Two smocked shirts for Baroness Estrid by Kaede-san

Two smocked 16th C shirts for Baroness Estrid by Kaede-san.

One smocked with pink:

One with white:

You can read Kaede's documentation here.

Hand-dyed wools and silks for Fru Eyja by Lady Ameline

Hand-spun and hand-dyed wools and silks for Fru Eyja by Lady Ameline.

Ameline's documentation will be posted here when available.

Purse from handwoven fabric for Messer Giano by Fru Þora

Purse from handwoven fabric:

You can read Þora's documentation here.

Board game for Lady Robyn by Lady Rachel

Hnefatafl board and pieces, with 12 man's morris on the bag, in felted bag for Lady Robyn by Lady Rachel:

Rachel's documentation can be read here.

DWASE #2 begins!

Sign-up opened March 8, and closed March 11, with 20 participants from all over the kingdom! We look forward very much to coordinating the exchange of nifty A&S projects between the following artisans:

• Hlæfde Ælfwyne of Eoforwic, lady (Nordmark)
• Lady Alyna Morgan (Vielburgen)
• Sayyida Amal binti Hamid Al-Chania, lady (Aarnimetsä)
• Lady Ameline de Leeuwe (Adamestor)
• Herr Andrew von Otelingen, lord (Poland)
• Comitissa Aryanhwy merch Catmael, countess (Vielburgen)
• Signora Cassandra della Corona, lady (Dun in Mara)
• Lady Catlin le Mareschale (Harpelstane)
• Viscount Eirík hårfager (Gyllengran)
• Herre Fardäng Skvaldre, lord (Gyllengran)
• Lady Ilandria Brin (Harpelstane)
• Lady Kathryne Elizabeth Gordon (Flintheath)
• Madame Leonet de Covenham, lady (Thamesreach)
• Baroness Mary Verch Thomas, mistress of the Order of the Pelican (Mynydd Gwyn)
• Lady Mylla O'Reilly (Nordmark)
• Lady Petronilla of London (Turmstadt)
• Lady Rachel Edwards (Polderslot)
• Boiarynia Tamara Samuilova of Thamesreach, lady (St. John of Rila)
• Lady Victoria Alcon de Castile (Polderslot)

Viking apron for Herrin Ellina by Lady Mylla

Viking apron and matching bag, displayed over Ellina's orange Viking dress.

Mylla writes:

An apron for a norse or rus outfit, handsewn in wool with linen thread from 900-1000 AD.

Description of the item

An apron for a Rus och Norse outfit from the Viking era, to be worn over the apron dress, from the brooches. Inspired by the aprons at the Ladoga museum (pictures 1 and 2) and Mistress Katheryn’s new Viking outfit (picture 3, with permission).

Description of the materials used

Since this item is a gift as a part of the first Drachenwald Arts & sciences exchange it had to cost less than €25. This meant going through my stash of fabric since the posament wire isn’t cheap.

I chose to make it in wool, the blue thicker wool was bought at IKEA years ago, and probably contains quite a lot polyester, but it is fluffy and warm. The red wooltwill is, probably, pure wool, also bought ages ago for a project no one has yet begun. It’s a dream to work with though.

It it’s all handsewn with waxed, unbleached linen thread, the bees wax from a fellow SCAdian.

The posaments I chose to make in the beginners tin wire thread (tin spun around a fabric core), since that is easier to work with than pure metal wire. I also spoke to lady Erid (Sofia Holmer) about where to begin since she is the posament goddess.

Description of the manufacturing process

First of all I had to decide the size of the apron. Since I don’t have a viking outfit myself (I do mostly late period), I asked around and had some of my friends to measure theirs (thanks Vicomtess Niamh and Mistress Katheryn) and measured myself to, thinking I might be similar in size to my recipient (I had her sizes in an e-mail). I then calculated the average, added a few centimers for seam allowance and decided the lentgh by measuring on me, adding extra seam allowance if the recipient wants to make it longer.

Then I felled it all around, using a simple whipstitch, folding it only once since the blue fabric is so thick. I chose the whipstitch since I know that my injured hand can take that, and it let me sew more at a time than using other stitches. The red stripes was then sewn on top, placing them in a way the felt ”right”. They were sewn on using a simple up and down stitch, I had problems with getting it as even as I would like, mostly since I was out of practice. While sewing I waxed the linen thread with beeswax to make it easier to work with.

The posaments I ended up with are a very simple braid, due to the fact that this was harder than I thought it would be. Since there is only finds from Birka, grave 520, I let my imagination and well, lack of skills, control what I ended up with, a simple carrick bend band for the lower part, and a four thread braid for the upper part (that one was my first attempt ever to work with this material, and Im pretty pleased with it even if there are a few mistakes).

Improvements

If I make an apron for myself I will do the posaments in pure metal wire, after I have practiced a lot. I also need to sew more by hand to heighten my skills, but it is hard since my hand has to rest a lot even after very few stitches.

Sources

• Mistress Katheryns blog; http://textiletimetravels.org/2013/06/24/my-new-viking-dress/
• The Ladoga Museum: http://www.ladogamuseum.ru/media/DSC_5414.1.jpg, http://www.ladogamuseum.ru/media/DSC_5413.1.jpg
• Mistress Katheryn's handout: Posament, pretty knots from Birka