Black Apron Dress: Another Makeover

After making over the blue apron dress, I decided to tackle my black one next.  This just happened to be my apron dress with the most work to take out:

I hated all of the embroidery - I felt like I did a good job at the time, based on my meager skill level five years ago, but now all I can see are the flaws, and it all looks so amateurish now.  The vine motif around the top of the dress (next to the ribbon)  is period but is inappropriate for an apron dress.  The other vine motif on the straps isn't even Scandinavian, it's English, and 13th century to boot.

The blue ribbon around the top of the dress IS a correct Viking device, but it's executed incorrectly and badly.  There were two blue ribbons around the bottom of the dress, too; and the side seams were also all embroidered.

I took all that work out.  All of it - I made the dress completely naked.  I didn't track the hours it took me to remove it all,  but I spent somewhere around 5 evenings carefully picking out all the stitching so as not to damage the fabric. Probably about 20 hours. 

To replace the embroidery across the top, I opted for a trick we know the Vikings did use in their embellishment of the tops of apron dresses:  stitching a strip of imported cloth, often silk, as trim around the top of the dress.  In this case, my "silk trim" is a soft rayon strip cut from an old sarong. I considered layering it with a silk ribbon underneath or something like that, but I really just loved the way the sarong fabric looked with the black on its own.  I fully intend to replace this strip with real silk if any real silk ever happens to me.

I also took apart the long, flat straps and made them into looped straps instead, which is correct for an apron dress based on loops we've found attached to brooches.  I also like they way they function better:  they're easier to use, and once they're affixed to the dress, don't require any adjustment. My straps came out a bit thicker than I wanted them, but that's okay - they look just fine and they work great. 

There:  all finished.  The new design is simpler, but I like it much better than all that ridiculous embroidery I had going on before.  I love that this dress is full length - I prefer a long apron dress. 

And I really love the green and black (the color shows better in the previous picture, sorry).  That came out better than I'd pictured.  I have a ton of the green rayon sarong scraps left, too - I may use them to line a new Hedeby bag I've been thinking about making.

What's Next?

I may play with the bag I just mentioned a bit;  I'm also working on some new cuffs for my Viking coat and a new underdress.

A Makeover: Blue Split-Front Apron Dress

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In 2015 when I was in the process of spiffing up my entire Viking wardrobe, I created this dress:

Isn't it neat?  It's wrong in so many ways. I did a really good job based on my knowledge at the time;  it's just that that knowledge was incomplete, and based mostly on what I saw other people doing instead of on actual solid research.  And so we had this dress:  split down the front, which is incorrect for the accepted understanding of how apron dresses work; the wrong type of straps - flat straps, not loops; embroidered to the eyeteeth, and apron dresses weren't covered in decorative embroidery; and with a front trim band and skirt guarding in a contrasting color, which was an idea I copied from someone but has no basis in historical anything.  

So, I decided to tear this dress apart and make it over completely into something that is actually correct and which I can wear to events without looking like a bad example.  So, to start with,  I removed all the embroidery, the straps, and the orange trim. 

I also removed both of the remaining blue front panels - they were too narrow to simply sew closed into a single front piece - it made the dress way too small, and it would have placed a seam directly down the front of the dress, which would have looked horrible.  I needed to create a whole new front panel to insert into the dress. Thankfully, Fabric-store.com still sells the same exact color (Bluebonnet), so I was able to order a single yard so that I could make a new front panel. 

Once I'd closed the dress with the new front panel, I also cut a new top facing to replace the one I'd removed in the front.   Then I removed the embroidery from the flat straps and took them apart, and made two new loop straps out of them, as well as front loops.  After that all I had left to do construction-wise was to hem the whole dress, since I'd removed the skirt guarding from the bottom, leaving a raw edge.  

To finish the dress, instead of all that incorrect embroidery I opted for a trick we know the Vikings used on their apron dresses:  I stitched a length of blue ribbon around the top of the dress.  In period this would be a strip of silk fabric or ribbon, or a tablet-woven band. 

In my case, it's a rayon faux-silk seam binding ribbon, and it looks perfect at the top of the dress.  It's almost exactly the color of the fabric, just a bit darker.  It is awfully plain, especially since it's supposed to be simulating "fine imported silk";  I may replace it with something a little fancier at some point in the future if I come across anything that will work. For now, I like it just fine.  

So there's a piece of fantasy made over into something with a little more fact woven in.  The best part is that now I have a "new" dress I can wear, for only about $11 (the cost of a new front panel).  I needed an extra outfit to wear to BAM in a few weeks, and this goes a long way to fixing that hole in my wardrobe.  

What's Next? 

Now that this dress is fixed, the question is, do I launch into a quest to re-do all of my apron dresses to make them more correct, or do I leave the rest alone?  I hate to take out all the work on the orange and brown dresses just yet - I did a really great job on both of them and I love the way they look.  My black dress, however, is covered with some very amateurish needle work and is glaringly incorrect, so I think I will make that one over next. 

Awesome Viking Bling

Valkyrfelt was AMAZING. Bjornsborg really knows how to throw an event. There were so many neat things to do and to learn, there was music everywhere and games to play,  the food was fantastic, and I had SO much FUN.  I went to a workshop where I made a pair of matched Viking arm bands in a period design copied from a piece found in the Cuerdale Hoard:

I got to use hammers and an anvil! 

So there's some awesome Viking bling to add to my wardrobe (And the British Museum has a free online PDF book on the Cuerdale Hoard, check it out).

I got even more bling, too - this awesome brass brooch was my site token! I was surprised to see such nice tokens for an event.  I think these came from a site called Wish, but I'm not sure. I think some people had trouble with the pins falling off, but mine is pretty solidly made.  I plan to use it to close my coat.

So, What's Next?  

BAM is coming up in November - Bordermarch Autumn Melees, now called War of the Rams. It's a five-day war event out in east Texas, and I haven't been in something like four years.  I've missed camping so much; I really didn't want to come back this weekend, and I already can't wait to go to BAM.   

So in the run-up to the event, I've got several things to do:

• I'm making over an old blue apron dress that needed a little help, just waiting on some extra fabric to come in the mail
• Making a new under dress from scratch
• Adding faux fur cuffs and trim to my Viking coat (because the sleeves aren't long enough), and
• Making over my black apron dress as well

So I've got a full plate for the next month/three weeks!  I hope I can get it all done in time.  I'm still working on those couch cushions for a friend of mine, too, so I've got a LOT of sewing to do.  

See you again soon!  

gratuitous cat bawls

Viking Bead Jewelry

This is my Viking jewelry as it was in February at Candlemas:

There's so much wrong with this picture;  but we won't go into that right now.  See the red beaded string with the modern silver raven pendant on it?  I ADORE that pendant, and I don't care how modern it is, it will always be a part of my Viking wardrobe.  I love ravens, and I have little blue Viking ravens embroidered on three pieces of clothing, and a big knotwork raven tattoo'd on my back.  My ravens stay with me.

Those red beads, on the other hand, are too smooth and uniform to pass with Viking jewelry.   The other night I made a small string of random beads - wood, glass, carnelian, and quartz; just whatever I had on hand - and hung my raven pendant from it.  It goes with my boob necklace better, and goes with the color schemes I usually wear when I wear Viking:

Incidentally, you should check out this blog.  It's a research blog, to complement the research the author is doing into Viking beads and ancient settlements.  It's fantastic,  scholarly and clearly-written, and the pictures are really large and clear. I learned so much about Viking beads reading through the whole thing.  My one regret, after reading it, is that I don't have any cobalt blue beads or any fancy glass ones.  That can be fixed!

Anyway, this was just a little last-minute project I did because I'm impatient for this weekend.  See you on the flip side!

Parasol Refit

This is my parasol.  It started life as that same ubiquitous white parasol that's sold at wars and which everyone has - you might have one yourself.

Well, mine suffered a terrible fate:  as so many people do, I tried to paint mine, but I messed it up very badly.

So I took it apart and made a pattern from it, and used that to make what you see above.  I made the wide ends of each piece wider and longer, long enough to hang down like little awnings.  I regret not having a source for the design;  I saw it somewhere on someone's Italian renaissance costuming page but never could find it again.  Those little awnings sure are great for keeping the sun out of your face, though.

However, by now this cover was six years old.  The heavy cotton fabric (originally a RITVA curtain panel from Ikea) was badly stained by spills and some wet leather that got dropped on top of it.  Seams were coming apart.  Edges were frayed.  The hem had come undone on most of the awning edges.  The ribbon that tied it closed was positively shredded.  This thing's been through a lot.

The first thing I needed was new fabric.  It had to be lightweight, washable, light colored, strong enough to withstand the pressure it would be under when opened, and maybe something I could paint eventually. I ended up using a white cotton bedsheet that I had sitting around.

I removed one of the triangular panels from the old cover and used it as a template to cut out eight new ones.  Then I sewed them all together at the sides, leaving the last side seam open, hemmed the top opening and the bottom edge, then closed up the last side seam. The cover attaches to the frame by pushing the small center opening over the crown of the umbrella, then stretching the seams down to the buttons on the ends of the spokes and tacking them in place around the spoke buttons with sturdy button thread.  Done!

Tada!  All done.  I really like the cotton sheet fabric - it's SO lightweight!  This thing feels practically weightless compared to the heavy cotton curtain fabric that was on it before.

After I attached the cover to the frame, the whole thing got a heavy coat of Camp Dry spray to waterproof it.  I use that stuff on everything, it does a great job.  Great timing, too - it's supposed to rain at the event!

So What's Next? 

Valkyrfelt is this weekend! I'm so excited!  The weather should be cool and somewhat rainy - just right for camping on a beautiful little forested island in the middle of nowhere.  I can't wait.  

Rory helps mama with the sewing.  

A Heraldic Chest

In 2014, when I made this chest for my friend Simona, I made one for myself, too.   I didn't stain or finish it - it came in very handy at events, but it was always unfinished.  Eventually I painted it plain black.   I've always wanted to do something cool with it, but I never got around to it.








However, I finally painted it!  It's an adaptation of my device: 

I painted one half of each side of the box white with 3 coats of Killz primer;  then painted the red parts with red artists actylics and acrylic craft paint.  I used  artists' acrylics for the green leaves.  I coated the entire box with polyurethane to seal the paint.  While the hardware was off the box, I also sprayed the handles with primer and then a metallic gold spray paint, to spruce them up since they were looking a bit tarnished and gross.

I'm not sure exactly how to use it, though.  I used to use it at big events to pack and store all of my underthings and accessories - braies and bras, socks, headgear, and jewelry.  On the other hand, my feast basket recently died and I'm thinking this chest might make a great little feast box.  I'm not sure yet.

What's Next? 

I still need to fix or replace the back of the blue chair I re-covered a few weeks ago.  I may also make a new cover for my old parasol this week,  if I have time.  And, of course, Valkyrfelt is coming up - not this weekend, but next, and I'm planning and scheming like mad because I'm nervous as hell about camping for the first time in nearly three years.  

About A Bag II: Hedeby Bag Refit

When the handle of my Hedeby bag broke at its first event, someone told me that back in the day, people wouldn't necessarily replace things when they broke, but repair them instead, in order to save resources and time and work - he cited several examples of repaired and patched wooden items that he'd seen in his studies.  The bag would have a story, he said, a life of its own, and he assured me I'd get A&S brownie points if I made period-appropriate repairs.

What I really wanted to do was replace the handles entirely, and do a better job at creating them in the first place.  Sadly, my efforts failed, and the new wood I was working with didn't survive the creation process - and I couldn't afford to get new wood to try a second replacement.

So:  repairs it is!  I don't know anything about period repair techniques, but I did the best I could with what I had:

The first step was to un-tape the broken handle and use a solvent (WD40) on a cotton swab to get the sticky residue off the wood.

By the way, you can click on these pics to make them bigger, to see detail.

Then I used a small paintbrush to apply a thin layer of wood glue to the broken edges, and pushed them back together again. I used clamps to hold it together while it dried, with scrap wood blocks to help keep even pressure on the cracks.

Next I made a tiny little scrap of wood to use at a patch, which I glued over the crack.  The patch is about 1.5" long x 1/2" wide x 2mm thick.  I'm hoping this will help hold the crack together.

I used a cotton swab to stain the patch to match the rest of handle and to fill in around the broken edges (Minwax's Jacobean, to match the original stain); and also to apply a tiny bit of polyurethane over the areas to seal them.

There! Two bag handles, ready to be pressed into service once more.  (The repaired handle is in the front;  you can see the original repairs to left side of the rear handle).

All that was left was to sew the handles back onto the bag. I used  embroidery floss to whip stitch the handles onto the bag, which is how I affixed them the first time.The repaired handle is in the back here.











I'm nervous about the strength of this repair - I've never done a repair like this, and the wood is so thin and weak to begin with, I just don't know if it'll hold or not.  I mean, it should: the original repair to the side of the other handle has held up just fine.  The way the bag opens puts a little pressure on the center of the front handle, but that one's held up just fine over the years - and I put the broken one in the back.   The broken handle broke because of a sharp blow, which, with any luck, won't happen again. Anyway, it's finished, and we'll see how it works at the upcoming event.

Have I mentioned that I ADORE this bag?  Hearts.  

What's Next? 

At the moment I'm painting a wooden chest, and I have a parasol I'd like to recover soon, too.