SCA: Laurels’ Prize Tourney

This weekend was Laurels’ Prize Tourney. It is not a tournament, nor is there any prize - that’s just what it’s called. What it is is a chance to show off your work and sit down with laurels and with other artisans who are interested in the same things and talk about it together. It’s a huge geek fest, and the time I went several years ago was SO much fun. 

This weekend’s event was no different. I met so many new people, and had so much fun talking about stuff I love to do, and about so much more. I learned new things, found new rabbit-holes to head down when I get some free time, and a new appreciation for where I’m at in my work and how far I have yet to go. 

I brought what I’m calling my “Vikings Are Still Cool” display - a little bit of some of the things I do which are Norse-garb-related.  I brought my red hand-sewn dress from Candlemas, the Oseberg loom that I built last year, a whole bunch of tablet weaving stuff, some of the Hedeby bags I love to make, some other sewing items, and some of the jewelry and glass beads that I’ve made. 

Some friends and I drove up together and rented an AirBNB for the weekend, rather than paying for a more expensive hotel room to share.  It was a great little house - I’d never been to an AirBNB before, so it was a new experience for me. 

What’s Next? 

The next SCA event for me is going to be Gulf Wars in March - a weeklong war between two kingdoms, hosted by a third kingdom and attended by several. 

Before then I’ve got to make myself a new serk and a new male tunic; and I’ve got to get started on my A&S project for Bjornsborg in April, as well. And I’ve taken on a weaving commission that I hope to have done in a couple of weeks, too. 

I also have a new regency dress that I’m hoping to get done somewhere in there - it’s high time I had a black mourning gown, I think. 

Lots of things! More on all that soon. 

SCA: Finishing A Long-Overdue UFO

This week I completed a UFO (unfinished object) that's been outstanding for SEVEN YEARS.  

In 2015 I made this linen Skjoldehamn hood.  I'd meant to put a lining in it, since it was just medium-weight linen, but I never got around to it.  I did at one point embroider the edges of the hood (apparently? I don't remember doing it), but it still wasn't lined, and so it wasn't warm enough or heavy enough to really be functional, or even really sit right. The first thing I did this week was remove the decorative embroidery, since it was (a) in my way and (b) not period-appropriate for this garment piece. 

The original hood, found in Norway in 1936 and dating from the 10th century, is made of wool, with a woven (probably whipcord) woolen tie in the center of the hood which can be used to tie the hood closed in the front or tied behind the head.  

Mine is made of linen instead of wool, because at the time I started this project I still thought I was allergic to wool (I'm allergic to the chemicals they use to treat wool fabrics, but I've since learned that those can be carefully washed away and I'm fine).  I went ahead and lined it in linen (actually a linen/cotton blend) because the outside was linen.  I've omitted the ties on mine for the time being. 

Also, since my hood was machine-sewn, I went ahead and sewed the lining by machine as well; although all the stitching that shows - where the inside and outside are stitched together around the face and the lower hemline - are done by hand (whipstitch), and the trim is sewn on by hand (running stitch through the outside edges of the trim). 

Here's my finished hood: 

I applied a thin card-woven trim to the bottom edge of the hood, which I wove myself last week (my second-ever card weaving experiment).  It's made of #10 cotton crochet thread in brown and light gray, because that's what I had on hand.  I got the pattern from this website; it's a design which was inspired by some of the Oseberg weaving patterns (not an actual period copy).  

Hooray, it's finally finished and I can wear it!  This will look great with my men's Viking outfit this fall. (The men's Viking outfit is getting a major overhaul right now, I'll show you when it's done). 

For reference, here's a photo of the original Skjoldehamn hood as found on the bog body: 

the Skjoldehamn hood

More information on the Skjoldehamn hood: 

Náttmál. “A Skjoldehamn Hood.” NÁTTMÁL, 21 Mar. 2021, nattmal.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/skjoldehamn-hood/ 

Dan Halvard Løvlid (English translation by Carol Lynn) – The Skjoldehamn find in the light of new knowledge, 2011

Carletti, Francesca. “The Skjoldehamn Hood Class Handout.” Carlys_sewing, Her Ladyship Francesca Carletti, July 2016, carlyfenton.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/theskjoldenhamnhood_revised.pdf

Brennasdottir, Ula, "Skjoldehamn Hood" 2021 (SCA blog) https://medievalexcellence.com/2021/05/12/skjoldehamn-hood/

SCA: A Bag and A Hood, and the Last of the Herringbone Linen

 After the blue herringbone Hedeby bag, I still had some of that herringbone linen left over, and I had a set of walnut bag handles already made, so I decided to make one last Hedeby bag, and another Jorvik hood to go with it: 

This time I dyed the fabric a rich dark green. I dyed the pieces separately; the bag came out UNBELIEVABLY  DARK, but the color is gorgeous. The hood is a bit more believable.   

The bag is lined with linen I dyed the same color, and includes a phone pocket on the inside. Fabric straps attach the bag to the handles, which are the walnut handles I took off another bag which I didn’t like. The carrying strap is a three-strand braid (doubled) of some charcoal gray acrylic yarn I had in my stash. 

The hood is French seamed up the back and top, like the other ones I made recently; the front is cut on the selvage edge this time, the way the extant Jorvik hood was done.  The ties are just tubes of the same fabric.  I didn’t put a sit in the back of this one, honestly I just forgot because I was going too fast. 

So that’s all for the herringbone linen (or is it?) I got a lot of mileage out of that stuff.  I forget what the original yardage was, but from the piece I bought in January, I got: 

• a blue apron dress
• a gray (now dyed teal) shawl
• a blue Hedeby bag
• a green Hedeby bag 
• a Jorvik hood 

I'm already wishing I had more.  I'd love to find some diamond-twill linen to work with next; maybe I'll keep my eyes open for it the next time I can go to Gulf Wars.  

SCA: Three Jorvik Hoods

 In May, I cut off over two feet of hair and started growing out my gray. I’d dyed it for years, and it was looking pretty dry and worn. It’s healthy now, and a great shade of silver - but it’s too short for all the cool braids and updos I used to do to go with my costumes. 

So this week I made a trio of Jorvik* hoods to cover my short hair at events where I’m dressed as a Viking. I used scraps of old linen from past Viking projects, so the hoods will coordinate with whatever I’m wearing (my entire Viking wardrobe is in shades of blue so that I can mix and match and it will all coordinate).  

*The Jorvik hood is rounded at the top back and comes down past the chin; the Dublin hood is pointed and shorter. I had that backwards at first, until I looked it up this week.  

All are machine sewn with a French seam up the back/top. The hoods we’ve found in gravesites use the selvage edge as the front opening of the hood, but I didn’t have scrap pieces big enough to do that, so they’re hemmed by hand. The ties are fabric, instead of woven or braided cord. These took me about an hour each.  

Viking hair:  handled.  

Adventures In Dyeing: A Dublin Hood

It's days until BAM and I'm spinning my wheels.  I'm out of projects, and I needed something to do.  I thought, I've only got the one Dublin hood, why not make another one?  But the only scraps I had left that were big enough to get a hood out of were white.  There's nothing wrong with  white linen, but I wanted color. Boom:  weekend project.

Looks gross;  smells like SANGRIA mmm

Fortunately, I also had some frozen blueberries, a pomegranate, and a large jar of hibiscus flower tea.  That's right, no RIT dye for me this time - this is my very first foray into dyeing with natural materials.  It's something that's fascinated me for years, but I've never had the time or the space to get into it.  For this hood, though, I didn't need much space - only a pot on my stovetop - and I already had the materials.

I soaked the hood in vinegar, simmered the plant material in water for about 30 minutes, added 1 cup of salt as a fixative, and then simmered the dyebath with the hood in it for about an hour, then left the hood in the dyebath while the water cooled down.

Tada!  I have no idea what color this is.  Light red?  Dark pink?  Almost-magenta?  Does it have purplish areas in it or not?  If the color even? I can't tell - it's even in some lights, and in some others, not so much.  I'm not terribly likely to wear this color, but this was a really fun experiment.  I definitely want to learn more about plant dyeing when I get back from BAM.


AN UPDATE:  I very rarely do this, but this one was weird.  Two years later, in 2022, I pulled this raspberry-colored hood out of storage to get ready to go to an event, and it had faded to nearly white.  I don't know what happened to the color - I didn't store it in sun or heat or any moisture or anything.  It just faded, very badly.  I have no idea why.  

Candlemas

Yep.  I just never remember to ask someone to take pictures of me.  Here are some selfies, though, of the finished pink dress and new ear cauls.

In my uber-Medieval living room, with
turban and brown linen/blue cotton hood.

At the actual event site, with blue velvet dress
and a bit more cleavage than I meant to show.

ONWARD, TO GULF WARS!  More soon.


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S'mo Viking

I've finally finished ALL of the items in the Great Big Viking Project! 

These are the things I've finished since LPT last month:

Here's the coat I've been working in fits and snorts for several months.  I made the gray shell in 2012 for the Battle of Ethandune event; I've just recently added the blue trim, and the burnt-orange lining. 

It's reversible!

Another Skjoldehamn-style hood, this one in Caerleon company colors. The lion appliqué down the center front was embroidered by Simona, on her fancy-schmancy embroidery machine.

A red dress that started out as another plain under dress like my black one, but which scope-crept itself into a lace-fronted loose gown, with seam and edge embroidery and hand-stitched eyelets.

My original apron dress (also from 2012), which was dyed to refresh the faded color, and then embroidered along the seams and straps.

Next on the blog: last-minute event stress (aka Wednesday). 

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Linen Skjoldehamn-Style Hood (Unfinished)

Not much to see here, just a hood, unlined.  The color is "Bayou" from www.fabric-store.com - I luuuurrrve this color; I have more on the way soon for a new Viking dress (Eura, Findland, 10thC).

Still trying to decide how to decorate it.  I've been on an embroidering binge lately; but I also borrowed an inkle loom from a friend and have yet to sit down with it and try my hand. (I've woven on an inkle loom once before, and it was really fun.  I borrowed the loom intending to learn new things, maybe make myself some belts and some dress trim).

More soon.

A Hood!

Next up in my Quest To Finish All the Things is the completion of my crocheted Skjoldehamn Viking hood:

It is not period.  Design-wise, and color-wise, it pretty much is.  But it's crocheted (modern), and the yarn is acrylic (Lion Brand's "Nouveau").  

The ties you see at the front, which would have been affixed near the back of the hood in period, are actually one long drawstring around the neck area of the hood.  For no reason other than that's how I wanted it. Ditto the long tassel on the back of the hood: 

Pattern, yarn, hook, sizing, and other info posted on my Ravelry project board.  :) 

Dang, this thing is warm and soft and comfy. I think I'll likely end up wearing this in Mundania as well as in Ansteorra.  :) 

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Event Pics: Shadowlands' Ball

Pics from this past weekend's "Fall Ball In A Small Hall" (yes, in January - long story), in the Shire of the Shadowlands (which is a day event with games, classes, tournaments, and an honest-to-goodness BALL at the end, which I danced my butt off!  Yay, dancing! 

aubergine linen, burgundy tapestry/green linen hood

ball: favorite silk veil + favorite amethyst necklace :) 

the new feast gear rocked!  forgot the actual plates, had to
eat off the chargers, LOL.  fail.

Next post:  projects from the event...

More Hoodie Goodness

I whipped this up last night with the tapestry fabric I found in September, and the leftover green linen from the over-gown I'm working on for Candlemas.  I altered the aubergine gown to fit better the night before last; I'm planning on wearing this hood with it, and probably Kress' gray microfiber cloak, to Ansteorra's Crown Tourney this weekend in Seawinds (Corpus Christi).  It's supposed to be in the low 60s, which you might not balk at, but I freeze below 70º (and I get really bitchy when I'm cold, LOL).

mmm, sparkly.   buttons removed from blue paisley
half-sleeves, since they're too small anymore

no pincushion at work + bunch of stuffed rats from Ikea on
my desk = rat pincushion.   Hee. :) 

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Finished Hood!

...Er, two weeks ago, actually, but for some reason I forgot to post this.

Crappy pic of me; great shot of the hood.
Even though it's all rumply from sitting in a pile. Oops.

Yes, I do have three articles of clothing now
with these same buttons.  Hand-stitched front edge
where the lining is sewn into the outside shell.  

Hard to see in this pic, but, there's hand-sewn top stitching here,
too.  While the inner/body seams were machined, I did all the finish
and top-stitching by hand, to give the hood the appearance of
having been all hand-made.   

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