Refashioning An Old Viking Tunic

Back in 2012 I made a [half-assed] Viking outfit for the Battle of Ethandune event in the barony of Bjornsborg.  I haven't worn it much since then - maybe twice in the past three years.  I wore the white tunic with everything, though; at some point I dyed it green for some reason (I really don't remember, and I never liked the way it came out).  It was getting pretty worn around the edges, the color was weird, and the neckline never sat correctly on me.

So, this month I began taking it apart.  I removed the damaged lower sleeves and replaced them with a darker green linen fabric from a remnant.  I created a neckline overlay for it out of the same fabric, to bring the neckline up farther on my neck, and also to change the look of the tunic:

Over the weekend, I dug out the last of my fabric dye stash - which just happened to be a dark blue-green, and threw this thing into the sink.

It's definitely not the dark, forest green I was hoping for; but I LOVE the way the color came out.  After washing the dye out of the dress, I ran it through the washer with a bit of hair conditioner to soften up the fabric - I do that about every fourth time I wash my garb, and it keeps the linen from getting scratchy. (My skin reacts to 99% of commercial fabric softeners, but hair conditioner works great!)

Once it was dry, I ran a simple chain stitch around the trim pieces in a leaf-green embroidery floss, just so the dress wouldn't be completely plain.

This'll be a great knocking-around-camp casual dress; it's loose enough that I can wear it as a second layer in cool weather; and it can be dressed up into just about anything with the right accessories and headgear.  Success!

Meanwhile...

I'm finishing up the last two summer commissions this week, which I'll show you as soon as they're done and delivered.  I'm still in the process of refashioning my other old Viking stuff, and I have some new pieces I'll be talking about soon, too.  Stay tuned! ☺



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