Dress workshop weekend part 1

Fall is finally here! And so is the dress workshop I have been waiting for. Last weekend was the first workshop weekend (fri-sun). The workshop is held at Mynämäki Art and Craft College and the teacher of the workshop is Mervi from Hibernaatiopesäke blog. The schedule at the first weekend was flexible so we managed to add a shopping tour to fabric stores and a haberdasher. Also when Mervi and one student suddenly decided that they need to vegetable dye wool that we found at fabric store (cause the colour of the fabric wasn’t that good) they made it happen! The result was very pretty madder coloured fishbone wool. Most of the students are newbies in making historical clothing (pre-renaissance). The tips that we got from Mervi are priceless.

All new projects in same picture and Ipad just for FB-pauses and Internet search if needed/ Kaikki uudet aloitetut projektit samassa kuvassa. Ipad ei tarpeen, ainoastaan mukana mahdollisia FB-taukoja ja internethakuja varten

 

The first thing that she made us all do was to think about what kind of a persona we are making the clothing for. What is the status of that persona and what kind of acessories and items the person would have had at that time. That made me think a lot about the decisions that I make when I am planning my new projects. But maybe more about that later.

So what did I do at the workshop? I have made one 14th century dress before and I am not very satisfied with the result. Maybe one of the reason was that I just made the dress and thought nothing about what I am doing. I want to join my passion for cooking to my clothing and I want something 14th century. So nothing fancy then, something that suits for worker/ peasant or at least is close enough. I got an idea. So I cut my yellow wool from Medeltidsmode to make a simple Herjolfsnes dress. It will be a dress that can be used under other wollen dresses if needed. I will make it fitted with front lacing. While cutting the dress I thought about what kind of headwear and acessories the persona would use.

What else? Well I cut white linnen for smocked apron (something I have always wanted to make but no hurry to finish it) and cut a new Viking underdress (wollen) for me. That Viking dress I need next year, so I am in no hurry with that project either.

Next step is to sew sew sew...

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Syksy on vihdoin täällä! Ja niin on Mervin mekkokurssikin, jota olen odottanut jo pitkää. Viime viikonloppuna oli ensimmäinen kurssiviikonloppu (pe-su). Kurssi pidetään Mynämäen käsi- ja taideteollisuusopistossa. Ensimmäisen viikonlopun aikataulu oli siinämäärin joustava, että ehdittiin tekemään täsmäisku Turun kangaskauppoihin ja lankakauppaan. Jopa kankaan värjäämiseen löydettiin aikaa ja tilat, kun sitä tarvittiin. Käsityövinkit, joita Merviltä saatiin viikonlopun aikana, olivat kyllä kultaakin kalliimpia.

Heti ensitöikseen Mervi käski meitä ajattelemaan hetken, minkälainen henkilö olisi käyttänyt asua, jota olemme tekemässä. Mikä voisi olla henkilön status ja minkälaisia asusteita ja tavaroita henkilöllä olisi voinut olla. Se saikin minut lopulta miettimään hieman syvällisemminkin sitä, millä tavalla itse normaalisti valitsen ja mietin, mitä olen oikeastaan tekemässä. Vai mietinkö ollenkaan. Ehkä siitä myöhemmin lisää.

Haluan yhdistää kiinnostukseni ruuanlaittoon ja sen minkälaisen asun itselleni teen. Halusin tehdä uuden 1300-luvun mekon, mutta siten, että keskittyisin tällä kertaa vähän syvällisemmin miettimään mitä olen tekemässä. Niinpä päädyin mielessäni työvaatteeseen, joka olisi ensimmäinen kerros villaa alusmekon päällä. Yksinkertaiseen Herjolfsnes mekkoon, jossa on edessä nyöri. Ehkä tulevaisuudessa saan ylleni vielä toisen villaisen, vähän astetta paremman (mutta maltillisesti) pyhämekon. Otin ja leikkasin kurssilla Medeltidsmoden keltaisesta villakankaasta uuden mekon, jonka vuoritan ylhäältä pellavalla. Samalla mietin kovasti, minkälaiset päähineet ja asusteet tämän vaatteen kanssa sopisivat.

Mitäpä muuta? No leikkasin valkoisesta pellavasta smokattua essua varten kappaleet (projekti, jonka olen aina halunnut tehdä, mutta jolla ei ole kiirettä) sekä villaisen alusmekon ruotsalaisen viikinkiolkainmekon alle. Sitä tarvitsen vasta vuoden vaihteen jälkeen.

Nyt sitten vaan neula käteen ja ompelemaan!

Summer Nights

I am not tired which is very weird considering lack of sleep from last weekend. Summer Nights was once again fun event! The theme was this time a tavern and travellers stopping for night at the tavern. There wasn’t the usual feast this time but food was served like at restaurants. Travellers ordered plates full of different kinds of food according to traveller’s taste and dietary habits. For example I ordered the plate with all sorts of delicacies and UlfR ordered the plate full of meat. The idea was very good and so was the execution (60 people got their food in about half an hour!). But I still think that you have to have the master planner gene in you (that Sahra has) to execute the idea that well (and very competent staff at kitchen that she had... Elzebeth, Filisia, Ingeborg, Lempi and Ilona). UlfR got is new cloak at the event and managed to got he’s first burn mark to it at the camp fire. Well that only means that the wool in the cloak is real wool. And I got more bronze spiral material, a tablet woven belt and a yarn of wool dyed with woad from Suski..

Today Sahra and I talked about the Summer Coronation. I need another apron for camp fire (I don’t want burn marks to my new wool apron) luckily I have some undyed linen at home. I don’t necessary have to make a tablet woven belt to me now because Suski gave me one. I already re-hemmed and shorten my white Eura style linen underdress for the Summer Nights so that’s done. I will continue to sew today the blue linen Eura style underdress together. I don’t know about UlfR’s new pants yet.... I had bad luck with the pants last week. I started to make the pants and the work was almost done when I found out that the wool I was using was miserably bad. It already had a small hole in it. I realized that the pants wouldn’t last without braking for an event. I was quite pissed after finding the hole and after that it has been very difficult to start making new pants and I am not sure if I have enough good wool for it (it was about 4 hours handsewing for waste).

Viking Finn Apron

This is my first attempt to make a Viking Finn Apron with some bronze spiral decorations. The wool is not handmade, I found the wool from normal Finnish fabric store and I dyed it little bit. So that’s why there aren’t any (tube) selvedges or tablet woven fastenings on the edges as it should be. The original fabric was more light brown than the result. The wool I used is the same fabric than my blue overdress. Dyeing changes the wool little bit fluffier (as the washing the wool does also). Then I made four strings to the edges and made four corner decorations to the apron. The string and the bronze spiral decorations to the edges are made as the instructions for reconstruction about archaeological findings of Kaarina Kirkonmäki from about 11^th century. Only change I made was with the strings that are holding the spirals together. I am not very good to make 3-loop fingerloop braids, so I took a shortcut and made plain braids.

Viking Finn outfit

I have been busy lately with making my first Viking Finn outfit (it will be more like Eura style outfit..). I am trying to make a brown wool underdress, white linen underdress, blue wool over dress (peplos type) and a brown wool apron for Mooseskiing/ Borderwar event http://www.reissut.com/hirvenhiihto/mspaa.html . At Easter, when the event is going to be, the weather might be still cold there at Northern parts of Aarnimetsä. So I need lots of warm clothes.

I am currently sewing the brown wool underdress with wool thread (it is almost done), I haven't cut my linen underdress yet (I will try to do it today), I have dyed the wool for 0ver dress and for the apron and I have made 4 m tablet woven band to the over dress. I don't have proper bracelets, necklace, brooches etc. If I don't have time to buy (or make necklace) jewellery then I will borrow the things that I must have to keep the dressess together. I don't have time to make bronze spirals to my apron but I am trying to do it before Summer Coronation. But it sounds still a mission impossible to have everything ready by Easter. If my hand doesn't argue with me I can be quick handsewer.

But anyway I will do as much as I can and Sahra has promised to borrow the rest of the things I need. And I am still trying to do neat stitching although there isn't much time left.

Weaving and books

What a weekend! I feel quite relaxed after last weekend. Last Friday was again a day off from work and I went to the Helsinki Book Fair with Tofa. Actually there was a book fair and a food and wine fair at the Helsinki Fair Center. I bought about ten books at the Fair. Some of the books are history novels, but I bought also for example a book about cruelty in medieval times, a book about perfumes (contains history also), a book about green tea, a book called “From Magic to Medicine” it’s about science and belief in 16th to 18th century art, a book about notorious Gilles de Rais and a book about beauty opinions in 16th to 17th century. Now I have a bigger problem with the books than before going to the Fair. I have too many books and not enough shelves for them. If I get one shelf... it might not be enough. So I should get more shelves before buying more books from this day forward. But anyway I was surprised that I didn't buy any cookery books (modern ones... there wasn't any books about medieval cookery that I don't already have... well there is only one interesting and new cooking book written in Finnish at the stores and I have it.). Um.. ok, the green tea book contains some recipes.. but anyway.

At Saturday evening I started to weave a Viking Finn apron. I continue on weaving at Sunday also. I made it quite slow because I didn't want to be too sloppy. I managed to weave about 20 cm altogether. I was satisfied for the result considering that I am a beginner with this all weaving business. There are some mistakes in the fabric, but nothing too bad to me to be not satisfied.
The weaving was fun to do and I can't wait till I go to Tofa's next time to continue it. But I have to say that it was at time to time very hard and irritating because my weaving material is wool and wool threads snap quite easily and when you make a knot then the knot will slide open soon. So sometimes it felt like I could only do two cm in an hour.

New Apron

I finished my newest apron couple of minutes ago. I am going to wear this apron with my Italian dress until I have time to make white linen apron with blackwork stripes. I can also wear this with my Flemish outfit in future. This was very easy to do. I started on making it yesterday (with no sewing machine…). There are also a smocked apron and one more colourful apron in my wish list. But these are something I might do next year. 

My white partlet is not done yet. I am clad that I have 3-4 days left to make clothes before the Cudgel and I don’t have to go to work next week. Making that white partlet is harder than I thought. I have instructions about how to make them, but still. I think this http://www.margospatterns.com/partlet.pdf was the best instruction this far that I have found.