Clever hack to keep your stitches even. By making 2 marks on the side of your thumb, and moving your thumb along as you work, you have a built in gauge for exact stitch length, without marking up your fabric. PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT MY THUMB NOR MY IDEA. I’ve tried to find the original source to no avail.…
A while back her Majesty, Patricia, asked Fearghus to be her Queen’s Champion. For this position Fearghus asked me to make him a tabard and to help paint his war shield. He wanted both of these marked with a personal symbol for the Queen’s Champion. That is, he is not the Queen so I advised that he could not rightly…
The Nederfrederiksmose Man (also known as Kraglund Man or Frederiksdal Man) was found May 25th 1898 in Fattiggårdens mose near the village Kragelund, north west of Silkeborg, Denmark (also approximately 15 miles south of Viborg, Denmark). The man wore a kirtle of coarse woolen cloth, the legs were bare but on his feet he had short leather boots, laced over…
Chausses – French word for medieval fabric or armor leg covering. Pronounced [shohs] (rhymes with “shows”). English speaking people would call them “hose”. Notice, “hose” rhymes with “chausses” (when it’s pronounced correctly). But Sylvie, you say, I’ve heard some people pronounce it as [chaw-ses]. To which I reply: some people are wrong. I know, I know. You first saw it…
Once upon a time, at a Pennsic long long ago (2011) I made a tunic for my love. Somehow we’d gotten to site and my love had zero short sleeved tunics. To remedy this I dragged him off to Merchant’s Row where we purchased fabric and thread. Then I spent two-an-a-half days hand sewing it together so that he would…
This last weekend was West Kingdom Beltane. This is the beginning of the 49th year of the SCA and the West Kingdom. We camped. This is the first time we have camped at an event since our son was born. He’s now 5 1/2 months old. The good: – We camped! The whole weekend! We didn’t chicken out and run…
She who dies with the most looms wins. At this point I think I have 5 looms. The simplest looms I have is this board loom. Aside from the backstrap method I believe it’s probably the simplest loom to build at home. My husband made my board loom from a 1×6 of quilted birch. The base is 5.5″ x 18″.…
Well now.. I wish I’d seen this 4 months ago. http://maniacalmedievalist.wordpress.com/category/cotehardie/ At this point (7-ish weeks from due date) I won’t be altering any of my cotehardies.. but if I’d seen this a while ago I’d’ve added side lacings to my cotehardies and continued to use them as maternity wear. As it is there’s really only one event I’m planning…
On September 12, 2013 Her Majesty Patricia contacted me to ask if I could make a Cotehardie for her to wear at October Crown (October 5). She would supply the pattern and the fabric and other materials. I agreed to make the dress for her but warned that there may not be enough time to finish the eyelets for the…
Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing Patterns This is a book of patterns for the garments found in Greenland which have been dated to the 14th century. It has an interesting introduction with some helpful sewing hints. It leaves out some details which are crucial in the path from a picture of a pattern of the garment to an as-close-as-I-can-get-it-reproduction of…