I've been productive

So I have been able to complete quite a few things from my list of stuff.  Below is my list from a few blogs ago. I have updates in yellow.

• An apron which I am hand sewing needs finishing. Finished
• I have the experimental dyed kirtle fabric, But I think the color and shrinkage make unusable. Kirtle has been succesfully redyed. It will be useable if it is sleeveless, and if I find a gaurd, body is mostly sewn together. 
• I have a lilac linen cotte cut out. I plan to line and trim it with a sage green I have (ohh reversable maybe?? ) and embroder it.
• I need another smock, a long sleeved underdress, a short sleeved working kirtle, and a pair of sleeves. Short sleeve kirtle in the puple wool is finished except for lacing holes. I found fabric I had set aside for a smock and long sleeve underdress.
• I have the gold pattern fabric to make a cotte from, but I need some nice metal buttons to go with it.
• I want to make a choli, but don't have any fabric to match the skirt I have. I found enough fabric left over from skirt to make a choli, and I found some patterning info.
• I want to redo the skirt I have and make it into a waist band that ties instead of a drawstring.  
• My son wants a gypsy vest from some dark gray woolen I have.
• My husband could use an undershirt and a kaftan. I have a nice green patterned fabric for him. I got a sleevless undershirt, a light kaftan, and a pair of pants for him completed. I even have fabric cut for a coat for him, and the lining dyed.

So after wearing my green kirtle I have discovered that I need to do something with the sleeves. It is to tight around the elbow for full movement. I do not have any extra fabric to add gussets for the elbows, and it is let out as much as possible. So since this is a fancier kirtle that I plan to trim or embroder, plus not as breathable as I would like, I will cut the sleeves open to make hanging sleeves from just above the elbow, and create some frog closures on the sleeves to close them if I so wish. I also lost a veil strap, so I need t make a new one.

So my updated list of family garb related things to do....

• Repair my son's cotehardie outfit. (he ripped a seam, and got his pants caught on playground equipment)
• Line his green wool cloak, add laces to his undershirt.
• Finish husband's Middle Eastern coat. Redo frogs on light kaftan.
• Make a smock and long sleeve underdress, veil strap, and hem sheer veil.
• Fix arms on green kirtle, add trim, and finish lacing holes.
• Redo waist band on gypsy skirt, and make a matching choli.
• Make gypsy vest for son.
• Finish sleeveless kirtle experiment.
• Cut lining for fancy purple kirtle, sew it, then embroder it.
• Make striped Kaftan for husband

Things I should do or want to do but need materials

• Another undershirt, hood and two pants for my son.
• A long sleeved under shirt and for my husband.
• Gold patterned cotte once I can afford buttons.
• A Hennin, and a red or black hood. 
• A couple pairs of gloves, pin on sleeves and hose for myself.
• A gray fur lining to make a cloak/mantle from a red/purple woolen material I have.
• And possibly another apron.

My list seems to have gotten bigger instead of smaller. Hmmmm......
On the plus side if I am able to complete all that our wardrobe would be basicly complete except for items I cannot make (woolen socks, belts, shoes, etc...). Of course There will always be updates as things wear, or grow, but then I will be able to work with more period fabrics and techniques if I am only replacing a piece at a time.

Norse Viking garb Research

A freind of mine is new to the S.C.A. and has asked me to make hime some period garb for his ninth century Norse persona. He is even wants to buy period fabrics. Yeah! (I like working with period fabrics, I just can't afford them myself)

Okay to start with the types of textiles and colors. Wool was the most common, followed by linen and then silk, both of which were imported. Linen was often left undyed, where as wools came in many colors such as reds, blues, yellows, purples, greens, and browns. Silk could be in a varitey of colors since It was imported.  Red seemed to be more common in Danelaw (England), purple in Ireland, and blue/green for Scandinavia.

There is evidence of tri-colored plaid and two tone pants.

Eastern Viking (Rus)- Eastern vikings had more Russian and Middle Eastern influence. They wore an under tunic, and an over tunic (both most likely a framed) key hole neckhole being common, they also wore a kaftan like coat with buttons up the center front. Thier pants were short and baggy.

Western Viking (Norse)- Western vikings had more Germanic and Saxon influence. They also wore an under and over tunic, but more T shaped, wider neck lines were more common than key hole necklines. They wore a retangluar clock pinned with a brooch over one side. They could also wear a wrap type jacket with no buttons. Thier pants were long and slim, with belt loops, often using crotch gores to aid movement, and some even included footies. Examples including metal eyelets to attach leg wrappings to, were most common to Saxon finds.

Often under tunics were longer than over tunics. Tunics were mid thigh to knee length. Tablet woven trim or patterned materials were often used as trim and to hem. Constrasting thread was often used to to finish seams and hems.  Embrodery became more common in the ninth and tenth centuries. Wool socks and mittens were made using a nailbinding method. Both hoods and hats have been found in grave sites. Most hats have metal trim to match coats.

My resources

http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/clothing.htm

http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/mensgarb.html

http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/vikdyes.html

http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/viktunic.html

http://www.strongbowsaga.com/showwik.asp?WikID=39
http://www.historiclife.com/essays/thorsbergtrousers.htm

http://housebarra.com/EP/ep07/08extant.html

http://historicenterprises.com/hood-skjoldehamn-c-10501090-p-1295.html?cPath=99_190
http://urd.priv.no/viking/bukser.html
http://www.kelticos.org/gallery/main.php
http://urd.priv.no/viking/bukser.html
http://thorsonandsvava.sccspirit.com/pdf_files/Viking_handout_men.pdf
http://www.olvikthing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Viking-Age-Clothing-pgs-1-4.pdf
http://www.olvikthing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Viking-Age-Clothing-pgs-10-15.pdf

A trip to the Middle East...

I feels good to be sewing again, It is defently a stress relief for me. It appears that we will be able to go to poorman's since my husband got a some unexpected money, and since due to his work we can not easily go down to my MIL's. Anyways most of his garb is more fall weather wear, so I have been busy making him some warm weather garb. I will do a is it period blog about it when I can snap a pic of him in it.

So this is based of of a Persian Caftan. It is made out of a very light weight cotton. I had to adjust a bunch of the measurements because my husband's body does not do squares well. His back and upper shoulders are much more muscular than his front. It does have the inset sleeves, which my husband says are comfy, and offers a lot of movement. I also added trim to give structure to the hems. And I am working on some frog closures on the front.

I also made him a pair of pajama style drawstring pants, out of a light weight green cotton with a gold scroll pattern. I later this week I will be making and outer caftan using the same fabric I used for the trim, and lining it will a white cotton. Good thing cotton is period for him, and I had more stuff in my fabric stash than I remembered.

New Kirtle

 

So I spent a good chunk of the day making this kirtle. I am amazed that I was actually able to pull it off. I only had 2 1/2 yards of 60" wool suiting I found at a thrift store months ago. I based this kirtle of the kirtle worn in the Shepard's Dance, hence the pleated hem, and short sleeves. It only has two modest side gores, and the hem just skims the floor when I am barefoot, so this will be a great working kirtle. Now I just need to finish my apron to go with it.

I discovered that no matter how hard I try I cannot have a straite seam in the back, due to my curves without having major puckering right above my bum. A curved seam also seems to work better for my front, but it is not as severe. It was so much easier the work with the maniquin to get the hem even, and the seams fitted. No need to try it on fifteen hundred times and try to see my back in the mirror.

I do need to finish some of the seams inside, and actually make lacing holes, since I am currently just basted into it. But I am happy with how it turned out, and am surprized at how cool it is for being wool.

Upcoming project musings

Alright, I know I have not posted anything in a long while. Life and school got too busy for sewing. I am bummed out since I am even too poor for Poor Man's Pensic at the moment.

But soon I will have a week off, and am contempating starting a new project. I have a few things I have started, or want to do. I just can't decide which one.

• An apron which I am hand sewing needs finishing.
• I have the experimental dyed kirtle fabric, But I think the color and shrinkage make unusable.
• I have a lilac linen cotte cut out. I plan to line and trim it with a sage green I have (ohh reversable maybe?? ) and embroder it.
• I need another smock, a long sleeved underdress, a short sleeved working kirtle, and a pair of sleeves.
• I have the gold pattern fabric to make a cotte from, but I need some nice metal buttons to go with it.
• I want to make a choli, but don't have any fabric to match the skirt I have.
• I want to redo the skirt I have and make it into a waist band that ties instead of a drawstring. 
• My son wants a gypsy vest from some dark gray woolen I have.
• My husband could use an undershirt and a kaftan. I have a nice green patterned fabric for him.

The long sleeved underdress, my husband's undershirt and the choli will have to wait until I can afford more fabric. I might be able to find some fabric in my stash to make a short sleeved kirtle, but I an not sure. My son has plenty of shirts, and we are not going to any hot events anytime soon. I will wait to make the gold patterned cotte until I have the buttons.

So I think I will take the apron and the skirt to my MIL's next weekend to keep me occupied. I might be able to turn the failed kirtle fabric into a smock, since no one will notice the color, or if it is short.

So that leaves me with 2 major projects ~ Fitted lilac/sage cotte with embrodery, or a green patterned kaftan for my husband......hmmmmm.  My husband could use a another shirt more than I need a cotte, but the cotte would be easier to construct for me, and way more fun to embrodier.

Although I do need another working kirtle one with short sleeves this time, since my other has become severly stained, but this should only take a day to construct, and then casualy do the lacing holes.... I must check my fabric stash tommorow.