SCA: 2026 Summer Project, Progress Report

Things on my big summer project are proceeding apace.  In April I posted about a pleated serk I made; in May I built a wooden display stand for part of the project.  

This whole thing is about the woman's outfit found in grave G12 at Bryndum in Denmark in 2016 (which I posted about in December).   I'm...not "recreating" the outfit, but I'm adapting a version suited for rough SCA use - linen instead of wool, cotton weaving thread instead of wool and flax - all to make this thing able to stand up to harsh use and machine washing.  

Yes, I started out the project in wool, but the fabric I bought was too heavy, so I ordered some new linen fabric and started over a few weeks ago, and altered the direction my documentation was going to reflect the changes.  I'm MUCH happier with the way it's going now, and I think it's going to look fantastic when it's all done. 

At the moment I'm working on the "jacket" for the outfit, and when I'm not sewing, I'm weaving the bands which will become the straps for the apron dress (see the December blog post for details).  

Here's a pile of pattern pieces all basted together with the lining pieces, ready to be sewn together.  I'm sewing with waxed linen thread, although I did the basting with regular cotton machine thread since I was going to pull it out anyway and discard it as I sewed the seams.  

And here's a bit of the tablet weaving I'm working on for the straps. The pattern is "Mammen Mia" by L. Elewys von Finchingfield, who adapted the pattern off one of the motifs from a woven band found at Mammen from the 9-10th century.  Since I'm working in 8/4 cotton thread instead of thicker wool threads, the bands are a bit narrower than the extant examples, but since they'll be doubled and sewn together, they should be plenty strong (I'll get into that a bit more later when I do a post on just the tablet weaving).  I will say, though, that this is my first pattern with only two threads per card instead of four, and it is kicking my BUTT.  It's so slooowwww and tedious.  I'm really not enjoying it, LOL.  

Busy busy!  I should finish the jacket by the end of this week, and then I'll have pictures of the whole thing for you. After that I have to finish the weaving, and then sew a matching apron dress to complete the set.  

KAS is in two months, so I've got plenty of time to finish this outfit (and my documentation) - I'm looking forward to being so I can take a break, although I've already got the next three projects planned out and one started, hehe.  SO much to do, always!  

SCA: Side Quest: New Casual Tunic Dress

Sometimes you want to dress down a bit, you know?  Work days at camp, slow afternoons before court, and days when I just don’t feel like wearing 90lb of jewelry. I didn’t have anything like that. 

So I made this quick little tunic dress: 

It’s linen, and hand sewn with cotton sewing thread. The color might be a bit bright for historical accuracy, but I love it. It took me about a week to make this, working 2-4 hours per day. 

The sleeves are extra long so that they’ll bunch up on my forearms, like this cute little bronze figurine: 

The darker blue binding on the neckline and sleeves is made from linen scraps from another project. I was going to add some tablet weaving to just the front slit, but I didn’t have anything already made that I liked for this, and I don’t feel like weaving à tiny piece just for this. 

And with that out of the way, I’m moving on to my next BIG project for Kingdom A&S in September.  I have six months to make three pieces and weaving all the things. 

I’ll be doing more little side quests in between working on it, though. I still haven’t figured out what to do about embellishing thst wool hood, so that’s one. I also have a tablet weaving project I want to work on in my spare time, too. More soon! 

SCA: Small Stuff To Do

 I'm going to be starting on my Kingdom A&S project at the end of March, but in the meantime I'm working on a few small things:  

1.  A New Skjoldehamn Hood

These things have become like the Hedeby bag for me -  I love making them, and now I have three of them.  I threw this one together at Bjornsborg's spring event last weekend. It's cut from the last scraps from Ivar's coat which I made a few months ago.  I sat at the event and sewed it by hand from start to finish, and now it just needs embellishment - I'm not sure whether to do tablet weaving or some sort of decorative stich (I hate the "blanket stitch" that the original extant hood has on it and I refuse to do that because ew, LOL).  So here it is right now, finished but undecorated: 

2.  New key hanger strap

I used to wear my Viking key on a tablet woven cord that I made aeons ago, but I had put it onto a linen tool strap for my Kostrup dress display at Bjornsborg.  In the meantime, I wove a new "cord" for it - it's a tablet woven band of only 4 cards, two borders and a central V.  It's very thin, but it's stronger than a linen strap for sure.  So I put the key on the new one just the other day: 

3. A New Tunic Dress/Gown

I typically only wear a serk (underdress) and smokkr (apron dress) as the base of my Norse kit, but there's a third layer that goes between the two: a tunic dress or gown, same shape and design as the serk but usually in a heavier fabric which can be worn with or without the apron dress.  Since I don't always want to wear the apron dress and brooches, I decided I needed a new tunic dress to wear by itself for "casual days" at events.  It can be worn over a serk, and dressed up with a woven belt, necklaces, and a brooch at the front neckline.  Simple, attractive, and accurate (except for the material choice, since this one is linen instead of wool).  

The pic here is of a similar tunic dress I made long ago and re-dyed last year; the new one will be light blue with a darker blue band on the neckline and sleeve cuffs: 

4. New Winingas Ties

I really, really like the look of a long tie/band wrapped around the bottom of Norse pants on a guy.  Since I dress as a guy periodically, I wanted to adopt that look, and so I'm weaving some looooong (120") ties to wrap around my legs, either over just my pants, or on top of my winingas.  I'm not sure about the colors, but I think it'll go well with my blue and red-trimmed Norse tunic and gray pants.  I'm also not sure when I'll ever finish these - I'm only halfway through the first one and I started it like three weeks ago.  I just haven't had a lot of time to weave lately.  

5. Got Wood? 

I also have two woodworking projects going on right now:  the first is an upright loom that my teacher Haraldr is guiding me on.  It's kind of like the Oseberg loom, but a little later-period in style and look, but it'll function the same way.  I'm working on chiseling out the mortises for the cross beam right now. 

I also want to build myself a very simple T-shaped garment stand that I can use to display shorter things on a table top, like tunics, jackets, hoods, etc.  For an event next year I'm going to be displaying both a complete female outfit on my dress dummy, as well as a male tunic/jacket that I'll need to put on a table, so I'll need a stand.  

This is a terrible drawing, but you get the idea

So that's what's going on right now.  More pics as I finish stuff; and of course I'll start boring you with all the hairy details of  my KAS project as soon as I get it started.  

SCA: Plans Of Many Things

 I’ve spent the last couple of months weaving my ass off for a tablet weaving display at LPT…and it turns out I’m not going. I’m severely disappointed, but something has come up which will keep me from going this weekend, and it can’t be helped. Oh, well - Life Happens, right? 

Meanwhile, I’ve finished the sewing on my Kostrup dress (see previous post), and I’m going to be working on the glass beads for it next. 

I also just ordered fabric for my next big A&S project, which is a secret for now. :) 

Bjornsborg’s spring event is in two weeks, and I wouldn’t miss that one for the world. I can’t wait! 

At the moment I have “nothing” to do (except those beads, which will have to happen over the weekend when I have time), and so I’m going to start working on some little stuff around the sewing room - organizing the books, putting some decorative stitching into a hood I made last year, maybe making some new Hedeby bags, that kind of thing. 

I did just finish weaving a bunch of Stars of Merit. The Star of Merit is Ansteorra’s grant-level service award.

More soon! 

SCA: A Klappenrock for Ivar Hersir

My good friend Ivar was given a piece of gorgeous wool several years ago that he’d always wanted to have made into a coat, so I volunteered my services. He and I sat down at the last event and took some measurements and discussed styles, and he basically gave me free rein to “do what I do,” hehe. 

It’s lovely fabric, a medium-weight wool of about 4y.  It looks dark gray from a distance, but up close it’s made up of black, light gray, and dark blue threads in a herringbone twill striped pattern, with a thin stripe of brown every few inches. 

I made it into a klappenrock - the tunic-length coat with an angled front that wraps over in the front, for male Vikings. I don't know a whole lot about the archeology behind this style; it’s described by Inga Hagg from her studies on the finds at Hedeby (10-11th century).  I've seen the klappenrock in the SCA, although not often, and usually made out of linen. 

The pattern I drew up was pretty simple - it basically looks like the drawing above. Nothing fancy, no gores or gussets, just angled front and back pieces. I didn't have an Ivar available for fittings, as he lives two hours away from me, but I had him bring me the fabric as well as a tunic of his that he liked and which fit him well, and used that as a jumping-off point for sizing and shaping the coat.  I did take measurements of him as well, when he delivered the fabric to me at the Bjornsborg fall event a couple of weeks ago.  

Sewing this coat was also very simple.  I did the seams on the machine to save myself some time, and then hand-finished all the seam allowances for a period look.  I couched a length of brown wool yarn along the seam allowances edges with a herringbone stitch to help protect them from fraying: 

I used a herringbone stitch in black thread for all the seam allowances and for all the hemming on the open edges. 

Very often you see these coats with a contrast guarding around the edges, and I didn't do that (I had no extra fabric with which to make one), but I did finish the front edges and sleeve cuffs with a band of tablet-woven trim which I made.  

The pattern for the woven trim is  Ladoga 2b, which is a Rus design from Staraya Ladoga barrow in Russia; in blue and white with a red and black border.  I made about 3.3 yards to go around the neckline and front opening, and another yard or so for the sleeve cuffs. 

And that's it.  This was a great "quick" project (the coat itself took about five hours to make, and the woven trim took me about a week or so weaving in my spare time).   His excellency absolutely loves it.  Success! 

*

It's going to be a while before I post again.  We just finished up Bordermarch's event War of the Rams, and so events are over until February, for me - but I have a LOT to do over the winter, both for the SCA and with projects around the house. 

I'm working on a new outfit for A&S in the spring, a new hood, and a LOT of tablet weaving - including building two new looms.  I'll try to post about the stuff I'm making as I go along.  

SCA: Events: Bjornsborg Fall Faire

I haven't had a lot of luck with events this fall at all.  First of all, it was still in the 90s here until like a week ago, so I really didn't want to be outside all that much.  One of the events I was going to go to in September was canceled at the last minute; another one at the beginning of October I managed to go to, but I couldn't camp, and it was so hot and so much walking around a very BIG and extremely dusty event site, and between the heat and my allergies I didn't stay long.  

Last weekend, however, was the Barony of Bjornsborg's Fall Faire, which I wouldn't have missed for the world.  The weather has finally cooled off, and Bjornsborg really knows how to put on an awesome event.  There were classes, competitions (no A&S, sadly), games, a couple of great bardic circles, a tavern with food and drink for lunch, and a feast on Saturday evening.  Court that night was long, but hilarious; and it rained like crazy and even hailed a bit during the first half of court, which made it kind of hard to hear what was going on at the front, but it was still a great court. 

                                 Me and Hersir Ivar 🫶

I also got to try out my new campsite this event, which was kind of exciting for me.  I got a new tent which is bigger than my old one, and sets up "instantly" (seriously, it takes me like 5 minutes to put it up all by myself, and I LOVE that!) I also got a new air bed which is wider than the twin sized one I was using before (that I kept falling out of!), and a new rocking camp chair which is SUPER comfortable.  

                        Big tent! 

This tent is big enough that I can bring my rolling garment rack for War of the Rams next month, too.  It's a five-day event, and it's going to be COLD and there are tons of parties and other activities which may or may not require costume changes - and it's SO nice at WotR to be able to just hang up all my clothes instead of rooting through a plastic tote bin for them like I do at short events, especially for when I need to duck into my tent quickly in the evenings to grab a coat or other outerwear.  

 

For my next trick, I'm going to be making a Norse klappenrock, (a short coat with a wrap-over front) for Master Ivar, complete with tablet-woven trim.  He brought the fabric to me at the event, and we sat down and took some measurements and talked about styles and colors; and I'm going to be working on this between now and WotR.  I'll show you when I'm done.  

SCA: About Hrefna

I'm in the process of creating an SCA resume with the guidance of a Laurel friend of mine, and it occurred to me that I haven't done any sort of introductory thing on this blog in a pretty long time.  So here goes: 

ME

I am Honorable Lady Hrefna Hroksdottir, and I play a 9th-century Norsewoman in the SCA, in the barony of Bryn Gwlad in the kingdom of Ansteorra. I currently hold an Award of Arms (2011) Sable Thistle (an armigerous award for arts & sciences in Ansteorra, 2015) in costuming, as well as an Iris of Merit (grant level A&S award, 2025).    

BACKGROUND AND INTERESTS

I've been sewing since I was 9 years old when my mother first taught me, and I've been costuming since I was 18 when I was in Amtgard (Barony of Tori-Mar, Celestial Kingdom).  I very much enjoy all things sewing, especially hand sewing. I'm also an avid tablet weaver, and I do a bit of woodworking, jewelry making, and making glass beads.  

I dance when I can, and I try not to let people hear me sing although I love doing it and really enjoy the bardic circle when I can make it to one.  I also cook quite a bit, although that was sort of an unintentional side-hobby - I help out the Ansteorran Longship Association with their omelet breakfast fundraisers when I can, and I've helped my friend Cristiane make feasts for events on a few occasions, too.  

I don't teach formal classes at all, although I wish I could.  I actually love teaching, but I have some pretty serious anxiety issues which make the act of standing in front of a group of people and speaking to them impossible for me.  I do, however, really enjoy teaching one-on-one, and I've done that pretty frequently.  I'd much rather come to your house to teach you tablet weaving than stand up in front of a class full of people all staring at me.  

NAME AND HERALDRY

My name, Hrefna, means "raven" in Old Norse; my last name comes from the name Hrokr, meaning crow or rook - hence, I am Raven the Crow's Daughter.  That might sound a bit silly, but it spoke to me.  (I sort of have a thing for ravens - I have a pretty large raven tattoo, and I wear raven jewelry pretty much all the time).

My device, which was just approved earlier this year, is the second one I've held.  It looks like this: 

Per bend sinister azure and argent, a pomegranate slipped and leaved Or 

and a raven rising sable, a bordure counterchanged Or and azure

The pomegranate was a major feature on my old arms, which I had registered in 2011 when I joined the SCA.  Since I've shed my original (14th century English) persona, I decided this time around to keep the pomegranate as well as adding the raven for my new persona, as a way of honoring the "old me" and the new at the same time.  I chose the colors simply because I love blue and gold (my old device was black and white and red).  

HISTORY 

My history in the SCA is divided almost neatly in half.  I joined the SCA in 2011.  From 2011 - 2016 I focused mainly on 14th century clothing, and I enjoyed making new outfits to fit the theme of whichever event I was attending.  I did a lot of work on commission for friends, much of which is in this blog if you look back far enough. From 2016 - 2019 I took a long hiatus from the SCA in order to focus on my "real" life, which was kind of blowing up in my face at the time.  I returned in 2019 - right in time for the pandemic - and I've been focused on Viking/Norse ever since, and my sub-focus, I guess, is learning to make my clothing as historically accurate as possible (I shudder to look at some of my Viking attempts pre-2016, some of that stuff was so awful! Don't scroll back that far).  

WHAT'S NEXT? 

So where do I go from here?  I honestly don't know.  I spent many years keeping myself hidden as much as I could, and now I feel a bit invisible, although I know I'm not.  I love that I've been stepping out of my comfort zone a lot with A&S the last couple of years and I'd really like to keep building on that. Yes, I would like to be a Laurel one day, but that's going to be a long way off, I think.  I'm proud of my work, but I know I have a lot more work to do.    

I'm working on getting an Ansteorra Wiki page set up for myself - waiting to hear back from the people who do that, actually.  When it's published I'll add a link to the sidebar on this blog.  

* 

So that was a long text post, sorry about that!  Hope it was at least somewhat entertaining.  Back soon with more STUFF.  

Update on Stuff

 I know, I haven’t posted anything since I got back from Gulf Wars. I’ve been busy as heck, I just haven’t had much to say here. 

At the moment I’m working on another full hand-sewn outfit for A&S, which I’ll have lots to say about in a couple of weeks after the competition. Fun stuff about that: I hand-sewed a wool garment for the first time, I tried out weaving with silk thread for the first time (and I’m in love), and while I normally have my A&S project finished a week or two before the deadline, this time I had sort of a supply emergency and now will end up working up until the last minute - possibly even the late night before the event. So…that’s fun, I guess?  Heh. 

I have lots planned for afterwards, too. A new Viking coat for myself, lots more weaving, and a Regency gown I’ve been “dying” to make for over a year now. I may also get a new tattoo next week, but y’all don’t care about that. 

Anyway, more soon, I promise! 

Just for fun, here’s a pic of my first silk weaving project. The band on the left is cotton crochet thread; the band on the right is silk thread from Dixie Weavers, which I purchased at Gulf Wars. It’s so soft and shiny and smooth! It’s a dream to work with - once I got the tension right, that is - and I can’t wait to keep playing with this stuff. 

Bye! 

Happy New Year!

I know, I’m late, it’s the thirteenth already. I’ve been busy as heck the last few weeks getting ready for Bryn Gwlad’s Candlemas (February 1st) and Ansteorra’s Laurel’s Prize Tourney (Feb. 8th).  

Candlemas is BG’s big event of the year - everybody puts on the dog and brings their best to the various championships that are held during the day. There’s a marvelous feast in the evening, and an Italian Renaissance ball. It’s really something to see. For my part, I’ve been working on an A&S entry for the event (the red hand-sewn Norse dress I posted about a couple of weeks ago). 

Laurel’s Prize Tourney is not a tournament, nor is there a prize awarded for anything. What it is is a big A&S gathering where you can display your works - a project, a body of work, something you want advice on, whatever you want - and have the opportunity to talk to the laurels and to other like-minded people about your work.  You basically sit at a table, show off your works, and geek out about history with people with similar interests - and it’s SO FUN. I’ve been once before and I had a blast. 

This year LPT is in Oklahoma, so a bunch of us are trekking up there together for the weekend (it’s a one-day event) - picture a minivan stuffed with craft projects and history nerds on a 5-hour road trip, LOL. It’s going to be great. 

So I’ve been getting ready for that, too.  I’ll have more about both events as they get closer, and hopefully some pictures of my various displays afterwards, too. For right now, I’ve got work to do: 

I’m 

• Finishing up some small sewing projects 
• Weaving two projects (three?) 
• Making glass beads
• Organizing and planning my display(s)
• Writing and organizing documentation 
• Planning A&S shenanigans with a friend who is also doing both of these events with me 

And for some reason I’m also crocheting a sweater in my down time, because I guess I didn’t have enough going on at once. AAAAA!! 

Ok, back soon. 

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! 

The Summer Lull

 I haven't posted much lately, have I?  I really haven't been doing anything blog-related.  I'm between projects in every area of my crafty life, and have been focusing on other things instead - like refinishing a couple of tables in my house, cleaning up the yard in preparation for bulk brush pickup day in a couple of weeks, and shuffling around some of the artwork that hangs in my house to freshen things up around there.  

I have also done a little bit of SCA-related stuff lately, but nothing major - just some small mending and repairs to old costumes, and some cleanup and reorganization of my costume closet and my camping gear.  I did also get a new air mattress and a new fancy rechargeable air pump for camping, and I'm going to be replacing my old camp chair next week. 

I do also have some new costumey/crafty projects coming up in the next few weeks that I'll post about: 

• I'm still working on a hand-sewn Viking serk that I started in like May and haven't been working on like at all this summer (oops)
• There are a few new weaving projects I'll be posting about once I get them done, which is dependent on when my new thread arrives in the mail
• There may or may not be a new Regency dress in the works.  In fact, there might be TWO of them, I'm just not sure yet 
• I did make a birthday present (piece of garb) for a friend recently, which I've been dying to show you, but I have to wait until I actually give it to said friend before I post about it 

Just in case anyone actually cares, here's what's been taking up the bulk of my time this summer: 

I got this corner table for free from someone's curbside trash in 2017, and I JUST got around to stripping the paint off it and refinishing it so I could use it.  Whew!  It took me about a month's worth of actual working time to get all that paint off (three badly-applied coats of paint plus a primer coat that had soaked deeply into the wood). 

It lives in my bedroom now, and so far, I haven't piled any laundry on it. 

This little side table/stand is an actual antique, given to me by a friend several years ago, and she believes it's from the early 1900s, possibly the late 1800s (I honestly have no idea; there's a maker's signature underneath it but I couldn't make it out in order to look it up).  

The finish was badly damaged, but the structure was completely sound, so all I did was strip it and re-stain it.  This one took me about two days to do from start to finish.  After working on that corner table for so long, this was a nice, easy, fast project, and really fun. It lives in my living room.  

Anyway, I'll be back in a couple of weeks when I have some actual sewing/weaving projects to talk about.  

SCA: Tablet Weaving: Decorative Ties for Winingas

 My latest weaving project is done:  a pair of thin ties to wrap around my winingas for my male Viking kit (ostensibly to help hold them up, although they stay in place just fine without them): 

I'd seen this look in several photos on reenactors' costumes on various blogs and online photo albums, and wondered about the authenticity of them.  While the existence of winingas in the Viking age has definitely been proven (through grave finds, artwork, etc.), I wasn't sure about these little ties to help hold them on.  I didn't find any record of physical evidence of straps/ties like these, but I did find a couple of period artworks which depict them:

 

from The Benediction of St. Æthelwold,  971-984 CE, England
 (the person on the far right has straps/ties at the top of his leg wraps)

Bayeux Tapestry, 11th century
(the guy on the right)

Of course, neither of those are Norse art, but at least it does show that these little straps/ties were in use for a while in a couple of different areas around the same time period as I’m going for.  

And I DO love the chevron/diamond pattern that I used to weave them...although I've realized that I've used this same pattern in like three different places now, and I should probably vary that a bit, hehe.  I love weaving and I do it all the time, but I DO need to be careful how much of it I'm using in my Viking outfits - I don't want to overdo it and look like a piled-up mess of competing patterns, colors, and accessories.  In my male kit I now have these leg ties, as well as woven trim on the edges of my tunic, and I think that's enough for one outfit (and my shoelaces, which I need to replace, but that’s a story for another blog entry). 

What's Next? 

So I just got back from Steppes' Warlord, and I'm TIRED.  Warlord is a "work weekend" for me, and I busted my ass the whole time I was there and came home thoroughly exhausted and not at all in the mood to work on projects.  However.  I do have several things I need to work on this summer, which includes (but is not limited to): 

• building a new Oseberg loom
• weaving a whole bunch of bands for largesse purposes
• repairing a few pieces of garb (seam rips, fallen hems, etc). 
• hand-sewing a new Viking serk (halfway finished with that right now) 
• hand-sewing a new smokkr

And I'm also working on some "mundane" projects, like refinishing an antique table and crocheting a summer top I would like to finish before summer is actually over, hehe.  Lots to do!  

More soon.  

SCA: A Tablet-Woven Edge Detail

 So, I read about this NEAT thing where you can weave a band directly onto the edge of a piece of fabric or a garment, which adds a bit of decorative detail and also protects the fabric's edge.  There's a great picture of the technique on this page, if you can read Swedish (or use Google translate, which is what I did). 

I decided to try it out...sort of.  I didn't have a flat piece of wool fabric to use; but I wanted to try the look on the neckline of a serk, and I wasn't sure how to get the round neckline aligned with the loom - and also, I didn't think the linen of the serk would lend itself well to the stress of weaving. 

Instead, I decided to try to simulate the look by attaching a thin tablet-woven band to an existing garment by sewing it on.  I sewed it on edge-to-edge (as opposed to applying the band flat on top of the surface of the fabric) so that it looks like it's woven in place. 

the band was sewn to the neckline and 
sleeve ends

I really like the look of this.  I'm always trying to find more ways to make my viking kit look fancier and nicer without resorting to non-period "reenactorisms." I like the way this came out. It's a simple detail, but it looks finished and polished without screaming WOVEN TRIM ON ALL THE THINGS!! 

a closer shot of the neckline and stitching

What do you think?  I think I'll definitely try this again, and, of course, I DO plan to learn to weave directly onto a piece of fabric, as soon as I get some fabric that will support the weaving properly.  

Neat! 

1/4" 6-card single-color woven band
in cotton thread

What's Next? 

Right now I'm working on several things which I plan to blog about in the coming weeks: 

• a fully hand-sewn linen serk and smokkr set
• a new set of woven bands to decorate my male viking tunic
• a Regency ballgown (?)

Oh! And also, I just finished a belt which I really love and can't wait to wear: 

More soon! 

SCA: Oseberg Loom, Take II

After showing my Oseberg loom at the A&S competition at Bjornsborg in February and getting some really great feedback on the project, I decided to enter it again at the Hellsgate Commanders' Crucible event in March, after making some changes to the project based on the feedback I received: 

• I made some changes to the documentation - mostly formatting stuff, but also some changes to the writing to make it flow better, and I included some new information that I've learned since I started the project
• Someone at Bjornsborg in February showed me a new way to warp up this loom which solves almost all of the problems I had had with weaving on the loom on my first try

Initially I had warped up the loom the way you would warp up an inkle loom, with the warp thread ends tied to themselves, forming a big loop that wraps around the whole loom.  This limits the length of the weaving, and, I found, makes it so that the tension becomes too tight to continue weaving about halfway through, since the loom has no tensioner apparatus the way an inkle loom does.  

Instead, according to the input I got from a laurel who talked to me about it at length, I've warped it more like you would do with a backstrap loom, with a long warp which is lashed to the loom frame with a strip of leather thong which can easily be moved when you need to advance the warp or adjust the tension.  This way makes it easier to weave, easier to adjust the weaving, and removes all limits to the length of the weave - you can literally weave as long a thing as you want this way, woohoo! 

Also, since now it's so easy to remove the weaving project from the loom and put it back on again with the leather thongs, you can remove the weaving, take the loom apart to pack flat for transport, and then just put the weaving back on the loom when you get where you're going. My Oseberg loom is small enough to fit in my car fully assembled, so it's not an issue for me right now; but if I ever build a full-sized model of this loom I'll definitely need to take it apart to take it to an event. 

Something else new this time around is the thread I'm weaving with.  I'm using a 2-ply wool thread in three shades of indigo blue  - I've never woven with wool fiber before, and the feel of it is quite interesting. The band I'm weaving is coming out very nicely, but the fiber is really fuzzy and sticks to itself a LOT, which is making weaving slow and kind of a pain in the ass.  

The pattern on the loom right now is the "Oseberg narrow band" (the design with the rhomboids/diamonds on one side and the squared-off zigzag on the back (band 12L1, Nockert 2006). It's a 10-card pattern, and the finished width is only about 1/4" (the warp is four yards, so I'll get three-and-some when it's finished).  I'm not sure yet what I'll do with this piece when it's done. 

Here's my display from Hellsgate.  The wind was wreaking all sorts of havoc with the tablcloth, and knocking the loom and the spools of thread all over the place, but it mostly looked nice.  I got a ton of great feedback on the projects from lots of people, and once again I got the opportunity to sit down with a couple of laurels and really discuss the project in-depth, which was a LOT of fun.  I get super nervous when talking to judges about my work, but I'm getting better at handling it without falling all over myself and coming apart at the mental seams afterwards, hehe.  

So what's next for this project?  Honestly, I don't know.  I think I've done all I can do with this little prototype Oseberg loom - I think the next step for me, if I want to continue in the weaving vein*, is to either switch my focus to the weaving itself, or to go bigger and build a full-sized Oseberg loom to work on and display at the next A&S event (it was suggested to me by two people that this would be a fantastic project for Kingdom A&S in September, but yikes, that's high-stakes!)  

*And of course, I DO want to continue to weave - I love weaving.  But I also have a new Viking outfit I want to get to work on which will be as near to "completely" historically accurate as I can make it, all hand-sewn, hand-dyed, etc.  I've been planning that project with the idea in mind that I would take it to LPT next year; but I could just as easily do both the sewing project and the big loom if I wanted to.  Right now, I just don't know.  

Right now, I'm very happy with the way the last two competitions have gone; and I'm excited about moving forward - but I'm also ready to take a break and work on something else for a minute.  Steppes' Warlord is coming up, and it's going to be HOT, so I'm working on a new Roman outfit that I have to finish in the next couple of weeks, so that's what I'll be doing with  my April.  Show you when it's done.  :) 

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!) 

Update About Random Things

SCA STUFF

So, BAM (War of the Rams) was exciting and wonderful, as anticipated.  There were a million things to do and see and learn, lots of classes, music, crafts, and lots of of fun times with friends.  The Ansteorran Longship Association was out in full force with their first longship, called Skelmir, on display, and a dear friend gave a series of lectures about the history of the ship and its construction, which were fun and fascinating.  Unfortunately, this year BAM was unseasonably warm, so I didn't get to wear the velveteen houppelande that I spent October making for it - but there'll be other cold events.  

What's Next? 

So what am I working on right now?  My next event will be Bryn Gwlad's Candlemas in February, so I'm working towards that.  I'm making over an old dress into a completely new outfit to wear to the event, and making new accessories and jewelry to go with it - here's a little preview I whomped up in the ever-so-modern-and-up-to-date program, Microsoft Paint (yes, it still exists, LOL): 

I'm also working on a series of A&S entries for a largesse competition at Candlemas, which includes glass beads, bags, and lots and lots of card weaving: 

I'm getting lots of practice doing things I love, and I'm having fun working on the new costume.  I'll be working on all of it throughout December and January, so there may not be much in the way of updates until early next year.  

REGENCY STUFF

A group of Regency costumers that I follow online did something fabulous this week:  they went to see the Napoleon movie together as a group in Regency costumes!  AAA!  I would LOVE to do that, but unfortunately I'm the only person I know who's even remotely interested in Regency stuff.  Oh, well.  Maybe some day I'll live somewhere with a Regency society group that's more than just a study group like our local one is.  (Not that a study group is bad, it's interesting, but I want costumes). 

I don't have any Regency stuff planned for this winter - I'm too busy with SCA stuff right now.  Although, I do have a ballgown and a new Spencer jacket on my planning boards (Trello - if you haven't seen it, check it out, it's an awesome project management app/website that keeps me organized and on track for all my projects, and it's free!) for the future - maybe in the spring.  

OTHER STUFF

Meanwhile, while SCA work continues apace, I'm also about to start crocheting a comfy and swishy ruana for my roommate that she can wrap up in at work since her office is always freezing.  

Also, (once SCA stuff and crocheting are done), I have three wooden tables in my house that I need to refinish.  I probably won't talk about those here, although I may.  I used to have a "furniture and other home crafts stuff" blog in addition to this one, but I don't keep up with it anymore.  Maybe I should start again.  But this won't be happening until probably March or later.  

Busy busy busy!  I'll be back soon with an update about the Candlemas outfit.  

SCA: Some Pictures of Me and Some Random Bits and Pieces

 So, I realized recently that I've never really posted pics of me in any of my Viking outfits - I hate the way I look in photos most of the time, and so I almost always just post stuff on my dress dummy in the craft room.  Of course, the dummy pictures don't really show you what an entire outfit looks like put together, so I thought I'd get dressed up and share pics of ME in my actual Viking clothing. 

Hrefna Hrokrsdottir

Here's me in my favorite (female) Viking outfit.

That's a white linen serk and blue herringbone linen smokkr; with brass brooches from Raymond's, beads and beaded jewelry, leather turnshoes from Bohemond, inkle-woven belt, and Hedeby bag.  Everything except the brooches and shoes was made by me (including the woven shoelaces). 

(The white serk is all caught up underneath my smokkr in this picture, so it looks like the hem is wonky, but it's not.  I just wasn't paying attention when I was getting dressed. Oops!)

(I really need new socks, these turquoise ones are just too loud). 

Hrefn (?)

And here's me as a dude.  I originally developed this outfit because I wanted pants to set up/break down camp in, because skirts get in the way too much; but the more I wear this kit the more I just love dressing as a guy.  It's comfy and workable, and I love the way it looks on me: 

This is my blue linen pants, green-and-blue tunic with inkle woven trim and black top-stitching, blue winingas, the same leather turnshoes, hammered brass arm rings, beaded necklace, Jorvik hood, inkle woven belt, wool cloak, brass cloak brooch, and Hedeby bag.  The winingas, shoes, tablet-woven trim, and brooch were purchased; all the rest was made by me.  

I did just alter these pants, also.  The waistband was sitting too low on me and my pants were falling down, so I added a panel at the top to make the waistband taller - I didn't have any more of the blue linen so I used another color, which thankfully doesn't show under my tunic. 

(I should also note that this whole outfit is about to get a major overhaul, stay tuned). 

Card Weaving!! 

A dear friend of mine recently taught me how to do card/tablet weaving!  I am SO STOKED!  Here's my very first project, done in #3 cotton crochet thread. 

This is so much fun!  Of course, I screwed everything up on my first warp and had to take the whole thing apart and re-do it, but not only did Kate teach me to weave, she taught me how to deal with my mistakes, too, so I was able to get it all sorted out and then create this gorgeous trim.  It's about 3 yards long, which is about as much as my loom can do (either inkle or card).

I can't wait to try new colors and patterns! 

Other Stuff

In addition to the pants alteration and the card weaving, I've been making some minor repairs and alterations to my Viking kit(s) the past few weeks, including: 

•  cut a slit in the neckline of my white serk (above) so that it's a keyhole neckline instead of a round one, because I like the ease and look of a keyhole neckline better, and I love wearing my little silver brooch to close the neckline
• wove (inkle) a striped trim to put onto the male Viking tunic (above) to replace the ratty trim that was on it before, which was falling apart and was too big for the tunic anyway
• I covered my cooler in wood grain duct tape to make it look like a little wooden chest!  Except I'm about to take it all off, because it looks like country-fried ass, LOL
• I made a new necklace to wear with my male Viking kit (above), which is just 9 glass beads (made by me) on a length of blue string - nothing major, I just wanted some bling 

New plans, which I'm hoping to get done by October: 

1. I'm working on refinishing a table I found on the curb into a nice table we can all gather around at Sprezzatra camp - I'm about 85% done with sanding it and am about to start staining it
2. I'll also be making a heraldic table runner to go on the table, with Sprezzatura's device on it
3. I have a blue linen Skjoldehamn hood which needs a lining - I have the fabric, I just haven't made the lining yet
4. I'm hoping to replace the queen-sized air mattress that I use in my tent with a smaller one, so that I can have more walking space in my tent for getting dressed and stuff

Whew!  Lots going on to get ready for the fall event season. Let's go! 

Summer Lull and Plans of New Things

I haven't posted in several weeks, but believe me, I'm hard at work...doing...pretty much nothing, for the time being.  I've been hitting the yardwork and the housework pretty hard, but project-wise, I haven't been all that active. 

July is always just kind of a lull. It's too hot to play outside, so there are no SCA events going on, - that won't start happening around here until the end of August, so things are kind of at a standstill right now. 

However, I do have plans that I'd like to get into as soon as energy and finances will allow: 

• There are materials for a Regency ballgown that I've had sitting on my work table ready to cut out for weeks now that I'd like to get started on soon 
• I have [another] Big Viking Project I'd like to get into as soon as I can get the wool for it
• I have several plans for small improvements around camp - like a cooler refit and a change to my bedding situation
• I really want to get back to making glass beads, but it's 105º right now, and nearly that hot inside the garage - too hot to sit over a flame to make glass!  (Although, part of me says, if I can mow the grass when it's 90º at 9:00 in the morning, I can probably sit in the garage and make beads? I dunno, I may try it soon)

I have been crocheting like a fiend for the past few weeks, though.  This blog is not about that, but if you're interested, you can check out my crochet projects on Ravelry, here: https://www.ravelry.com/people/s1ren  I just recently finished a blanket for a friend of mine, and I'm working on a sweater now.  

Anyway, see you again soon!  Hopefully I'll have something to show in the next couple of weeks!  

SCA: Event Recap, and Looking Forward

I went to my first Steppes Warlord a couple of weeks ago!  I'd never gone because I always thought it was "just" a fighting event, but it turns out, it's SO much more.  All the fighting, all the A&S, tons of vendors, lots of competitions, lots of parties, and all kinds of stuff - there were even snow cones for sale, LOL.  I had a a lot of fun.  

Oops

Sadly, one of the strands of beads in my Viking "festoon" necklaces broke, so I only had one to wear pinned between my brooches.  Thankfully, all the beads fell out on my bed while I was getting dressed, so I was able to collect them all and save them to re-string them at a later date.  I'll probably do that this week. 

Also, my gray linen serk "sprung a leak" - a hole opened up in one of the arm seams.  Since the sleeves are tight enough that I can't just take it in to cover the break, I'll have to dig around in my stash to see if I have any more of that fabric so that I can make a patch for the hole.  

Nope!

I was traveling with a friend this event, so to save space I opted not to tote my clothes hamper with me, instead carrying my clothing and EVERYTHING else in my black chest to save space in the truck.  It did NOT work out very well at all - everything was so crammed in there that I had to unload the entire chest to find anything, my clothes got terribly wrinkled, and it was a huge pain in the ass.  I'm definitely not going to do that again - especially since I mostly travel alone, and can pack anything I want in my nice, big truck.  As much as I fantasize about one day building myself a new, period tent; I really like the way I have everything packed and arranged with all my baskets and wooden boxes.  

Yay! 

I spent the mornings at the event working in the kitchen at the Antsteorran Longship Association's omelette breakfasts.  The Longship allowed me to camp with them for the weekend, since my household wasn't going to be there; and so to give back I pitched in in the kitchen, and I had SO MUCH FUN.  It was hard work, but I really enjoyed it.  They set up a full kitchen with camp stoves right there in camp under a huge pavilion, and serve up omelettes made to order - the proceeds go to fund the group's efforts in - get this - building actual wooden Viking longship replicas.  That's so cool!  I look forward to working with them again.   

Next

I hear some kingdoms have indoor events in the cold of winter.  You'd think Ansteorra would do the same thing in the summer, but people down here have some weird tough-guy thing about being able to withstand the Texas sun - we have no indoor events during the hot summers at all.  There are a couple of events over the next two months, but they're outdoors, and they're at least five hours away by car, so I won't be going to anything until the fall brings cooler weather and local events again.  

Plenty of time to work on new projects, fix up my existing wardrobe as needed, and plan for A&S in the fall.  I'm looking forward to the break for a while (I have lots of new Regency stuff planned to keep me busy), but I also already can't wait for September! 

More soon.