 2/2 twill woven wool, and are shown in reconstructions using a variety of colors like white, blue and umber.)

I am pleased with my version even though it departs from a "perfect" reconstruction in using loose weave cotton instead of a 2/2 twill wool; I believe this will make wearing my veil/hood in my current climate much more enjoyable. I do plan to create a wool veil/hood as well. and next time my stabilizing stitches will not be spaced as far apart.

Enjoy this slideshow which includes pictures from above, and what my veil looks like with pieni (small) Rikissa's head wrap with bronze coil temple dangles.