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 ...

For a Regency Ball being held in Edinburgh last month, I  spent a considerable amount of the last year working on a suit. A suit. Not a tunic, not a nice, simple cloak and braes. A full three-piece suit. In velvet. It was bloody awful. Actually it was a great challenge, really educational, and it's allowed me to learn several new skills! I am now familiar with how suits are put together from the drafting of the pattern up. It's taught me the use of tacking, how to do pad stitching, and how to piece successfully and use grain and piled fabrics properly. With its shirt and waistcoat. My child! The velvet was difficult, frayed constantly, and needed to be worked immediately after cutting to prevent it falling apart. This stuff is a challenge for a novice to use, and I recommend finding someone experienced to give you the benefit of their wisdom! The breeches were pieced heavily to make use of the limited cloth I had available, and they also feature my first ever po...

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...