HANDCRAFTED HISTORY

Monthly Archives: January 2020


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Follow me to a SCAevent- DW 2019!

I want to take you with me to an amazing event; the SCA Double Wars in southern Sweden. This time I tried to take lots of photos to show you the camp and living grounds, all the amazing outfits people have made, and the magical setting that always occur during this event. Get ready for lots of photos!

For you unfamiliar with SCA I wrote you a short explanation and added some useful links. I really think this is the society for almost everyone doing viking/medieval/historical fun, and there is so much to experience. I am a member since many years, but I am also a larper, viking reenactor, market vendor and currently infatuated with the 18th century. One can have everything! Like this medieval camping ground, paired with open handcrafting meetings and picnics…

Also, to visit an event you don’t have to know a lot of people beforehand, you just have to have/borrow some basic things, pay for the event fee/food and then participate! There’s more blog posts about the SCA if you are interested, check out the tags on the blog!

Hanging out in the camp, preparing dinner and having a good time are all important activities during Double wars!

About SCA;

SCA is an international organisation devoted to recreating history before the 1600s (in Sweden viking age and medieval period are most popular) “SCA” stands for Society for Creative Anachronism, and the purpose is to create and participate together, rather than recreating the perfect set for educational or museum works. This means there’s many different persons, periods, and interests in the society, which I think give lots of energy and life to participating. I have only visited events in Europe but the soceity is worldwide and have lots of participants in the States.

Ed in his excellent outfit
Marlein in her 16th c outfit
Farkas getting dressed
https://marleina16thwardrobe.blogspot.com/ Lali has a blog on her own!
Look at this awesome early medieval outfit!

Look at these awesome people with their medieval outfits! Handcrafting really is a big part of the society and many makes their own garments and learn as they go along. L for example has a very good blog about 16th c clothing; check out the link in the photo!

To know more and participate check out this links;

https://www.sca.org/

http://www.nordmark.org/ (Sweden)

https://www.doublewars.org/

I always find Double Wars so magical, the event takes place in a lush forest at the high of spring, and mixes modern conveniences like toilets and served food with the medieval camping grounds. During the event there’s lots of fun to do; practice fencing, armed fighting, archery, handcrafting skills, dancing, brewing, cooking over open fire, bathing, go to parties, picnics, lectures… and everything in a historical setting and with historical clothing of course!

During court we play a bit, gather together and salut friends who have worked hard for making everything work; event crew, staff, teachers…

This almost turned into somewhat of an advertisment for the event (yeah, you should totally come and play with us!) but the reason I wanted to show you all this is that it’s winter and dark here in Sweden, and I am hiding indoors this evening longing for the summer with all the medieval events and markets.

Looking back at good events always helps me through the dark months, and makes me want to start planning for the coming season.

And we are almost there, it feels like spring is getting closer for each day, the air has a certain smell to it, and I am dreaming about all the camp gear and dresses I want to get for this year (but that I probably wont have time to do) and planning for which events and markets to visit. Are you also longing for green spring outings and warm summer events?

 

 


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Comfortable and easy outfit for the 15th C

I wanted to tell you about my blue 15th century dress. It is made in a thin twill wool fabric and super comfortable and easy to wear!

This is one of the dresses I wear most when it is hot outside, but made in thicker wool it will give you a really cosy overdress for colder weather too. I have used lots of 15th century pictures as a start for the pattern drafting and overall look, and you can find some sources + more info at the end of the post. Also, there is lots of posts about 15th century garments and fashion here so click the tags for getting to know more. I made this one as a pattern experiment, and it turned out so nice that I am tempted to make another one…

The pattern is basically the same as the one I used for my coat. The skirts are longer and closed in the front with the opening reaching to the waist (easy to get in and out of) and the sleeves are S-sleeves (the seams are in the back) with an option to save on the fabric by inserting a gore in the back of the sleeve. This is the pattern outlay from the coat; if you want to make it to a dress just give the skirts more length, and redraft the sleeves to S-sleeves if you want.

The measures you need:

  • Lenght of garment (from shoulder to floor for example)
  • Armhole (or use a toile or pattern that fits you, the armholes are made in “the regular way” but will be a little deeper due to the width of the garment starting already from the shoulder. If you use a toile as a start, place the neck-hole around 20 cm (size s-m) from the selvedge and draft neck-hole, shoulder and armhole from the toile before continuing the sides in a straight line.)
  • Sleeve length and wrist circumference (for the sleeves)
  • Shoulder width (around 8-13 cm) from the neck hole to where the sleeve starts.
  • Upper body circumference. Measure your body, and split the measure in 4. Use this as a guide for drafting the start of the pattern; the neck-hole, shoulder and armhole.

As a reference, I started the neck-hole 20 cm from the selvedge/fabric edge and then drafted the pattern from there. To make sure you get the measures right and will fit in the dress; measure the width of the fabric pieces before cutting, especially if you have broad shoulders. Compare with the width needed over your shoulders.

It is easier to start from a corner, with the front piece and front sleeve gore 1.

If you are a beginner in drafting patterns, it really helps to start on a piece of paper with your measurements. Experiment until you feel more secure, and if you like, you can even cut the paper pieces out and tape them together to check the fitting. You don’t have to make the pattern a full scale, you can work on a checkered paper with a scale of 1:10 (1 cm being 10 cm in reality)

The gores for the front and back skirts are just there to give some additional width to the skirt (F1, F2, B1, B2) and they should be half the lenght of the back/front seam. So they will get longer if you draft the skirt longer.

Give the pattern a try! This is one of those outlays that may seem more complicated than it really is.

After you have cut out all the pieces, sew them together:

  1. back seam and gores
  2. shoulder seams
  3. side seams
  4. sleeves
  5. insert the sleeves in the dress
  6. front seam and gores (leave the dress open from the waist or the chest area up)
  7. hemming and 1-3 small clasps at the front (if you like)

When I made the dress I tried different ways to achieve the folds; basting, gathering, and with a strip of fabric on the inside… But I like it best when it is loose and flowing so I removed all the stitching. Every time I put it on now I arrange the folds after putting on the belt. They may slip around a little but is easy to adjust again to your liking.

Most of the fabric is gathered at the front and back to drape the skirt nicely, without adding bulk on the sides. When choosing fabric, a thin but tight weave will give you a good fall and heavy drape to your dress.

There are lots of pictures of this style of dress, with draped folds, and what appear to be sewn ones. The sleeves can be made rather tight or looser, and the neckline higher or lower. Check out my pinterest for more inspiration!


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New year- new energy.

Hi there!

I have not been very good at writing here for the last couple of months. I guess life happened, with lots of work and winter coming with darkness and the flu. But now I finally feel I have new energy, after a long holiday over Christmas and New Year. I also got lots of new plans, both for Handcrafted History and for my own handcrafting projects. So what is up?

(photo from Elna at https://www.thehistoricalfabricstore.com/)

This year’s first handcrafting workshop will be held in Norway; there will be a super fun, nerdy weekend with medieval (and some viking) clothing and we still have some spots available; check it out at https://www.facebook.com/events/2871689502883854/.

I am also looking over this year’s coming market and event season and making plans for new roadtrips, and returning to favourite places. There will be both lectures, workshops and a market round. So exciting!

Also, with my Patreon up and running, readers, friends and supporters are contributing to this blog which enables me to make more new tutorials and materials for all of you. Do you want more free tutorials, patterns, how to make things, and so on? I would love it if you took a look at my Patreon and maybe even supported me there! Also, you will get access to all my paid tutorials and patterns there if you become a supporter.

 

 

Finally, I am working on selling lots of old clothing, fabrics, accessories and so on, that I have sorted out from my stash during the holidays. I will put everything up on my FB page during January, so check it out if you want to grab some pieces for a reduced price!

So, a short update done, I will continue sewing on some projects for customers, and a dress for myself. I also have some new posts coming up here, so stay tuned for more handcrafting inspiration. Do you have any projects planned for 2020?