My white Viking coat

A Simple Wool Hat

Making a hat from pattern piece A:

 

 

Instructions: Use pattern piece A

• Cut 4 pieces, remember to add seam allowance!
• Sew the four pieces together along the sides. Fell the seams.
• Fold the hem and sew it down.
• Done!

 This is my version of it:
 
        

Obviously, the mannequins head is not the same size as mine...

Making Pattern Piece A

Making pattern piece A

 Get a piece of paper roughly 60 cm square; Fold it twice (like a napkin). Now comes the tricky part. To make the desired shape you have to decide how poofy you want your hat. The width of the hat (i.e. the diameter) divided in half is measurement A. Measurement B is the bottom edge of the pattern piece. This you calculate from taking a measure of your head. I’m bigheaded so I’ve got 61 cm. To get the measurment for the base just divide by 4. To have some space for hemming witch makes the hat smaller I’ve got a measure of 16 cm, If I want to wear for example a kerchief underneath I need to increase to 16,5 or 17 cm. Measurement C is the length from top to bottom. I got mine by taking a measuring tape and putting it on top of my head, and standing in front of a mirror holding the tape measure so I could approximate the length of the pattern piece, to figure out the bulge bit. Se drawing:

 

 

Now it's a matter of connecting the dots. Look at the desired shape and draw yours to look similar. You can make a mockup of any fairly stiff fabric; I tend to use old sheets or those cheap Indian bedspreads. Too big is easier to fix than too small.

• You’ll need extra space if wearing coif or kerchief – if possible wear it when testing your pattern.
• When hemming the hat the hat will become smaller allow for that too. Attaching a brim will have the same effect.
• Leave enough seam allowance to be able to make adjustments in size.
• You may want to put in lining if the fabric is itchy, that also affects the size
  The thing to remember is that any increase or decrease of the measurement B will be multiplied by four. That means that adding 1 cm width will take you from hat size 60 to 64! So if the desired change in size isn’t that big, we’re talking mm. That can usually be solved by moving the seam a few mm out or inwards.
  
   Pattern piece A done! This is a basic shape that can work on its own, or you can add app 10-15 cm and cut out the front and get the scholars hat that my friend Renika has made for her husband.
  Or there’s a bunch of brim options. Instructions for making these will follow in forthcoming posts!

The Big Floppy Hat

 

Pattern:

 

 

 The way I made these bits were pretty much identical to how I made Pattern A and Pattern E. Big pieces of paper or cardbord to get the right size for the look I was going for. The Hat is made in 8 parts instead of 4. the reason is that 4 gives me a square top and I wanted a more rounded outline, hence 8. Then I proceeded the same way as I did when making Pattern piece A.

On to making the hat:

Instructions:

• Cut 8 pieces of D and 4 pieces of F, remember to add seam allowance!
• Sew the four D pieces together along the sides. Fell the seams. This is the top part of the floppy hat. Now onto the brim:
• You need some sort of stiffener to insert into the brim. A straw hat would be ideal. Reading about other peoples efforts here are some other options; Cardboard (don’t like water), Parchment (period and expensive), Plastic sheeting (non period but weather proof), placemats, starched fabric. A straw hat and cut away the top will also work. Depending on the stiffness of your fabric there are the possibility that vlieseline might work for you. You can also sew a piece of milliners wire into the edge to stiffen it. My options were limited at the time so as this was mostly intended as an experiment I landed on the option of two plastic placemats. I cut out the brim in two pieces – pattern F. I proceeded to cut out the fabric, 4 pieces with seam allowance added.
• Put 2 pieces together with right sides facing each other. Sew along the ends and the outer edge. Trim the allowances and corners and turn. I put some decorative stitching close to the edge.
• Insert the stiffener and secure it by putting a seam along the inner edge. If you don’t mind itchy wool on your forehead you may turn in the edges and sew it shut that way instead.
• Make the second half of the brim in the same manner.

The brim beeing made, and I've got help...sort of...

• Put the two halves together with an overlap. Try it on and adjust it to fit your head.
• Sew the two halves together along the inner edge where they overlap and along the edges about 4 cm on both sides.
• Pin the top of the hat to the brim, if the top is slightly large you can just make pleats evenly to adjust the fit. Sew the parts together.
• I decided to put a few stitches from the inside of the hat securing it to the brim about 8 cm from the inner edge so it wouldn’t flop around in the wind, since my fabric isn’t that heavy.
• When this is being written I still haven’t gotten around to lining the inner edge. This is still to be done with something soft, either silk or velvet. I’ll get a strip roughly the length around my head , ca 65 cm with added seam allowance which I’ll fold and tack down then securely sew into place. I will also be adding ties so I can secure it to my head. Since I often visit a certain windy island…

 

A Slashed Hat

 

This hat I made to be worn sort of crashlanding on top of my Wulsthaube and to sport a lot of feathers. It was my first adventure into german 16th century hats other than the Wulsthaube.

This is how I made it:

First I made a mockup in a stiff cotton fabric similar to those Indian beadspreads. The first thing to get right was the top part: How big a square would I need. Then it was the hole for the head. After a few trial and errors I came up with a pattern that was likely to give me the look I wanted. This is what I came up with:

Instructions:

• First cut two squares 33by 33 cm (add seam allowance) in two different colors. Mine are black and burgundy.
• The black square will be the outer layer and in this I cut a hole to fit my head (17 cm diameter). Then I proceeded to make the slashing. This is what the black piece looked like after I hemmed the slashes: 
• Then put your two squares together, right sides facing and sew them together all the way round. Turn and press.
• Fold each corner towards the middle so that they all meet and stitch them down.
• The top’s done, now onto the brim.
• With a little experimentation I made squares 16 by 8 cm. One black and one burgundy for each of the “flaps” for the brim. I needed 11 to go around the hole.
• Sew two squares together, one of each color, along the long sides. Turn and press. When all are done pin them to the edge of the hole and secure them by sewing

Cut a long strip to cover the edge of the hole. Mine was ca 5 cm by 63 cm. line the edge of the hole with this. Add ties if needed and you’re done!

And of course add a lot of feathers!

Cleaning the old "house"

I now and then come across links and pins to my old blog. I think to myself; I really should move that stuff to my new "home" - to have it all in one place! And then I never do...

Well, now it is time to get started!




Detail of a miniature of the cleaning of the house, from the Golden Haggadah, Spain (Catalonia), second quarter of 14th century, Additional 27210, f. 15
http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2012/04/hag-pesach-sameach-happy-passover.html 

Bright colors

I recently bought a curtain at a thrift store, it was probably from the seventies but I liked the brocaded pattern and though it was a bright lime green:

Synthetic as it is, I had some success in the past, giving a similar fabric a date with some black dye, so I thought I'd try it again. Tossed the curtain in with the black dye, hung it out to dry and this is the result :

My camera does not give it quite the right color, but it is now a more olive tinge and noticeably darker, which is what I wanted. Now I can continue with the next stage of the jacket I want to make.

Thrifty tunic

I bought a linen table cloth a while back. It had a nice pattern:

 It was roughly 1,4 m square, so just barely enough for a tunic. I picked the hemmet edges to gain the extra centimetres, and then I cut the fabric and made this:

I will add a bone bead as closure but that will have to wait, since I didn't bring it to Gotland. Right now I'm in the process of getting my kitty Jameson used to being outside, so I can go travelling while my parent have the care of my furballs.

Creative pattern making

When you are on your own, you really have to be a bit creative to make a close fitting pattern. I often combine patterns, make adjustments I hope will work and then make a mock-up and try it out. Sometimes it works like a charm, sometimes not...

This time I want to make this:

I got out three different patterns: my Brueghel jacket, the low neckline bodice and my partlet:

Combining the thre patterns, I then made the mock-up, had my boyfriend fit it in the back and I did the front. Some minor adjustments later I have this:

Now I just need to decide on which of my brocades I will use for this project!

Let it burn!

Life got in the way, and between work going crazy and prepping for DW I got sidetracked. But thanks to some friends - here is a post that I think just might get spread around:


It all started as a rather innocent discussion at the sewing meet. The discussion focused on a rather common topic - has the level of our garb risen to far for newbies to aspire to? Is handsewing the only option etc. It gave me some food for thought and I had an idea for a class - and with some helpful input from among others, Lia, Kathryn and Helwig, I got started on a lecture about the basics of textile knowledge and what every seamstress should know about fibres.

Part of this lecture included the fire testing of fabrics - different fibres beahave and smell differently and often you can figure out what you've got by just setting it on fire!

I grabbed a bunch of different fabrics from my scrap basket and went to a colleagues place and spent some time burning holes in it. Back at another sewing meet a chance remark about silk veils being very flammable made me realize I had not burned any veils of any material.

Back home I set up as safe an experiment zone as I could. Pulled the batteries out of the smoke detector, filled a pot with water and turned on the ventilation above the stove on max. I got out a piece of silk veil,  sheer cotton, linen and I also sacrificed a piece of my precious wool muslin.

I tried to be as scientific as I could about the whole thing. Each piece was to be subjected to the same:

Held in flame from a lighter for max 10 sec, or until it caught and then either blow it out or dunk it in the water. If I had to drown it to kill it, I'd let it dry before test two: hold the fabric flat and above a flame until it caught fire.

This is the result:

Top left: Linen Top right: Cotton, Bottom Left: Wool muslin, Bottom right: silk

The wool and the linen self extinguished as I removed it from the flame. The cotton had to have a bath and the silk I dropped in a hurry....
The sheer silk in a windfree environment definitely does not self extinguish as the thicker kinds of silk do, and it burned so rapidly I dint want to do the second test on what remained.

As I held my class at Double Wars I realized that how much more a simple testing of fibres to resolve the fibre content of a fabric, had as a value - since we do hang around fire a lot! Like some of the parents in the group commented - to think that some people clothe their children in syntetic fleece! if they only knew...

I will definitely continue on this avenue -and I think my lecture will evolve for Cudgel Wars - I'll keep you posted!

The hoarder confesses, part 2

I started to take pictures of all my stuff, and boy, there were some. So now I continue to share images of my successful hunts, just to show what may be found in a Swedish "Loppis"

More bowls:

Pewter Bowl

Alas, no food!

Ceramic bowl

Pewter bowl with ring handles

Pewter Bowl

Brass Bowl

Pewter bowl

Square plate/bowl

Small ceramic bowl from Etelhem Pottery

Small pewter cup/bowl

Ceramic Bowl

Replica of cup from the ship Wasa

Ceramic bowl from Etelhem Pottery

Large ceramic bowl

Turned wooden bowl

Small ceramic bowl from Etelhem Pottery

Tiny ceramic bowl

Small ceramic bowl

The hoarder confesses

I love flea markets, charity shops, antique stores and the like. I'm always on the look out for things that can fit in to my medievalist hobby. Throughout the years the hoard has grown, and I just can't stop gathering! I often lend people stuff when they've forgotten for example their feast great. Trust me, you don't have to worry if you by accident break it, I really, really have more....

Often people ask where I get it from, and sometimes how I know what's good and what's not. It all comes down to getting a feel for what might work, both from an aesthetic point of view and from the historic corrected ness view. Look at reproductions, look at paintings and drawings, trawl through the museum image data base. Then you hopefully will have that 'third eye' for what looks good.

I started to take pictures of all my stuff, and boy, there were some. So now I plan to share images of my successful hunts, just to show what may be found in a Swedish "Loppis"

Bowls:

These are the  replicas bought at different places over time, and one more is coming....

And this is the original, a 16th century bowl from the mining village at the silver mine in Sala, Sweden.