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Making my Viking Apron Dress

  This Week's vlog is the follow up to my Viking Age Tunic dress which I posted last week. When discussing the clothing of Birka and other Norse cultures, a woolen dress is an iconic look which is functional while tending a fire or many other activities. My apron dress is inspired by the finds out of Birka. The wool I used was a light weight suiting with a 2:2 twill weave. The long seams of this dress were finished with a machine for speed, and all of the seam finishings were hand sewn. I used a woolen finishing technique I learned about while flipping through Woven into the Earth by Else Ostergard. The technique involves using wool yarn and a couching stich of sorts to encase the raw edges of the wool. The end result is a low profile and durable seam around the neck and hem of my apron dress. I love that all of the hand sewn elements of this dress start to create a decorative finish on the outside of the dress and the only extra embellishment I added was a herringbone stitch over
Recent posts

I Finally Made a Viking Tunic for Myself that I don't Hate

  #sewing #Viking #historicaldress My inspiration for this dress is that I never really wear the style. It looks lovely on some people, but I had just never really gotten into it or the time period around it until friends were asking me for help to make their outfits. This year I realized we would be having a local SCA arts event on April Fool's Day and it seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up and I had to do something. I decided on going incognito and making myself some Norse clothing. Even though I've done some work for others in this time period, I am by no means an expert and leaned on some of the work in this blog post: https://maidenanachronism.blogspot.com/2012/05/viking-underdress.html?m=1 I also referenced these books for some of the techniques and information I used (links are affiliate links): Woven into the Earth by Else Ostergard https://amzn.to/3o0kVb2 Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing Patterns by Lilli Fransen, Anna Norgaard and

Avoid These Common Mistakes: Packing for Pennsic and SCA Camping

  #camping #mysca #societyforcreativeanachronism #glamping #pennsic This summer I've been letting myself fall back in love with the Society for Creative Anachronism. There have been some moments that have been hard for sure, but also some of my moments of greatest joy. One of the things I realized was I had completely forgotten what I need to pack in order to go camping in the different environments we see across the Western United States, at SCA events. This video does not speak in any official way for the non profit group or any of its branches. I simply wanted to share some of my pit falls and learning curves I've experiences over the years. I am a list maker. So I started planning for my second camping trip of the summer by making a list of the things that I would need to have cleaned and packed after my first trip did not go as smoothly as I had hoped earlier this summer. Towards the end of the video I give you 6 tips I've picked up from camping at these events

My SCA Tent Tour for Medieval-ish Camping

  In this video I'm following up on my camping checklist video from last week to show y'all how my tent set up goes together with a little planning and practice. This video was recorded in and around my personal tent at an Society for Creative Anachronism event called Uprising in Idaho. Nothing in my video reflect the official stances of the larger living history group, but are based in my personal experiences as a paid member attending events for over a decade. Often at events we are doing something between living history camping and glamping. Not everything in my set up is 100% historically accurate, but many things give the impression and I love the results my current set of supplies give me. I fit everything here, including the tent poles and my dog in a Jeep Patriot, with a little creative packing. #mysca #camping #societyforcreativeanachronism #livinghistory #glamping I purchased my tent several years ago from Midwest Tents. This video was not sponsored by them, b

An Honest Conversation about Historical Authenticity

  In this video, I'm having an honest conversation about historical authenticity. I'm sharing the story of my Edwardian shawl, and discussing the goals I have for the project. I want to make a shawl that is authentic to the period in the pattern I used and crochet techniques. But rather than purely reproducing a historical piece I wanted my shawl to reflect the modern era that I live in. Truly great design is in fact timeless, and that is what I see when I look at this Edwardian shawl pattern. If you're also interested in deeper conversations about historical authenticity, then you'll want to watch this video! We'll talk about the goals of historically inspired projects and the need to define what what your goal is for the project as you're working on it. I hope you enjoy the video, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments! If you are interested in trying out the pattern yourself, check out this link: https://www.antiquecrochetpatterns.com/acc

4 Months of Hand Sewing to Finish this Ruff

  Well beautiful humans, it has been a ruff 9 months of recovery, physical therapy, and at times bed rest. Today we are going to discuss the hand sewing project I was going to work on the day I injured myself, and the 4 months it took to complete it while I relearned to walk and strengthen my leg. In this project I used: - lace I purchased from DSA Threads which I already post a video of me prepping: www.dsathreads.net https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7BGTNOgGUI -Linen Sewing Thread and hand needle -Beeswax -Fine Linen Remnant -Straight pins -Chalk -Breakfast tray Other costumers and sewists have been reacting to their projects in 2022, and honestly this took up so much of my sewing time. I had to table some of my other projects while I could not stand because I could not cut out the fabric for next steps. This project was something I could work on through. I've never before make an iconic 16th century ruff before and the project had a lot of personal meanings and hang ups fo

Voided Velvet Sleeves from a Thrift Store Scarf

  Detachable sleeves are one of my favorite things to make for renaissance dresses, and always seem to be the last thing I think to make when I'm planning my outfits. These sleeves are made from thrift store fabric to mimic one possible way that "cut work sleeves" were made in the period. There are several theories, and my research has made me think that they all may have been in use at different points in time for different specific motifs. To make these sleeves I used a voided velvet scarf I found at my local thrift store and remnants of rayon velvet, silk shantung, and linen. Techniques I cover in the video include basting, hemming stitches, and how to easily sew with velvet. I completed the project using a mix of hand sewing and a modern sewing machine. I love wearing these Italian renaissance dresses at reenactment events or when I attend events for the Society of Creative Anachronism. Groups like this have helped me learn more about how period techniques and mate