28 feb. 2019

Medieval hose.

A while back now, I made some hoses for two different people with different needs and wishes.
First pair is part of a medieval kit for a musician, all handsewn. They were made in a lovely, thick and soft, slightly fulled wool fabric with a cut surface, choosen by the musician to match the rest of his kit.
The model is from the Greenland finds.
 
It's the first time I made a pair with feet for someone and it was interesting shaping them and fitting them, and trying to sew the seems as flat and non-intrusive as possible. We only had one fitting so they are not as snug as they could have been but they did look nice when worn.
 Next pair was for a young dude fighting and reenacting late viking age/early medieval. He'd chosen a nice two-coloured twill in white and natural grey, quite suitable for his period.
On both pairs I reinforced the tie-up hole with a small piece of leather on the back. I don't know if this is the way to make the hole strong but it's possible and I made it on the back so it wouldn't be seen, also when you make things for others you want to make sure it's well made and durable.

I didn't have enough fabric so I made some piecing and extra seams, very HA, I think some of the greenlandic finds have extra seams too.

24 feb. 2019

Medieval leather hood, Lödöse Museum.

Ni vet ibland när ett fynd ser ut som fantasy? Här är ett sånt fynd och jag måste dela det. Jag ser verkligen fram emot att se tolkningar av den.
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You know sometimes when a find looks more like fantasy? This is such a find and I have to share it. I'm really looking forward to see different interpretations of this find.
Obs! Inte originalsöm.
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Note! Not the original stitching.
Besök gärna Lödöse Museum, de har massor av spännande fynd i sin utställning, eller om du inte har möjlighet att besöka dom i verkligheten, följ dom på FB. 
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If you have the oppurtunity to visit Lödöse Museum do so, if not you might 


6 sep. 2018

Viking age ceramic finds from the Trellefortress, DK.

Here you can see some of the ceramic findings from the Trellefortress at Slagelse, Denmark. They are exhibited in the museum at the sight but the museum building will somehow be developed and enlarged so I'm not sure it's possible to see them anymore, but for what it's worth, here they are. When I took the pictures I was most interested in the pieces with the nicest decorations on so that limited the range a bit.
This pot has a really cute decor and I ended up making one like it, just a bit smaller.

4 dec. 2017

Uppsalastrumpan, The Uppsala Sock.

Uppsalastrumpan är så cool! Den har en öppning i sidan, den har broderi(!) längs kanten, den är medeltida(!) och hittades i ett område med flera nålbindningsrelaterade fynd, bl. a en jättefin nål med spetsig ände. Läs mer i boken "Söma, nåla, binda." av bl.a Linnéa Rothquist och Håkan Liby och utgiven av Upplandsmuseet. Jag har nålbundit några olika varianter, ovan en vit strumpa med mörk kant, som originalet.
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The Uppsala sock is such a cool find! It has an opening on the side, it has embroidery around the edge and it is medieval and was found in an area with more needlebinding rekated finds, for example a lovely needle with a pointy back end. You can read more in the book "Söma, nåla. binda" in swedish, by Linnéa Rothquist and Håkan Liby and published by The Uppland Museum -Upplandsmuseet. I have made some variants inspired by the find, above a white sock with a dark embroidery along the edge, like the original.
Naturgrå med krapprött kantbroderi.
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Natural grey with a madder dyed, edge embroidery.
Gul med mörk kant.
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Yellow with dark edging.


31 okt. 2017

Trelleborgen i Danmark.

 En vecka på Trelleborgen vid Slagelse hör sommaren till. I år rörde jag mig till och med utanför marknadsområdet, och se så fin borgen är även från denna vinkel.
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A week at the Trellefortress at Slagelse in Denmark is part of the summer routine. This year I even moved beyond the market area, and you can see for your self how good the fortress looks from this new (for me) angel.
 Några vänner har som tradition att sitta inne i borgen, på borgvallen och titta på solnedgången och jag anslöt mig en av kvällarna. Det var kallt och blåsigt och väldigt trevligt och fint, och det behagliga sällskapet gjorde det hela ännu bättre.
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Some friends of mine have a tradition to go in to the fortress to watch the sunset and I joined them one evening. It was windy and cold and very nice and pretty. The lovely company made it even better.
Trelleborgen är överhuvudtaget en plats för spektakulära utsikter och solnedgångar.
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The Trellefortress really is a place of spectacular views and sunsets.
 Socialisering nattetid.
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Socializing during the night.
 Syprojekt som ger ett fantastiskt färgspel, växtfärgat såklart. ;)
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Sewing project that gives a wonderful colour effect, plant dyed obviously. ;)
 Det hann bli färdigt till den stora festen.
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And it was finished in time for the big party.
Några hade med sig sina pittoreska husdjur. (Tänk bort asfalten...)
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Some brought their picturesque pets. (Picture it without the asphalt...)

 Pärlmakare.
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The glass bead maker.
Kompis på besök i vårt lilla tält, hon har en fin blogg som jag kan rekommendera. Länk till den. :)
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A friend visiting our little tent, she has a nice blog, only in swedish but with lots of inspiring pictures. Link to her blog. :)
Gofika.
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Fika.
Fina Mannen matchar vårt tält.
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The Handsome Man match our tent.
Som vanligt tog vi en dag "ledigt" från marknadslivet och åkte på utflykt i jakt på gamla yxor och museer, mer om museibesöket i ett framtida inlägg. På bilden kan man se Fina Mannen och hans nyfunne vän, en väldigt charmig och leksugen vovve på en loppis någonstans mellan Slagelse och Vordingborg.
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As usual we took one "day off" from the market life and went out in the real world looking for old axes, and museums, more about the museums in another blogpost. In the picture you can see The Handsome Man and his new friend, a very charming and playfull dog at a "loppis"(flea market) somewhere between Slagelse and Vordingborg.


9 okt. 2017

Kläder till Fru Cecilie Jonsdatter. Clothes for Mistress Cecilie Jonsdatter.

Here she is, the honorable Mistress Cecilie Jonsdatter. 
She is what my medieval group is based on, or more correctly, we are based on her will dated to 1307. We are called Cecilie Jonsdatters sällskap and you can check us out here and here.
Long story short, she was a very rich and influential and pious person, from what we can work out, and she lived her life in Skåne-Scania, and travelled much.
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The dress is mostly based on the Gown of Sct. Clare of Assisi. I was also looking at the Maciejowskij Bible at the women who looked extra in command and holy, just like I imagine Cecilie was. I, of course looked into a lot of different sources but these two were my main sources for inspiration. The dress is made from a fine wool fabric that is slightly fulled, but still sturdy.
St. Birgitta's Cap in the making.
To look the part Cecilie needed a St. Birgitta's cap, a wimple and a veil. 
For more information on how to make these items look at the blog of Cathrin Åhlén - Katafalk
No need for me to go through when you can go directly to her blog and find out for yourself, although I didn't follow the tutorials, I used them more as a guide. I for instance made the wimple longer so that it also covers the neck, because the person who will use it lives in a very windy place, this way you can pin the wimple down the neck to make it sit more secure. :)

I decided that the head wear should be made of silk fabrics and a really fine wool muslin from Medeltidsmode.
So, veil and wimple are made of a lovely silk fabric in a light natural white shade, much like the natural colour silk can have when unbleached, and the cap is made of the wool muslin, to (try) to lower the sound that silk makes, how ever luxurious it might seem it's a nuisance when placed right next to your ears. 
Me, in the cap to show off the silk embroidery.
And finally, Mistress Cecilie embraces the light coming in through the windows, looking all devout and graceful.