SCA: Event Update and Blue Wool Norse Dress

 Last weekend was Bjornsborg’s spring event, this one Roman-themed. It was really something - all the pavilions and activity areas were arranged in a huge circle, with the lyst fields in the center, like a coliseum. Vendors sold street snacks all around the coliseum (paid for with wooden tokens you received at the gate), everything was draped in flowers and brightly-colored fabrics, and everyone was dressed in their best Roman garb. There was even a refreshment station with a PICKLE FOUNTAIN of all things, LOL. It was really cool. 

I spent the weekend in the outdoor kitchen, helping my friends prepare the street vendor snacks, luncheon, and evening feast. It was a LOT of work, and I missed some of the activities because of it, but it was SO much fun. I was a wreck by Saturday night, but it was worth it - especially since the kitchen had a great view of court in the evening, and of the best Laurel elevation ceremony that I’ve ever seen. 

I didn’t win the A&S competition this time, but my  friend Chris won it, and I am SO proud of him!  My entry was a blue wool Norse dress that I’d been working on since March: 

That’s my documentation hanging from one of the brooches on the right; and a little linen stitch sampler booklet on the left. The entire outfit is hand-sewn; the sampler booklet was so that people could inspect the stitches I used on the clothing. 

The fabric is a “broken diamond” weave wool (mid weight, about 10oz) that I ordered from a shop online. The green silk trim fabric is from a grab bag of sari scrap “ribbon”. The Oseberg-style trim is woven with silk weaving thread, and the Hedeby braid on the seams is made with the same stuff. 

The underdress is the same one I showed at Candlemas; linen with linen thread, also hand sewn.  

This is me weaving the Hedeby braid, pinned to my couch. I have to say, although I love the finished look, I HATE weaving this stuff. It’s so tedious, and it took me four freaking hours to braid two yards of this stuff. Probably never doing this again (which I also said the last time I did it, hehe).  

Anyway, the outfit did quite well, and I got a lot of nice compliments on it. But then at court, something happened which I wasn’t expecting at all: 

I got an Iris! (That’s Ansteorra’s grant-level arts and sciences award).  I was BLOWN. AWAY.  Apparently this was given in March, but I wasn't at the event then, so they gave it to me this weekend. What! I’m still kind of in shock. I’m so grateful to everyone who made this happen. I got to read the award recommendations that were submitted, and people said such lovely things. ♥️ 

Anyway, the event was a lot of work and a lot of fun. I’m proud of my work, and proud of my friend, and so happy to have been able to attend. 

The next event is Steppes’ Warlord at the end of this month. At that event I will also be cooking, though not nearly as much; and I’m not entering A&S at Warlord. Except for the two breakfasts I’m helping with, it’ll be a nice break from working. 

Between now and then, I have some Regency stuff I’m working on, so stay tuned! 

SCA: Some Roman Updates

We have a Roman-themed event coming up in April, so sort of in the background behind all the other stuff I’m working on right now*, I’ve been making some slight alterations to my Roman outfit, which I posted about in April. 

I got a booklet of Greco-Roman themed tablet weaving patterns from Etsy a while back, and used one of the patterns in it create this trim for my blue linen chiton: 

I ordered some new white handkerchief-weight linen and made it into a new palla - four yards long, nearly two yards wide. I hemmed the edges by hand and then embroidered this little toothy gold edge design all the way around it. 

I also made a new blue sash to wrap around the whole thing, as the dark gray just wasn’t working for me (it was kind of boring).  The blue is much better. 

I also ordered these adorable little wire fibulas, which I’m using to close my brown linen peplos (made for my Iron Age outfit in June, but I’ve since had to scavenge the blue apron for use in another project, and the under dress ripped and wasn’t reparable, so all I have is left of the IA outfit is this brown peplos, which will be pressed into service as a Roman peplos in April).  

Now. Is tablet weaving period for Ancient Rome? No. Is edge embroidery? Who knows? Both mimic the look of whatever trim they DID use, though, and it’s fine. I like chasing period accuracy in my Norse wear, but since this is a one-off event, I’m just going for “looks good” and not necessarily 100% accurate. I’m fine with it, and I love the way the outfit looks. 

*Meanwhile, I’ve got February to prepare for: both Candlemas (A&S) and Laurel’s Prize Tourney, a week apart.  LPT is not a tournament, and there’s no prize - it’s a display-only event whose entire focus is to be able to sit down with the laurels and talk shop like a bunch of geeks, and it’s SO FUN. I can’t wait to go - but I have a LOT of work to get done for both events in the next four weeks. Wish me luck! 

SCA: BAM Shenanigans & Updating my Roman Outfit

War of the Rams ended up being a total bust for me. I hurt my back on the first day, and was basically stuck in a chair at camp the entire weekend - I didn’t get to go anywhere or do any of the activities, or even see people I’d been looking forward to seeing. I was pretty bummed about that. I didn’t even get any pictures. 

However, I did wear a blue jean  “cowboy viking” outfit on Friday that I made as a joke, and got a bunch of good laughs out of it. I don’t have a pic of me in it, but here it is on my mannequin: 

Isn’t that ridiculous? I wore it with cowboy boots and a red bandana over my hair. There were several double-takes, and a few people busted out laughing when they saw me, hehe. Silliness. 

I also bought this gorgeous new mug for myself while I was there. It’s a hand made and hand painted pottery in a loosely Greco-Roman design, and one of a kind - I couldn’t pass it up! 

Speaking of Roman, I found out that the Bjornsborg spring event this coming year will be Roman-themed, hooray! I love wearing Roman, and the weather then should be perfect for it.  I decided to upgrade my kit a bit this month, starting with a new sash to tie around my body (it's blue; the old one was dark gray and I didn’t like the way it went with the light blue chiton). 

This week I treated myself to a pdf booklet of Greek- and Roman- inspired tablet weaving patterns from Etsy (some traditional “Greek key” designs, and some patterns inspired by the geometric designs in floor mosaics and frescoes), and I made up this one in blue and white cotton: 

Once it was done, I sewed it onto the top edges of my linen chiton, to dress it up some. (Decorative trim on these things IS period,  but tablet weaving itself is NOT…but I’m not worried about that, I’m not going for exacting historical accuracy with my Roman, I just want something approximate and *pretty* to bang around in at the event).  

That’s all for now.  At the moment I’m working on two pieces: a new palla for my Roman outfit, and a hand-sewn Norse smokkr for an event in January. More on that soon! 

SCA: A Roman Outfit for Hot Weather

The hot weather is on the way.  It's already in the low 80s here in central Ansteorra, and by the end of May  - and the next event being Steppes' Warlord on Memorial Day weekend - it's likely going to be in the 90s.  Last year I wore  my guy's Viking outfit to this event and I BAKED ALIVE.  This year, I decided to make myself a new Roman outfit - loose, lightweight, and breezy.  

The chiton  is a medium-weight blue linen.  The correct way to make one of these would be to have one long length of fabric folded across the body from side to side; but to conserve fabric (and money) I had a shorter length of fabric which I split into two 2y squares.  

Where the wrapped side should be left open, I went ahead and seamed both sides of this garment for modesty's sake - the site where the Warlord event will be held is wide open and  notoriously windy, and I didn't want to accidentally flash anyone.  

The green palla is a length of sheer cotton gauze that I harvested from an old costume and re-cut for this purpose.  It may not be as breezy and cool as handkerchief-weight linen would be, but it drapes very nicely and I love the color.  

The sleeve openings are held together with small bronze buttons for a bit of a decorative look. 

This whole outfit is hand-sewn, by the way.  I have a BIG hand-sewing project coming up this summer, and I needed the practice.  Since this outfit is basically just a collection of large rectangles, most of the sewing was actually just hemming (whipstitching).  

The under tunic, which is a white handkerchief-weight linen, is a simple rectangular sheath tacked together at the shoulders and arm edges, so that it mimics the shape of the chiton when worn.

This was a piece I already had in my closet from a previous Roman outfit; I removed the neck and opened up the shoulder seams and re-sewed everything to make this more of a period shape at the neckline and arms. 

I made some jewelry to go with this outfit, too - and hey, look, it's a rare picture of my ACTUAL FACE. 

The necklace is pink freshwater pearls and gold brass wire; the earrings are mother-of-pearl drops and gold brass fittings/wire. Both are inspired by jewelry I've seen in period artwork and sculpture, and in Egyptian mummy portraits of Roman/Egyptian people.  

My hair is tucked into a red ribbon band which is tied around my head, in a style also inspired by some I've seen in period artworks.  The makeup is also inspired by several mummy portraits I've seen.  

So I'm all ready for Warlord, and the hot weather.  Bring it on!  

Stuff and Things

 I'm still alive, just haven't posted in a couple of weeks.  I'm in the middle of several projects right now that I'll be posting about very soon;  for right now, though, I may be off and on with posting for the next little while, because I'm dealing with a family medical situation that's taking up a lot of my time and mental energy.  

Coming soon, though: 

1.   More tablet weaving, including a new way of warping up the Oseberg loom, new wool thread to weave with, and the next A&S competition

2.  A new Roman outfit for the upcoming hot weather

3.  A new Viking outfit, which I'm sewing completely by hand for the first time

4. Maaaybe a new Regency dress.  I have a set of sheets that I don't need anymore that may become a blue-and-white dress; I also have my eye on some black cotton voile which really wants to be a mourning dress.  Not sure yet where I'll go with that (and I have to get through Hellsgate at the end of March and Warlord at the end of April first, before I start new Regency stuff!) 

CIVUS ROMANUS SUM

I'm back!  Hi!  When last I wrote, I had just attended Candlemas in February of this year.  Not a lot has been going on since then - there are very few events in the summer, and the couple that happened in the spring, I couldn't attend for one reason or another.

But this weekend I made it out to our Roman-themed baronial event.  It was 107ºF outside, so a lot of us just sat around in the shade fanning ourselves and guzzling water.  But it was WONDERFUL to see all of my friends again, and to hide from the sun geeking out about history together.

I don't have a great pic from the event that shows my whole outfit;  this is a pic taken before the event, in my bedroom.  A white linen tunica (which is badly hemmed and needs fixing, but it was what I had on short notice - I only decided to go to the event the day before!),  a teal linen chiton (the pattern for which is here), a looooong sash made from upholstery fabric (stolen from one of my Italian outfits), and a palla cut from what I think might have started life as a chiffon curtain panel.   Simple, lightweight, breathable, and comfy.  The jewelry is the same blue lampwork-glass bead jewelry you've seen me wear with many an outfit (better pics soon).

IT ME

So what's next?  

The third weekend of October is Bjornsborg's annual baronial event, and it's Viking-themed, as usual.  Hooray!  I love Viking!  While I threw the Roman outfit together out of pieces I already had, and at the last minute, this time I have time to properly prepare, and I plan to create a few new pieces for the Viking event - namely, a new hangerrock, new wooden handles for my Hedeby bag, and some new jewelry.  I'll be back soon!  

ROMA VIDA

Okay, okay, one last thing.

Because I had a minute today, and because after all the work I've done making sure I won't freeze to death at war the weather forecast now predicts warm temps and sun for most of the week, and because I had a couple of yards of linen that was once the victim of a horrible dye accident* and has since had no purpose in life, I made myself a simple Roman chiton.  It's a tube-style, with seams in the center front and back, like the cotton gauze one I made for myself a few months ago (and which has since gone missing, for whatever reason. House gnomes. I have no clue).

I'd seen this on Pinterest in recent months, and thought, hm, I could put nifty little cloak clasps at the shoulders just like this!

(actually a fibula pin and chain set)

But I didn't have any cloak clasps.  And I couldn't find any I liked.  While I was tooling around the sewing room looking for something to do next (to avoid what I should be doing, even now, which is packing), I found a pair of lion's head drawer pulls with a screw back.

HMM.  

Lion drawer pulls, and some velcro (the fuzzy side). 

Poking a hole in the fabric with a knitting needle.
Holes made in velcro with a leather punch. 

There's a piece of velcro between the screw and the
fabric, and between the fabric and the hardware on
the other side, with the fuzzy side of the velcro
against the fabric to prevent pulling and fraying. 

The front of the dress is sewn to the
ring with a couple of loops of embroidery
floss tied around the middle to secure them. 

And, of course, all of my Roman
jewelry is green, except for my
angelite bead necklace. LOL. 

* By the way, the horrible dye accident?  Was this one.  After that horrendous failure, I bleached out the fabric and hit it with another dyebath of blue to even the color out, which it kinda did, but then I washed it with some red after that and ended up with a really, spectacularly awful Barney-purple, which I then rinsed out with a dye remover, and it ended up being the magenta shade you see here.  In November I very nearly made it into a Hello Kitty pilgrim bag for a friend as a prank, but didn't get time.  

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They See Me Roman...

To go with the Roman outfits that my friend Simona and I worked on in August, I made some simple jewelry:

This is Simona's set, made of teal glass beads, cream-colored glass pearls, brass stamped fittings, and 22mm gold-colored copper wire.

The wire links in the necklace chain were made by me, as well, taking cues from both Ragnvaeig's wire link tutorial and from extant examples of Byzantine and Roman jewelry.

And this is the set I made for myself, using glass flower-shaped beads, green glass beads (which were too fake-looking a green color, so I donned a pair of gloves and smeared my palms with gold nail polish, then rubbed the beads between my hands - it toned down the color on the beads and made them look more handmade), natural freshwater pearls, and 22mm gold-colored copper wire.

Whee!

The centerpiece of the necklace is a pale green octohedral Fluorite crystal (which is the way most crystalline Fluorite grows), with one point broken off - which makes it perfect for hanging from a necklace.  It's lived in many necklaces over the years since I bought at at a local rock show. Madylyne trivia:  I've always been a mineral collector, and Fluorite is my favorite.

 The clasp in the back is made of a single piece of wire, bent in half, twisted together, with the "loose" ends looped around to form the ring that joins the beaded link next to. The hook goes through the end of the opposite link to close the necklace.  Even though 22mm copper wire is pretty flexible, doubling it and then twisting it makes it nice and sturdy.





Tada.


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ROMA VIDA

Hey, guys! Check it out:

It's me!  Hi! 

I can has Roman!  Our upcoming fall baronial event is Byzantine-themed, and folks are dragging out all the Byz and Roman they can muster.  It was the perfect excuse to make this outfit - which I'd had the fabric for set aside, no kidding, for like two years, and never got around to throwing together.

My friend Simona and I got together last weekend to brainstorm styling and draping.  She saved us both from toga-party snoredom with an ingenious pattern idea that she [edit: learned from a woman who'd learned the method at a King's College (Ansteorra) class taught by Cherie Weed, a local SCA seamstress]. 

The dress is cotton "bubble" gauze, the sash is made from scraps of blue silk (leftover from this cotehardie), and the palla - the black drape over my head and shoulders - is a soft, loosely-woven curtain panel of cotton that was given to me many years ago.

"But wait," you say, "isn't Roman 'garb' just a bunch of big rectangles pinned/sewn together?"   That's exactly what this is...but not in the way that I thought it would be.

This is Simona, and her new teal linen
Roman outfit.  ♫ H-h-h-hiiii, Simona! ♫

At the simplest level, two rectangles of fabric pinned at the shoulders makes a peplos, like this:

(Pinterest, credited to "scaeveryday",
tho I couldn't find a direct link). 

Or a single swath of fabric, wrapped from one side and pinned at the shoulders and down the arms, gets you a chiton, like this:

(Take Back Halloween.  This example
is also sewn down the sides, but it
doesn't have to be)

Simona's pattern, though, goes a little something like this:

A tube is sewn, with the seams in the front and back of the body, instead of on the sides.  The top front and back are opened to create the V-shaped neckline, and then gathered (about 4-7", depending on how drapey and pleat-y you want the finished garment)/ This part rests on your shoulders, and your arms go through the resulting sleeve holes.

This method gives a really lovely drape across the neckline and bust, and is very form-flattering.  I regret that I don't have any documentation to provide for research purposes;  as I said, Simona learned this in a class - which had resource information, but we don't have access to those materials at this time. (If I DO find any, I'll update here).

The only example of this patterning I could find online was from this picture on Pinterest, but the link doesn't go anywhere, sadly:

(Pinterest)

In this example, the shoulder pieces have been wrapped instead of gathered.  I rather like that look.  It also looks like the seams here might be on the sides, and open at the bottom, and that the front may have simply been slit open (much like you do with this knit dress pattern, of which I've made several, by the way, and they're wonderful to wear!) and then pinned in place.

So there you go.  :)  I'm working on some jewelry at the moment; I'll put up pics as soon as I'm finished.  And find my camera data cable.  0_0


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