Little Welsh Viking

Sorry for the hiatus, readers! It's been a whirlwind time at Chez LittleWelshViking. I've started a PhD, travelled across the sea to Canada, put on a play wot I wrote, and all the while been working on re-enactment clothes. Let's talk about the latest project for now, and I'll do some more catch-up posts later in the month. I'm doing a crazy mad embroidery. Like, properly insane. It's called the Llangorse textile, and it's a well-preserved piece of very fine linen (c63tpi) from the 10th century. It was burned and buried on a crannog (island castle) site in Llangors, near Brecon. The linen is embroidered with fine, unspun 2-ply silk thread, in imitation of the fine brocaded silks of the Middle East in the period. All the pictures below are courtesy of Amgueddfa Cymru (the Welsh National Museum) unless otherwise stated. Now this thing is fascinating for three main reasons: 1. We have very little early medieval textile evidence ...

So last week the British Isles were battered by the worst snow storm for several years. Several railway lines were shut for days, buses were stopped, roads closed, and Tesco ran out of milk and bread because we can't survive two days without wholemeal bloomers (hah!). It was hell... Obviously, re-enactors went MAD. There are some awesome shots of people in their finest winter gear taking a trip out to show off. I decided, in a small way, to follow suit. My Viking kit is the warmest clothing I have, so I went for my wraparound jacket, a linen undertunic, leg wraps, Jorvik type shoes, and a pillbox cap. Nicely set off by my orange Mammen embroidered cloak. I also went armed, because it's dangerous out there! Enjoy! Glorious snow victory! Snow horse was a Good horse. As a note, my Merchant of Menace-built Jorvik shoes stayed pretty much waterproof, warm as anything, and quite dry internally all day. They also carried me without slipping on ice, packed snow, ...

It's made of linen, I sewed it by hand, and it's the simplest, shortest piece of kit I've made in YEARS. Hot. Make a coif: it's fantastic!

The pink tunic has had a LOT of work done to it. The neckline was chopped a little too deep, so I decided to put a fairly typical 11th century facing on it. I used some pale blue linen for it because, as the wonderful  Isabel Northwode  suggested, linen is a bastard to dye deep colours. The eventual aim is to get this thing embroidered with pearls, silks, rich designs and the like, but for now, dearest interpeople, I just want it wearable! The drape of the tunic works nicely. It's a touch snug for my current under tunic, so I may need to wear it "commando" or make a more snug undershirt for it, which is OK, because I have a linen stash and itchy fingers! The bottom hem. Now the rub appears! Remember my last post about the Old English Hexateuch? Well, I kind of fell in love with those side-split, trimmed tunics, so this bad lad is going to be one! I know, I know, it's a bit of a fanciful piece of kit considering how much evidence we have for silk tun...

And it is good trouser news... So, I went to Toronto last month (hence the brief hiatus. Sorry), and managed to get some serious, serious  fabric bargains. There are a few shops on and around Queen Street which offer incredible prices on genuinely lovely fabric. Wools, silks, linens, even some thread and notions, and they were CHEAP. One of the bargains I got was some gorgeous superfine wool tabby, for the equivalent of £7.50 per metre. The lady at the shop even burn tested it without prompting, and was very helpful to me and Madame while we were having a poorly day. Shout out to Fabric By Designers for their helpfulness! So nice. So soft. So wool. This stuff is beautifully soft, drapes gorgeously, and I grabbed a yard and a half of it to make my Viking trousers, because it's ideal! I wish I'd bought more now...ah well! I measured them based off my housemate's pair, as I mentioned in an earlier post, as they're ideal in terms of the look they provide. ...

Hello! I'm Jimmy, and when I'm not acting, playing music, or writing, I'm a Welsh re-enactor. This is the first post on a blog that will hopefully show the historical clothes projects I have on, the research I'm doing, and shamelessly plug some of the shows I'm in! Hope you enjoy following my quest to make myself look as old fashioned as possible! So, without further ado, have a few pictures of my early medieval impressions. I've been a member of Regia Anglorum for...crikey, eight years now! And it's a pretty research based group, so I try to keep my kit as provenanced as I can. The first picture is my 'generic' early medieval look (plus gloves I knitted, because I was cold!). It's my 'jeans and t-shirt' look for the 9-11th century comprising tunics, hose, braies, shoes, and in this one, my lovely sword by Heron Armoury. The second picture, courtesy of my lovely girlfriend, and fellow re-enactor Peryn (aka Isabel Northwode) show...